June 1, 2009

Complete Event Coverage

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Former Wildcat Jake Herbert competed as the top seed in the 84-kg weight class in the 2009 World Team Trials Sunday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and came away successful in his attempt to qualify for his first U.S. World Team. Herbert defeated former Bloomsburg wrestler Bryce Hasseman in a three-match series, punching himself a ticket to Denmark to battle the globe’s best at the 2009 Wrestling World Championships Sept. 21-27.

A year ago, Herbert became a member of the U.S. University World Team during his redshirt season from Northwestern in his bid to reach the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. On Sunday, the 2009 Hodge Trophy winner became one of the youngest members of this year’s senior squad.

“This isn’t just the result of three months of training, it’s years and years and years of hard work,” Herbert said. “Everyone out on the mat knows that but it’s hard for people on the outside to see all that goes into winning an event like the World Team Trials. It’s just unbelievable.”

Herbert’s victory at the U.S. Championships back on April 13 guaranteed him a spot in the finals this weekend in Council Bluffs while Hasseman, an NCAA qualifier while at Bloomsburg in 2004-05, advanced through the preliminary rounds for the right to face Herbert. Herbert prevailed in the first match 0-1, 3-2, 1-0 but fell 0-1, 1-0, 3-1 in the second before clinching with a 1-0, 1-1 win the deciding bout. In freestyle wrestling scoring, each period begins with a score of 0-0 and a wrestler must win two of three periods to win the match.

A native of Wexford, Pa., Herbert finished his college career as Northwestern's leader in winning percentage (.973) and second in career wins with a 149-4 career record. He won the 2007 and 2009 NCAA title at 184 pounds while also becoming Northwestern’s first three-time Big Ten champion.

Also in contention at the World Team Trials was former Wildcat Mike Tamillow, who performed well enough to place third in the Challenge Division at 96 kg, narrowly missing out on a spot on the World Team. Tamillow was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Northwestern, finishing as high as seventh in the country (197) as a junior, the same year in which he won a Big Ten championship. 

2009 U.S. World Team
55 kg — Danny Felix
60 kg — Shawn Bunch
66 kg — Trent Paulson
74 kg — Dustin Schlatter
84 kg — Jake Herbert
96 kg — Jake Varner
120 kg — Tervel Dlagnev

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