Tied 1-1 with No. 9-seed Nick Heflin of Ohio State, Jacobs needed a single point to win in overtime. However, 12 seconds after the match resumed, Heflin recorded a takedown and the 3-1 sudden victory, ending Jacobs’ career and MSU’s season.

Although Jacobs had a very strong season with the wrestling team, ultimately, he came up just short of his goal.

Such has been the story of the Spartans’ 2012 season, where they finished 10th in the Big Ten with a 3-11 overall record (1-7 Big Ten).

Several times this season, MSU appeared to have turned the corner and figured things out, but for every step forward, the Spartans would take two steps back.

At no point in the season was this more evident than in the Feb. 5 loss on senior day to then-No. 6 Ohio State, in which the Spartans fell 24-13.

Final score aside, the dual featured some of MSU’s best wrestling all season, and the Spartans appeared on their way to upsetting the Buckeyes with two matches to go, leading 15-12. But in the second to last match, senior 125-pounder Eric Olanowski was disqualified and lost his temper, costing MSU an eight-point swing and essentially the dual.

Mistakes, injuries and inattention to little details undermined MSU’s strong roster and dragged the team down into the depths of the Big Ten. Still, that isn’t to say the Spartans learned nothing this year.

In Ann Arbor, freshman 141-pounder Brian Gibbs wrestled against the No. 1 wrestler in his weight class, Michigan’s Kellen Russell.

Junior heavyweight Steve Andrus made his first appearances in the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, and when it comes down to it, these will be the wrestlers to carry the mantle that Jacobs and the five other departing seniors leave behind.

So while this season didn’t pan out quite the way the Spartans had hoped, it would be unfair to call it a failure — more like a placeholder.

For the seniors, it’s unfortunate that in their final season, a team with so much potential had underachieved to such a spectacular level. But in the same vein, those six seniors can feel confident knowing they left the program in much better shape than it was when the season started in November.

Although he left St. Louis empty-handed, Jacobs can find solace that through his leadership, he may have laid the groundwork for one of his teammates to notch All-American honors in the future.

And when it’s all said and done, no matter how many accolades a wrestler has at the end of the season, one thing truly stands out above the rest — how he helped his team to grow.

Jesse O’Brien is the wrestling reporter for The State News. He can be reached at obrie151@msu.edu.