Jan. 4, 2007

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois senior wrestler Mike Grimes was named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week after earning first-place at the Midlands Championships by winning five consecutive matches at the 44th annual meet in Evanston.

"Mike is our first Midlands Champion since I have been here and that is a great accomplishment for him and for our program," said head coach Dave Grant. "We have come close to having wrestlers win the Midlands in the past, so we are happy to see Mike get us to that point. He exemplifies the attitude and hard work association with our program and what it stands for."

Grimes, a fifth-year senior from Villa Park, entered the two-day tournament as the sixth-seed at 149 pounds. After notching three Friday victories to reach the semifinals, Grimes picked up where he left off on Saturday. In the semis, Grimes defeated second-seeded Matt Couglin of Indiana, who was ranked fifth nationally, and in the championship bout bested Jake Patacsil of Purdue to take first place.

"It was a tough tournament and a tough road, but it was a fun tournament," said Grimes. "I was able to beat the nation's fifth-ranked wrestler in the semis and then had a challenging match in the championship that came down to the last 30 seconds against a tough opponent."

The weekend performance catapulted Grimes up seven places to 10th in the Wrestling International Newsmagazine's latest national rankings.