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Wrestling

2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets Released

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Three Huskie grapplers earned top-16 seeds as the NCAA announced the brackets for the 2017 Division I Wrestling Championships Wednesday evening. Northern Illinois University will have five wrestlers compete in the tournament, the most to qualify since 1985 when the Mid-American Conference Championship team qualified six. The three-day event will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. on March 16-18.
 
The NCAA Wrestling Championships are double-elimination format, with all competitors in the winner's bracket wrestling for individual national titles and those in the loser's brackets wrestling for the prestigious All-American honors (given to the top-eight finishers in each weight class).
 
At 197-pounds, Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly) will head into his third and final NCAA Championships as the No. 11 seed. Scott is coming off of a fourth-place finish at the MAC Championships where he improved his record to 24-7. The Huskie is set to face Benjamin Honis of Cornell who holds a 27-13 record and placed third at the EIWA Championships.
 
Returning NCAA qualifier, Steve Bleise (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea), will face a familiar opponent in the first round of the tournament as the No. 14 seed. Bleise will square off against Michael Hayes of Old Dominion at 149-pounds. Bleise was victorious over Hayes at the MAC Championships in an enthralling overtime tie-breaker dual that ended in a 9-7 decision in favor of the Huskie.
 
Trace Engelkes (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) is also ranked, grabbing the No. 15 seed, and will wrestle Jonathan Schleifer from Princeton. Schleifer holds a 27-13 record and went 4-2 on his way to a sixth-place finish at the EIWA Championships.
 
Brock Hudkins (Danville, Ind./Danville) and Shaun'Qae McMurtry (Lockport, Ill./Nebraska) qualified for their first trip to NCAAs and are unranked at 125 and 164, respectively. Hudkins (18-10) will face the No. 5 seed Tim Lambert (28-6) of Nebraska while McMurtry (10-10) is matched up with the undefeated No. 1 seed Isaiah Martinez (27-0) from Illinois.
 
You can follow the Huskies on Twitter @NIUWrestling and on Instagram @niu_wrestling for up-to-date results during the NCAA Tournament.
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Players Mentioned

Steve Bleise

Steve Bleise

Redshirt Sophomore
Trace Engelkes

Trace Engelkes

Redshirt Senior
Shaun

Shaun'Qae McMurtry

Redshirt Senior
Shawn Scott

Shawn Scott

Redshirt Senior
Brock Hudkins

Brock Hudkins

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Steve Bleise

Steve Bleise

Redshirt Sophomore
Trace Engelkes

Trace Engelkes

Redshirt Senior
Shaun

Shaun'Qae McMurtry

Redshirt Senior
Shawn Scott

Shawn Scott

Redshirt Senior
Brock Hudkins

Brock Hudkins

Freshman