June 19, 2009
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Northwestern senior Jake Herbert, a two-time NCAA champion and this year's Hodge Trophy winner as college wrestling's most dominant performer, has been named the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award as the top male athlete across all sports in the Big Ten Conference. Herbert is NU's second Jesse Owens honoree--following golfer Luke Donald in 1999--since the award's inception in 1982.
Fans can see Herbert featured as part of the Big Ten Network Awards show, which airs Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. CT.
This is the second year in a row a Northwestern student-athlete has brought home one of the Big Ten's top honors after NU women's lacrosse player Hannah Nielsen became the third Wildcat in history to take home the league's Suzy Favor Award as the outstanding female athlete in 2008.
Herbert, also the 2009 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and RevWrestling.com wrestler of the year, is the third consecutive wrestler to be deemed the conference's male athlete of the year, joining Minnesota's Cole Konrad in 2007 and Iowa's Brent Metcalf in 2008.
"This is such an honor and one that I never really imagined I could win," Herbert said. "It's just great to be able to represent Northwestern wrestling and the entire athletic department so that everybody in the Big Ten and the rest of the country knows the amazing things that go on at this school."
In four years of varsity competition at Northwestern, Herbert achieved every level of success imaginable in college wrestling, and in most cases did so more than once. He concluded his college career in 2009 as the most decorated wrestler in Northwestern history, winning his second NCAA championship at 184 pounds while completing the second undefeated season of his career by finishing 34-0 overall (18-0 dual record, 8-0 Big Ten). Herbert, who won the last 66 matches of his career and 102 of his last 103, won NCAA titles in 2007 and 2009 to bookend his Olympic redshirt season in 2008. In this year's NCAA title bout, Herbert knocked off the defending 184-pound champion--Mike Pucillo of Ohio State--by a convincing 6-3 margin.
A native of Wexford, Pa., Herbert is the second four-time All-American in Northwestern history having never placed lower than third in the country at his weight class. He is also a three-time Big Ten and Midlands champion and, with a four-year record of 135-4, Herbert leaves Northwestern with the fifth-best career winning percentage (.971) among all Division I college wrestlers since the 1974-75 season.
Fifteen of Herbert's victories in 2008-09 came by pin--with his fastest coming in just 14 seconds--and he did not surrender a takedown all season.
In recent months, it has become clear that his achievements on the mats at Northwestern are only the beginning. Herbert conquered his weight class at the U.S. Nationals meet in April and then came away victorious at the United States World Team Trials, earning him a spot on the national team that will compete at the World Championships in Denmark this September.
Herbert is graduating from Northwestern this spring with a degree in communication studies. In 2009, Herbert was named to the NWCA All-Academic squad--one of 17 All-Americans out of a possible 80 to earn that recognition--for the second time in his career. He is also a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Purdue women's golfer Maria Hernandez was selected as this year's winner of the Suzy Favor award.
The Big Ten Conference has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 when Indiana's Jim Spivey earned the inaugural award. Below is a complete look at the list of Jesse Owens Award winners:
1982 Jim Spivey, Indiana, track and field/cross country
1983 Ed Banach, Iowa, wrestling
1984 Sunder Nix, Indiana, track and field
1985 Barry Davis, Iowa, wrestling
1986 Chuck Long, Iowa, football
1987 Steve Alford, Indiana, basketball
1988 Jim Abbott, Michigan, baseball
1989 Glen Rice, Michigan, basketball
1990 Anthony Thompson, Indiana, football
1991 Mike Barrowman, Michigan, swimming
1992 Desmond Howard, Michigan, football
1993 John Roethlisberger, Minnesota, gymnastics
1994 Glenn Robinson, Purdue, basketball
1995 Tom Dolan, Michigan, swimming
1996 Eddie George, Ohio State, football
1997 Blaine Wilson, Ohio State, gymnastics
1998 Charles Woodson, Michigan, football
1999 Luke Donald, Northwestern, golf
2000 Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, football
2001 Ryan Miller, Michigan State, ice hockey
2002 Jordan Leopold, Minnesota, ice hockey
2003 Amer Delic, Illinois, tennis
Matt Lackey, Illinois, wrestling
2004 Damion Hahn, Minnesota, wrestling
2005 Luis Vargas, Penn State, gymnastics
2006 Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, swimming & diving
2007 Cole Konrad, Minnesota, wrestling
2008 Brent Metcalf, Iowa, wrestling
2009 Jake Herbert, Northwestern, wrestling
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