Despite sending four wrestlers to the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships, NIU will have to wait until next year to get its 11th All-American award.

But for senior co-captain Sam Hiatt, there will be no next year.

“Yeah, it’s very disappointing,” said Hiatt, who went 0-2 on the weekend. “But I still had a pretty good season and career. I tried to lead the team the best I could by example.”

With 73 Division I schools participating, Oklahoma State won five of the 10 weight classes and its third-straight team championship with 153 points. Michigan finished a distant second with 83 points, followed by Oklahoma, Cornell and Minnesota.

The Huskies finished 63rd with one point thanks to two victories from NIU sophomore Mike Grimes.

The 133-pound Hiatt, making his third trip to the NCAAs, was joined in St. Louis by junior Josh Wooton and sophomores Johnny Galloway and Grimes. But after coming within one victory of achieving all-American status last year, Hiatt was decisioned 6-2 by Navy’s Sam Gray and pinned by Michigan’s Mark Moos.

“Guys come here to be all-Americans,” NIU coach Dave Grant said. “So when they don’t, of course it’s disappointing, especially for Sam.”

Wooton and Galloway were also eliminated Thursday with two losses. But first-time qualifier Grimes kept the Huskies’ hopes alive at 149 pounds with a 14-8 decision over Boston’s Rayes Gonzales following an 8-4 loss to Iowa’s Ty Eustice.

Grimes continued his run on Friday with a 4-3 victory over Purdue’s Doug Withstandley, who had defeated the NIU sophomore during the regular season. But Boise State’s Ben Cherrington proved to be too much and ended Grimes’ season with an 8-4 decision.

“You can never be happy with not placing,” Grimes said. “But I realized the emotion and heart it takes to make it this far. This crowd makes your blood race, and it gets you pumped up and ready to go.”

MAC champion Central Michigan placed highest of all MAC schools with 41 points and a 12th place finish. Ohio’s Jake Percival also became a four-time all-American by taking third at 157 pounds to help the Bobcats to a 26th place showing.