One more victory.

That’s all Pat Castillo and Duke Burk needed to become 2008 All-Americans.

Both Castillo and Burk won four matches at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships. But the similarity didn’t end there.

In their final matches, both lost — by one point each. And those one-point losses kept the two from earning All-American status.

“I’m really proud of our boys; they wrestled hard,” said head coach Dave Grant. “They put their heart on the line. They were just fierce competitors.”

Castillo led No. 8-seed Mack Reiter of Minnesota 4-2 after the first period in his final match. Reiter, however, was able to take the lead with an escape and a takedown in the third period. The final match of Castillo’s NIU career ended with a 6-5 decision to Reiter.

“That kid’s got heart,” Grant said. “He’s the hardest worker in our room. He was always a good role model for all the other guys.”

Burk took on 2007 All-American Matthew Stolpinski of Navy in his bid to become a 2008 All-American.

After the first period, the NIU sophomore lead 2-1. But Stolpinski came back with an escape and a takedown to take a 4-2 lead. Burk came back with an escape, but it wasn’t enough, as Stolpinski held on for a 4-3 victory.

“I think it was probably the best I’ve wrestled all year,” Burk said. “It was a good tournament; sometimes you just fall short.”

Burk earned a 7-3 decision over No. 12-seed Nick Hayes of Northwestern in the first round of the tournament. He was then knocked into wrestlebacks after losing to No. 5 Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan in a 4-3 decision in double overtime. It was the third time this season that Sinnott defeated Burk.

The Huskie followed the loss with a 11-0 major decision over Liberty’s Aaron Kelly and a 3-1 overtime victory over John Dergo of Illinois before falling in the All-America round.

Burk has two years of eligibility remaining, and he hopes to get to the next step next season.

“It’s always good experience when you’re wrestling the best guys,” Burk said. “It’s gonna drive me for the next year.”

Castillo earned a decision in his preliminary round match. He then produced a 12-4 major decision in the first round over Liberty’s Christian Smith. In his last match on Thursday, Castillo fell into wrestlebacks after losing to No. 7 seed Mike Grey of Cornell, 4-1.

Castillo opened Friday’s session with two victories, which got him into the All-American round. The senior earned his 100th victory as a Huskie with his fourth-round victory over Maryland’s Steve Bell.

“I’m extremely proud of Pat,” Grant said. “Not once in five years did I ever tell him that he wasn’t working good enough.”

NIU’s other NCAA qualifier, redshirt-freshman Pat McLemore, struggled in his first career match at nationals. McLemore drew No. 4-seed Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State in the first round, who earned a 15-0 technical fall. The loss put McLemore into wrestlebacks.

But McLemore was able to bounce back, earning a 3-1 decision over Northern Iowa’s C.J. Ettelson Thursday night and pinning Boise State’s Levi Jones Friday morning. McLemore was then eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh’s Drew Headlee.

Overall, the Huskie wrestlers went 9-6 at nationals. NIU finished 35th, earning it the second-highest placing among MAC schools behind Central Michigan, which finished seventh.