DeKALB | It wasn’t the perfect weekend the Huskies had hoped for, but the NIU wrestling team had a successful showing in the MAC Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

Despite NIU sending five wrestlers to the championship finals, Pat Castillo was the lone Huskie to bring home a MAC Championship crown.

Castillo continued his recent dominance by recording a technical fall (win by at least 15 points) in his first match versus Eastern Michigan’s Jack Cassady, and then posted a 13-5 major decision over Ohio’s Seth Morton in the second round.

In the championship match, Castillo beat rival Chad Sportelli of Kent State, 5-3, to claim the 125-pound MAC Championship title and earn an automatic bid to Detroit, Mich., for the NCAA Tournament March 15-17. On top of that, Castillo was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler.

“I’ve just been feeling really good the last few weeks,” said the 125-pound champion. “I was happy for a little bit, but I realized I need to get back at it and get ready for the NCAA Tournament.”

In the biggest surprise of the tournament, NIU freshman Dan Ruettiger made it all the way to the finals in the 141-pound class before losing to Eric Kruger of Central Michigan. Ruettiger, who hadn’t competed in any of the dual-matches during the regular season, bested Andrew Stella of Buffalo in the first round and then upset Ohio’s Albert Madsen 2-1 in the second round.

“He came out of nowhere for us,” head coach Dave Grant said. “Two weeks ago, we didn’t even know who was going to wrestle for us [in the 141-pound class]; then I called him up and told him to be ready.”

Senior Johnny Galloway was denied his second-straight MAC title in the 165-pound class as he lost to CMU freshman Mike Miller 6-5.

Mike Grimes, ranked as high as 11th nationally, came into the tournament hoping to avenge last year’s loss in the MAC tournament. Unfortunately, no revenge was had, and Grimes was defeated 8-5 by KSU’s Jason Mcgee in the second round.

“He didn’t wrestle his best,” Grant said. “But, time to time, that kind of thing happens.”

As expected, Danny and Duke Burk each made it to the championship match in the 174- and 184-pound matchs, but couldn’t outlast the Sinnott brothers of CMU. Danny lost to Brandon Sinnott 10-4 in the 174-pound battle while little brother, Duke, was defeated by Christian Sinnott 4-0 in the 184-pound finals.

Despite only having one Huskie crowned as a MAC champion, four Huskies will be competing in the NCAA Tournament. Out of nine possible wild-card bids, Galloway and the Burk brothers each earned a bid and will join Castillo to represent the Huskies in Detroit.

“I thought if we got five guys into the NCAAs, we did a fantastic job,” Grant said. “We got four in, and that’s still doing a great job.”