1 – MEN’S BASKETBALL TAMES WILDCATS

Christmas came five days early for the NIU men’s basketball team.

In front of the largest Convocation Center crowd this season, the Huskies knocked off then No. 34 Kansas State 75-70 in overtime.

The game went down to the wire as it took a key three pointer from each team to force the extra session.

NIU senior forward Todd Peterson hit a three with 14 seconds left to give the Huskies a 62-61 lead. That lead was extended to three with a pair of Anthony Maestranzi free throws. KSU’s Clent Stewart drained a three pointer at the buzzer to tie everything up at 64-64.

In overtime it came down to which team could hit its free throws and NIU’s strength landed it the victory.

The win helped vault NIU to being ranked as high as No. 39 in the nation.

Sean Ostruszka

2 – WRESTLING GRABS BEST FINISH SINCE 1971

With a young team and high expectations, seven NIU wrestlers placed at Midlands in Evanston en route to the team’s best finish since 1971 in the prestigious meet. Sophomore Pat Castillo led the charge as he reached the championship match at 125 pounds before settling for second place. The Huskies finished tied for sixth place out of the 60 teams competing and was joined only by Central Michigan in placing seven wrestlers.

NIU’s other place winners included senior Josh Wooton, who took fourth place at 141 pounds, junior heavyweight Joe Sapp who finished in sixth. Fellow juniors Andy Hiatt and Johnny Galloway picked up seventh place finishes at 133 pounds and 165 pounds respectively, and 149-pound freshman Justin Metcalfe and 197-pound sophomore Derek Hunsinger each netted eighth place.

Illinois finished as the top team, followed by Central Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Iowa State.

Nathan Lindquist

3 – MEN’S BASKETBALL CLIMBS RPI RANKINGS

The NIU men’s basketball team found its way to the top of national statistics on Dec. 13, as the team was ranked No. 2 in the College Ratings Percentage Index and No. 1 in strength of schedule.

The RPI standings are calculated by adding a weighted average of a team’s winning percentage, average of opponents’ winning percentage and average of opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage.

On Dec. 13 NIU was 3-1 with wins over Aurora, DePaul, and Toledo and held an RPI rating of .736. As of Jan. 15, the Huskies sit at the No. 69 slot in the RPI standings with a rating of .571.

Ben Gross

4 – HURD, WOLFE: HONORABLE MENTION

At least the NIU football team can hang its hats on something. Two Huskies were named honorable mention All-Americans this past season.

Wide receiver Sam Hurd and running back Garrett Wolfe received the honor.

With his 65 catches, 1,074 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, which all lead the team, Hurd was named to the SportsIllustrated.com All-American team.

Wolfe was no slouch either, as he was fifth in the nation with 1,588 rushing yards and he also found the end zone 17 times. He was named to the CollegeFootballNews.com All-American team.

Sean Ostruszka

5 – NIU WRESTLING TOPPLES NO. 12 BADGERS

In a thrilling finish, the NIU wrestling team pulled out a pin in the final match to defeat No. 12 Wisconsin 18-17 in Madison Dec. 11.

Trailing 17-12 with one match remaining, the No. 24 Huskies sent freshman Nick McClone out to the mat to face Wisconsin’s Justin Peterson. Only a pin or a forfeit would give NIU the win, and first-year starter McClone rose to the challenge with a pinfall at 4:24.

The win marked the first time NIU has beaten Wisconsin in 34 years. The Huskies led at intermission 9-7 thanks to wins by junior heavyweight Joe Sapp, 125-pound sophomore Pat Castillo and 141-pound senior Josh Wooton. Wisconsin stormed back with three wins of its own to take the lead, but McClone’s pin sealed the match.

Nathan Lindquist

6 – BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

In order to have a winning team, you have to have players who step up. Lucky for the NIU men’s basketball team it has had many.

Over the five-week break the Huskies had three MAC West players of the week.

Peterson took home the award after his 21 points in the win over Kansas State, and junior center James Hughes won the next week after averaging 16 points a game in a win over San Jose State and loss to North Dakota State.

NIU made it three straight weeks after Ryan Paradise was named for his 22-point effort in the 84-82 overtime victory over the Buffalo.

The women’s basketball team also had two representations for MAC West Player of the Week, most recently announced January 16 following a 27-point performance against Toledo Saturday.

Sean Ostruszka

7 – FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICANS

Following a 7-5 season in which the football team missed a chance at a bowl game by less than one minute, three NIU freshmen were named to Freshman All-America teams.

Linebacker Tim McCarthy was selected First-Team Freshman All-America team by the Football Writers Association of America as well as the Sporting News’ 2005 Freshman All-America team.

McCarthy, an honorable mention All-America pick, was joined on the Sporting News team by offensive tackle Jon Brost on the third team. Brost made 12 starts at right tackle during the year for the nation’s No. 17 offense. McCarthy earned 101 hits in 11 appearances, the most by a freshman since Frank Lewandoski had 130 in 1976.

Defensive end Craig Rusch, who anchored the Huskie pass rush with six sacks in only eight games, was also selected Third-Team Freshman All-America by CollegeFootballNews.com.

Nathan Lindquist

8 – MEN’S BASKETBALL KEEPS IT CLOSE

The men’s basketball team kept fans in their seats over break, as seven of its nine games came down to the last possession or went into overtime.

The Huskies won four of these buzzer beaters, including the two overtime games against Kansas State and Buffalo.

NIU also beat San Jose State 80-78 and came back from behind to beat Bowling Green 75-74.

The Huskies were on the losing side of close games with a 55-54 loss to University of Illinois-Chicago and a 57-56 loss to North Dakota State. The Huskies also fell victim to MAC-West leader Miami-Ohio 58-56 in the closing seconds.

Ben Gross

9 – WRESTLING’S REVIVAL COACH GETS CONTRACT EXTENSION

After taking over and completely rebuilding a struggling program back in 1996, NIU wrestling coach Dave Grant was rewarded a three-year contract extension through the 2008-09 season Dec. 15.

NIU Athletic Director Jim Phillips announced the extension saying that negotiations and talk of an extension had begun before the start of the wrestling season.

Under Grant, the Huskies have placed in the top 25 three out of the last four years. The team has reached double figures in wins the last four years and have averaged 16 victories during that span.

During his tenure, Grant has recruited 27 state champions and also coached two All-Americans in 2003 with Ben Heizer and Scott Owen.

Nathan Lindquist

10 – “OH YEAH? WELL OUR COACH CAN BEAT YOUR COACH!”

NIU women’s soccer coach Marci Miller will head to Guangzhou, China to play for the US National team. It is Miller’s third appearance with the National team since being named head coach in June. On tap for the St. Charles native is a slate of games against Norway, France and China. Ultimately, Miller said it is her young and enthusiastic squad that will benefit from her international experience.

Miller saw limited action in her first game, but played all 95 minutes against Australia as the two teams tied in a friendly on October 16, 2005.

“It is all a learning process,” Miller said. “And experiences like these make you a better coach.”

Miller posted a 5-11-2 record in her first season, a bit of a mirage, as NIU suffered 8 one-goal defeats.

James Nokes