Precin Avenges Losses, Brings Home Third Place From NCAAs

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Two-time All-American goes 2-0 in Session V on Saturday

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- For Northwestern junior Brandon Precin, a third-place finish in the wrestlebacks of the 2009 NCAA Championships in St. Louis required beating two opponents against whom Precin had previously gone a combined 0-8 in his career. But the two-time All-American wasn’t fazed, hammering out wins over Indiana’s Angel Escobedo and Arizona State’s Anthony Robles to capture third place at 125 pounds.

“The best thing for me to do is not give up,” Precin said after the match. “My goal was to win a national championship but I’m happy with the way I fought back and just gave it all I had.”

“To come back and avenge a loss in this tournament, that’s an unbelievably hard thing to do,” associate head coach Drew Pariano said of Precin's win against Robles, who knocked Precin out of the championship bracket on Friday. “The way he figured it out and stuck to (head coach) Tim Cysewski’s game plan just shows that he’s maturing tremendously.”

For Pariano, there’s no secret as to how Precin managed to make the jump from a seventh-place finish in 2008 to third in this year’s event.

“We were doing two-a-day workouts for four weeks to the point where I’d have to tell him I didn’t think it was a good day to do two-a-days,” Pariano said. “But he would insist and call my phone and get me in the room with him, which I love doing. He’s a product of his work ethic and the environment he created for himself.”

Precin’s victories raised Northwestern’s team point total to 42.0, good for 13th place entering Saturday night’s round of national title matches. NU’s Jake Herbert is set to wrestle Ohio State’s Mike Pucillo tonight in a bout between the last two national champions at 184 pounds. ESPN will carry the broadcast live beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Precin squared off against Escobedo, the 2008 NCAA champion, in the consolation semifinals to start the day. Escobedo, also a junior, had managed to win all seven previous meetings between the two, including a 3-2 decision in the Big Ten Championships final earlier this month.

After a scoreless first, Escobedo could only stay on top for the first 15 seconds of the second period before Precin got to his feet and scored the match’s first point on an escape. The two reversed positions to start the third period, where Escobedo nearly escaped on several occasions but Precin managed to hold on and secure the critical riding time point to lock up the 3-0 decision and advance to the wrestleback finals.

Another rematch awaited Precin in the third-place match, this time in the form of Robles, who won by a 9-0 major decision in Friday's quarterfinal bout thanks to three near-falls. Precin immediately got off to a better start on Saturday, working Robles for an early takedown and more than two minutes of riding time in the first period.

Knowing he would need at least three points in the final period thanks to Precin’s significant riding time advantage, Robles took the top position in the third and tried relentlessly to tilt the NU junior. But Precin was ready for every move, offsetting Robles’ attempts to deny the scoring opportunities he had allowed on Friday to win 3-1.

“Robles is the strongest guy in my weight class I’ve ever wrestled and last time I played into his strength which is when he’s on top,” Precin said. “This time I just didn’t let him get into it. He’s a very fierce competitor and I have a lot of respect for him.”

Robles, who was born without his right leg, received a standing ovation from the more than 16,000 fans in attendance at the Scottrade Center for his fourth-place finish.

Precin ends his stellar junior year with a 31-4 record, a 103-28 career mark and a 12-5 overall record in the NCAA Championships.

Complete brackets and updated team scores will be available shortly after the conclusion of Session V.

Northwestern Results and Play-by-Play
No. 4 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. No. 3 Angel Escobedo (IND), 3-0
1: No scoring
2: Precin chooses bottom … Caution on Escobedo … Escape Precin (1-0 NU)
3: Escobedo chooses bottom … Stalling point against Escobedo (2-0 NU) … Precin 1:45 riding time (3-0 NU)

No. 4 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. No. 12 Anthony Robles (ASU), 3-1
1: Precin takedown (2-0 NU)
2: Precin chooses top … No scoring
3: Robles chooses top … Stalling point against Precin (2-1 NU) … Precin 2:32 riding time (3-1 NU)

Saturday night schedule
Title Match: No. 1 Jake Herbert (NU) vs. No. 3 Mike Pucillo (OSU)