HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Three Northern Illinois University wrestlers advanced to the second day of competition at the 56th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at the Sears Center after a strong day Saturday.

Brit Wilson (Mexico, Mo./Mexico) advanced to the semifinals at 174, while

Caden McWhirter (Prattville, Ala./Prattville) and Will Feldkamp (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) will battle their way through the consolation bracket at 165 and 184, respectively.

"The guys competed hard and for each other," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "It was a solid day of competition. We're looking forward to day two with Brit, Caden and Will."

Wilson will face Northern Iowa's Taylor Lujan in his first match of the day Sunday. The Huskie redshirt freshman, who is having a strong season, posted a 15-3 maj. dec. over Central Michigan's Jake Lowell in his first match of the day, before scoring a pinfall victory over Mount Union's Jairod James. A 13-3 maj. dec. win over Maryland's Josh Ugalde vaulted Wilson to the semifinals.

After dropping his first bout of the day to top-seeded Evan Wick of Wisconsin, McWhirter went on a three-match winning streak to stay alive. He will face Anthony Valencia of Arizona in his first match Sunday.

Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman awaits Feldkamp, who won his first match of the day, 3-1, over Billy Janzer of Rutgers. Feldkamp dropped his second match of the day, 7-5, before winning his next two matches in the consolation bracket.

As a team, NIU is in ninth place with 38.5 points. Iowa leads the way with 114.5 points.

The Huskie trio hits the mats at 12 p.m. CT for the third session of the tournament. Fans can watch all the action live on Flowrestling.com and live stats are available on Trackwrestling.com.

-NIU-