When quarterback Steve Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1987, he knew he would be taking a back seat behind the legendary Joe Montana. After five years of biding his time as a backup, Young became a starter and proved to be a Hall of Famer.

For NIU wrestler Pat Castillo, the football analogy looks more fitting as time goes on. When the 125-pound sophomore first came to DeKalb, he was already an accomplished wrestler for Lyons Township High School with a school record of 661 career take downs.

But instead of jumping right into the Huskies’ starting lineup, Castillo found himself taking a back seat at 133 pounds to the now legendary Sam Hiatt. For two years, Castillo watched and learned from Hiatt, who averaged 25 victories per year and climbed to No. 2 on NIU’s career win list.

“He taught me a lot,” Castillo said while lying down on a trainer’s table after tweaking an ankle in practice. “Every day in practice, I was going head-to-head with him. He showed me a lot of small stuff that makes a big time wrestler.”

With Hiatt graduating, Castillo sensed that 2005 would be his year to step into the starting lineup and make a name for himself. As a competitor, it hurt him to sit on the sidelines.

“When I was in high school, I was never a backup,” Castillo said. “I really wanted to start this year. Being a backup really hurt me to see other guys being successful and qualifying for nationals. I think I was just hungrier this year than ever before.”

The hunger fueled Castillo in the off-season, as he dropped to a more comfortable 125 pounds and recommitted himself to winning a starting spot. The work paid dividends as the redshirt sophomore not only took the spot but excelled.

“We have five guys who have about 20 wins and he’s one of them,” NIU coach Dave Grant said. “He carries a lot of weight around here. At National Duals, he won both of his matches, so we expect big things out of him.”

And he delivered on those expectations. Always a consistent winner, Castillo produced a 20-5 record in his first two seasons behind Hiatt and has nearly replicated that this season with a 19-6 mark. A very aggressive and quick attacker, Castillo anchors the top spot in the Huskie order and consistently dominates opponents, often picking up bonus points with major decisions.

But of all his feats this season, the sophomore is most pleased by his performance at this year’s Midlands Championships at Northwestern in December. Thanks to several upsets and a second place finish against some of the nation’s best competitors, Castillo skyrocketed to a No. 10 national ranking.

“The stats speak for themselves,” Grant said. “In the last 30 years, there have been two [NIU] guys in the finals at Midlands — [All-American] Ben Heizer and Pat Castillo. The nice thing is he is young and a hard worker.”

Throughout Grant’s tenure as coach of NIU wrestling, the Huskies have been known to have top-flight national talent at their lower weights. With a career winning percentage of close to 80 percent, Castillo’s success has not been totally unexpected. The Huskies seem to annually produce breakout stars, and like Mike Grimes and Johnny Galloway last year, Castillo wants to add his name to the list as “The Next Big Thing.”

“Nothing is ever guaranteed,” Castillo said. “The only thing I can do is keep getting better. But there will always be guys coming in here, trying to take my spot. I know I can take the role and I just have to be ready to do it.”