DALLAS - Northwestern continued to cement its place on the national wrestling stage with two wins at the 41st annual NWCA All-Star Classic held at the Dallas Convention Center. Top-ranked Juniors Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) both won their matches at Monday's event that features matches between the top wrestlers at each weight class.

Lang came from behind to defeat Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked Nathan Morgan 4-3. The first period ended scoreless and Lang registered an escape to tie the score heading into the third period. The top-ranked junior notched a takedown in the final minute to take a 4-3 decision.

"Lang wrestled a tactical match," assistant coach Andrew Pariano said. "He did what he had to do to win in the end in a tough environment with tons of Oklahoma State fans."

Herbert, an NCAA runner-up and Big Ten champion at 174 pounds last season and currently No. 1 at 184, absolutely dominated his match against Minnesota's second-ranked Roger Kish. Kish was the NCAA runner-up at 184 pounds last season and is the reigning Big Ten champion at that weight, but Herbert took control early and never let up to take a 10-2 major decision. The junior recorded a takedown and nearfall to go up 5-0 in the first period. Herbert escaped 20 seconds into the second period to extend his lead to 6-0. After Kish took down Herbert, the Wildcat received a point for an escape to take a 7-2 lead after two periods.

Herbert went ahead 9-2 with 1:30 to go in the third and rode Kish the rest of the match. Sufficient riding time enabled Herbert to notch an extra point to take a 10-2 major decision.

"It was the most dominant match of the night," Pariano said. "He defeated a very good opponent and made it look easy."
 
The matches in the All-Star Classic do not count for rankings or individual records. This was the first year Northwestern had two representatives in the same event and Herbert has won matches at the All-Star Classic the past two years.

Northwestern returns to action with a dual meet against Northern Illinois Dec. 8.