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Quote:ST. LOUIS - Northern Illinois wrestlers earned nine wins at the NCAA Championships, including four from senior standout Pat Castillo.

"I'm really proud of all the qualifiers that came here they gave their hearts and went out and wresteld to the best of their ability," 12th-year head coach Dave Grant said.

Wrestling to become an All-American, Castillo (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) came out on fire against Minnesota's eight-seed Mack Reiter. With two takedowns, Castillo held a 4-2 lead after the first period, but was slowed after choosing bottom and being held there for the entire second period. In the third, a quick Reiter escape and takedown gave him a 5-4 lead, and, with the advantage of holding an extra point for riding time, Reiter escaped with a 6-5 win.

"Here's a guy with 100 wins, leading the NCAA in major decisions, a great captain and worker, and a kid with a 3.0 grade point average," Grant said. He did a great job this weekend, and throughout his career. He has given 100 percent each time out for five years, and I'm proud of him for everything he's done."

As a senior for Northern Illinois, Castillo earned his third berth NCAA Championships qualifier, third Midlands Championships placefinish, second Mid-American Conference Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, and led the nation with 16 major decisions. Over four official seasons of competition, Castillo won 100 matches in the Cardinal and Black, compared with only 35 losses.

Castillo went 2-0 in Thursday's morning session. In his first match, he stormed back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat Lehigh's Seth Ciasulli 9-6. Each wrestler deflected early shots into stalemates before Ciasulli landed a single-leg for a takedown. Castillo quickly escaped, but Ciasulli was awarded a second takedown in the last second of the period to hold a 4-1 lead after the first period.

Castillo chose down to open the second, quickly escaped and followed with a takedown to tie the score 4-4. In the third, Ciasulli took a 5-4 lead with a quick escape. Castillo countered with a double-leg takedown followed by a near fall to take an 8-5 lead, which he rode to victory.

In match two, Castillo ensnared a slippery Steve Bell of Maryland for a 7-4 win, his 100th as a Huskie. After an even first period that left Castillo up 3-2, Castillo utilized an escape and a takedown to take a 6-3 lead into the third. From there the Huskie held Bell to advance to the match with Reiter.

Sophomore Duke Burk (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) came just as close as Castillo to All-American status. Wrestling 2007 All-American Matthew Stolpinski of Navy, Burk earned a takedown less than a minute in and led 2-1 heading into the second period. Stolpinski tied the match immediately with an escape, and used a takedown of his own to take a 4-2 lead. Burk scored a point with an escape to start the first, bringing him within a point. But Stolpinski, who was warned for stalling late in the match, held off Burk and advanced.

Grant feels the loss will push Burk to be greater next season.

"With the younger guys, this will motivated them," Grant said. "He knows he's close, he's inches away. Sometimes that makes you run a little bit harder, and lift a little bit harder, and wrestle a little bit harder."

Like Castillo, Burk won two matches in the early session, starting with a dominant win over Aaron Kelly of Liberty. Burk scored three takedowns and a near fall en route to a convincing 11-0 major decision win.

In his second match, Burk used a third period escape to narrowly prevent Illinois' John Dergo from earning a riding time point, and sent the match to overtime 1-1. In the extra session, Burk went to work on the attack immediately, scoring a takedown in the sudden victory period just 16 seconds in.

Both Burk's and Castillo's final losses coming by one point, and Grant commended their performances.

"They are heartbreaking losses," Grant said. "Truly, they put everything they had into those All-American rounds."

Redshirt freshman Pat McLemore (Hinckley, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) captured an early win before seeing his run at the NCAA Tournament end. In his first match McLemore got in early trouble against Boise State's Levi Jones, but came out of top of a scramble and cradled Jones in just 1:10 to advance.

In his next contest, McLemore trailed 1-0 when he elected to start the third period in bottom position against Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee. The choice proved to be the difference in the match, as Headlee controlled McLemore long enough to earn a bonus point for riding time. Despite a late escape from McLemore that tied the match 1-1, Headlee's riding time advantage gave the Panther a 2-1 win.

"(McLemore) got a huge taste of what it's like to be a part of the national tournament," Grant said.

Overall, the Huskies wrestled to 9-6 record at the NCAA National Championships. Burk scored the only Northern Illinois upset, defeating 12th-seed Nick Hayes of Northwestern in his opening match.

Grant complimented his student-athletes effort on the biggest stage in collegiate wrestling.

"I'm very proud of our young men and they way they fight hard and compete," he said. "They're putting it out on the mat every time they go out there, and you can't ask for anything more than that."

Round Three (Consolation Bracket)
133: #10 Castillo (NIU) dec. Ciasulli (Lehigh) 9-6
141: McLemore (NIU) fall Jones (Boise State) 1:10
174: Burk (NIU) maj. dec. Kelly (Liberty) 11-0

Round Four (Consolation Bracket)
133: #10 Castillo (NIU) dec. Bell (Maryland) 7-4
141: Headlee (Pittsburgh) dec. McLemore (NIU) 2-1
174: Burk (NIU) dec. Dergo (Illinois) 3-1 (OT)

Round Five (Consolation Bracket)
133: #8 Reiter (Minnesota) dec. #10 Castillo 6-5
174: #7 Stolpinski (Navy) dec. Burk (NIU) 4-3