Pinning an opponent — the ultimate way to end a wrestling
match — earns six points for the winner’s team. As the Wisconsin wrestling team
has opened up its season with a 4-0 record in duals, one wrestler has scored
six points in each of the squad’s four matches.

His name is Dallas Herbst. Herbst, a redshirt junior from
Winneconne, Wis., has already scored 24 team points in the early stages of this
season. In fact, of Herbst's 13 victories thus far this season between duals
and invitationals, 10 have come via pin.

"Pinning has always
been something I've liked to do," Herbst said. "You know, get on with it and
get it done with as fast as you can."

That way of thinking is why Herbst is a mere eight pins away
from taking over top billing on the all-time pins list at UW. The man he is
chasing is no chump, though. He is Lee Kemp, a three-time NCAA champion here
and three-time world champion.

"It's cool to see
him be able to come in and do the stuff he's been doing and already be close to
beating that pin record," teammate and fellow classmate Kyle Massey said.
"Coming in, we had a big recruiting class and his name wasn't one of the big
names that came up. To have him be one of the stand-outs on our team is pretty
cool."

Kemp wrestled at UW from
1974-78 and was an overtime away from being a four-time NCAA champ. He finished
his career boasting an all-time record of 143-6-1 and is UW's all-time pins
leader with 47. Now with Herbst in the picture, however, that record is in
great danger of falling.

Herbst credits his
summer training for his improved wrestling. He spent two weeks with Gene Mills —
another wrestling legend, who won two NCAA championships with Syracuse during
the late 1970s — to work on his techniques and  approach to the mat. It’s fitting since Mills
also happens to hold the NCAA career mark of 107 pins.

"It definitely has
me thinking a lot during my matches," Herbst says of what he's learned this
summer. "A lot of times I'll be doing something I'm used to and I'll be
thinking of what I learned this summer of what I should be doing differently.
Whether it just means putting pressure somewhere else that I'm not used to that
would help. I think it was definitely a good experience."

While Herbst has
been able to find success on the mat, Mills helped him become more conscious of
how he acts as an enforcer and reacts on the mat. And he hopes it will get him
over the hump after making an early exist at the NCAA Tournament the past two
years.

"I mean Gene Mills
was a stud at pinning in college so using a lot of the same stuff I use. So
it's definitely in the back of my head now that I should be doing this instead
of that, and I think for the most part it's helped."

Herbst is no stranger to the success. While in high school,
he was a two-time WIAA state champion, going a perfect 44-0 his senior year in
2004. Herbst then came into UW with one of the top recruiting classes in the
nation. Herbst, along with Massey, Zach Tanelli and Craig Henning to name a
few, entered Wisconsin in the fall of 2004 with high hopes. Thus far, Henning
thinks that Herbst has come a long way since day one.

"He's just been
great, coming in, just getting the coaching that was here," Henning said. "The
coaching here is so much better than anything you'll see in high school. He's
really listened to everybody and he's bought into everything. He's also a guy
who will pick stuff up wherever he can.

"He's not just going
to pick and choose certain people he's going to learn from," continued Henning.
"He listens to everybody. He picks up stuff on his own just watching matches
and you can see it when he wrestles, he's getting better in all positions and
just by picking stuff up and being around the sport."

While Herbst has won
over his teammates and coaches, he still has work to do. Despite falling one
round short of All-American the past two seasons, Herbst knows he can reach his
goals — he just has to keep at it.

"I came here with
really not a whole lot of expectations," Herbst said. "I wanted to do well, but
at the same time, you know, you're a freshman so you've got all of those 'what
ifs.' The last four years have been huge for me with my style — I mean I didn't
come in as an offensive wrestler, and I think I've changed that.

"I'm taking more
shots and just scoring from all aspects and not making it just one part of my
wrestling that's going to beat other guys," Herbst said. "I've learned a lot so
far in my time here."