Coach
Dave Grant just kept doing things the same way he'd always done them.
In his 13th year as the head coach of Northern Illinois' wrestling program, he wasn't about to change. His methods have put wrestlers on the All-American podium six times, and produced 18 MAC Champions. He wasn't about to change, even as his team trudged through a regular season that saw his team finish under .500 for the first time since 1999-2000.
Just keep working hard, just stay aggressive. Find that grit that NIU Wrestling in known for. Grant stuck to the plan. His plan.
At the MAC Championships, that commitment paid off. Sophomore
Bryan Deutsch stunned the tournament field by pinning the top seed, then beating the number three and number two seeds to win the Mid-American Conference 157-Pound Championship. His win extended NIU's consecutive years with a conference champion to 13, every year since rejoining the MAC in 1996-97.
Deutsch earned his way to the NCAA Championships with his run to the title. He would be joined in St. Louis by fellow sophomore
Tristen DeShazer. The Wichita, Kan. native put the wrestling world on notice by taking sixth place at the acclaimed Midlands Championships in December, pinning four opponents along the way. DeShazer continued to pin his way to the top all season, collecting a Northern Illinois record 17 falls on the season. That total included two at the NCAA Championships, where he finished with a 2-2 record, just two matches away from becoming an All-American.
The Huskies, the youngest team in the MAC in 2008-09, return every starter and will add a talented crop of newcomers to attack 2009-10. And you can count on Grant continuing to stick to his guns - effort, attitude, determination, toughness - next year, too.
MOTOR CITY BOWL TO BE HELD DECEMBER 26, 2009
Organizers say the annual Motor City Bowl
will be held the day after Christmas at Detroit's Ford Field, with a 1 p.m. kickoff. As in the past, the game will match a Mid-American Conference team and a Big Ten team.
Former Northern Illinois men's basketball assistant coach Ryan Marks was
officially announced as the new University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball coach Wednesday. Marks was on the staff when the Huskies reached the 1996 NCAA Tournament, going 20-10 (10-6 MCC) during the 1995-96 campaign. He has spent the past five seasons as the head coach at Division II St. Edwards, compiling a 91-54 record, which includes three trips to the NCAA Division II basketball tournament.
