Evanston, Ill.
Resilient Wildcats Claw Past Wolverines, 20-16, in Dual Match Finale
Six NU grapplers notch wins to give Tim Cysewski a victory in his last dual as head coach
Excerpts:
EVANSTON, Ill. -- On a night with so many distinguished alumni of Northwestern wrestling in the seats at Welsh-Ryan Arena, the current Wildcats gutted out a remarkable 20-16 victory over Michigan Sunday for their first Big Ten dual win of the season. The win put the finishing touches on a special evening on which NU honored Tim Cysewski, who coached his final dual as head coach after 20 years in that role.
Despite being challenged much of the season by a lineup depleted by injuries, Northwestern battled to the end for Cysewski on Sunday, winning four individual bouts by three points or less to claw out the dual win. Cysewski, who next season will make the move to the role of associate head coach at NU, ends his head coaching tenure as the winningest coach in program history with 155 dual victories.
The evening featured a rousing ceremony during intermission to honor Cysewski, which featured appearances from former Northwestern All-Americans Jack Griffin, Mike Funk, Brad Traviolia and Dustin Fox.
The action remained fast and furious in the 141-pound bout, where Levi Mele wrestled up two weight classes from his usual 125-pound spot to take on Michigan's Mark Weber. Weber held a 5-3 edge late in the contest when Mele went in for a takedown, bringing the NU faithful to their feet. Mele fed off their energy in the sudden victory period, getting the winning takedown just 20 seconds into the match and improving to 3-4 in Big Ten action for his freshman season.
NU's final crucial win came courtesy of Brian Roddy, Jr. at 174, who knocked off Justin Zeerip 4-2. Zeerip came into the match with a season record of 25-16. Roddy's fourth Big Ten victory this year gave NU an insurmountable 20-7 team lead with two matches remaining. Michigan (4-15, 0-8) claimed wins in both of those matches but it was too little too late as the Wildcats held on for a most memorable victory.
Northwestern 20, Michigan 16
141: Levi Mele (NU) dec. Mark Weber (MI), 7-5 (SV) (NU 9, MI 4)
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Wrestling: Northwestern wins final match for coach
The Daily Northwestern
Excerpts:
After losing to Wisconsin 32-6, NU went into a matchup of the Big Ten’s two bottom teams, with the loser ending the season winless in conference play. The Wolverines held an early 4-0 lead, but NU junior Bobby Joyce (125), who returned from a broken hand, took down the Wolverines’ Sean Boyle to come within one. Then the Cats picked up two crucial wins to turn the momentum in their favor.
Senior Eric Metzler (133) started things off by taking down Michigan’s Zac Stevens in a come-from-behind win that had the crowd on its feet. Then, freshman Levi Mele (141), who normally wrestles two weight classes down in the 125-pound weight division, earned NU another comeback victory by overcoming Michigan’s Mark Weber 6-5 in sudden death overtime. Mele celebrated by pumping his fist and jumping up and down, energizing the home crowd eager for a win.
“There’s nothing better than that feeling,” Mele said. “It reminded me of when I took state sophomore year in high school. After getting that final takedown in overtime, it was such a good way to win because you know you earned it.”……
Much of the night focused on Cysewski, who is the program’s all-time winningest coach. He was honored at halftime with a presentation from Athletic Director Jim Phillips, who was accompanied by several of Cysewski’s former All-American wrestlers. While Cysewski didn’t want the limelight on himself, his players recognized his significance to the program.
“Tim is an amazing coach,” Mele said. “I appreciate everything he does and he’s still going to be around the program helping us out. I could see most of us wrestled with greater desire and passion because of him.”
Cysewski, on the other hand, was more focused on NU getting its first conference win of the season and beating Michigan, which he considers to be a major rival. It was only fitting that Cysewski, who will step down with the most wins in NU history, ended his head coaching career with a victory.
“It’s been a hard year, and we’ve faced a lot of injuries,” Mele said. “We just wanted to pull together with a strong purpose, especially in Tim’s last dual as head coach. That made the difference.”
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