Beijing, China is over 6,000 miles from the U.S. For former NIU wrestler T.C. Dantzler, the flight shouldn't be too hard when he travels to China to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Dantzler earned his trip to the Olympics by defeating Cheney Haight...

After a strong freshman campaign in 2007, Duke Burk continued his success with the NIU wrestling program this season. Burk finished 28-7 and qualified for nationals for the second straight season, earning the No. 10 spot on the Northern Star's top 10...

Robert Collins, NIU interim athletics director, announced Wednesday that Dave Grant, NIU head wrestling coach, has agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2010-2011 season. Grant has been at the helm of the NIU wrestling program since 1996...

NIU wrestling coach Dave Grant thought the 2007-2008 season would be a challenge, as half of his lineup was composed of freshmen. "I knew that at the beginning of the year we couldn't be in the same place that we were at the end," Grant said. "I felt...

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 â€"...

Pat Castillo Castillo won his first two matches, but then lost in his third. The senior earned a 9-2 decision over Cal Poly's Borislav Novachkov in the preliminary round and a 12-4 major decision over Christian Smith of Liberty in the first round. The...

The average wrestling meet at Victor E. Court features about 300 spectators. This weekend at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, the Scottrade Center will be packed with about 20,000 screaming fans. "It's probably the greatest thing I've ever...

Entering the MAC Wrestling Championships, NIU senior Pat Castillo was a favorite for the title. The same couldn't be said about Pat McLemore. The redshirt freshman had only wrestled in three matches since November. Additionally, McLemore would have to...

It's unusual for a team to have a month off between competitions. However, that's what the NIU wrestling team faces as it travels to Kent State for the MAC wrestling championships, which begin Saturday. NIU was scheduled to have two weeks off between...

NIU senior Aaron Owen came to NIU in 2003 with high hopes after winning two state wrestling championships in New Mexico. Unfortunately, Owen didn't expect shoulder injuries to wipe away almost three years of his college career. Owen redshirted the 2004...

With the NIU campus closed after the Feb. 14 shootings, NIU suspended all athletic competitions until Feb. 25. Twenty-seven contests in men's and women's basketball, gymnastics, baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis, wrestling, women's track and...

King of the Hill NIU wrestler Pat Castillo now stands alone. The senior is now the top wrestler at 133 pounds according to the new MAC wrestling rankings, which were released Feb. 28. Castillo was previously tied at first with Kent State's Dan Mitcheff...