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OMAHA, Neb. – He's just about done. For the second time.

As a senior at Morris High School, John Dergo was a dominant football player. He earned News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year honors while leading his team to a state championship. And he never played another game.

Jump ahead four years. The Illinois senior enters the final wrestling meet of his career. And, again, he has a chance to go out on top.

"This is it for me," Dergo said. "This is the last tournament.

He's been visualizing himself finishing on the top step of the podium Saturday night.

"That's where I want to be," Dergo said. "I've been dreaming of what I'm going to do if I get in that situation. That's the ultimate goal. I'd like to walk away from this with my hand raised in the air."

"He's down to five matches," Illinois coach Jim Heffernan said. "If he's 5-0, he's the national champion."

Dergo is the No. 2 seed and considered among the favorites at 184 pounds. He is hoping to become the first Illini to win an NCAA title since Matt Lackey in 2003. That's a long seven-year drought for a school that had seven NCAA champions in the previous eight seasons.

"We've needed one for several years, actually," Heffernan said. "I think (Dergo) has got a very good chance, especially with the way he's wrestling. But you've still got to go and do it."

One of those champions was Carl Perry, now an Illinois assistant coach. Like Dergo, Perry's senior season on the mat was his final time in the sport.

"There is something calming about that," Perry said. " 'I'm going to let it all hang out. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose.' I remember that same feeling."

Dergo understands its important for the Illini to win another title. But it isn't keeping him up at night.

"You can't put so much pressure on yourself," Dergo said. "You've just got to look at it like another tournament."

Dergo is in fourth NCAA meet. He went 2-2 as a freshman and sophomore and improved to 3-2 last season.

Going into past national meets, Dergo said he felt worn down. Not this time.

"I feel like I'm wrestling my best," Dergo said. "I feel great."

When he is on the mat this weekend, Dergo will hear the voice of his dad and high school coach, George.

"I have an awareness where he's at all the time," Dergo said. "You'll hear him yell every once in a while some random things."

There will be a whole bunch of Dergo's family and friends in the stands at the Qwest Center. They will be patting him on the back and wishing him "good luck."

And luck can be a part of winning an NCAA title. A top wrestler gets upset ahead of you or suffers a minor injury. It happens all the time.

"In the same sense, you kind of make your own luck," Dergo said. "You've got to go out, wrestle and beat the guys in front of you."

The first guy in front of Dergo is Pittsburgh's Zac Thomusseit. If he keeps winning, Dergo could potentially face Missouri's Max Askren in the semifinals. Askren is one of the two wrestlers to beat Dergo during a 31-2 season.

Dergo won't see Boise State's undefeated Kirk Smith, the other wrestler to beat him, until the finals.

Dergo promises he won't look past the first match. And he's done no scouting of anyone on his side of the bracket.

"I think that gets in your head a little bit and you worry about what they might do," Dergo said. "I go out and wrestle my kind of match. I feel confident that way."

Don't worry, Heffernan has checked out Dergo's draw. Repeatedly.

"Unfortunately, I'm a junkie and I've spent hours looking at that stuff," Heffernan said. "A lot of it is because I'm just a fan. It doesn't do many any good, but make me lose sleep."

Dergo will have limited company at the NCAA meet. The two other Illini qualifiers are 174-pounder Jordan Blanton and 197-pounder Patrick Bond. The three qualifiers are the fewest for Illinois since 1993