INDIANAPOLIS – Huskie grapplers Brock Hudkins and Bryce Gorman learned their first round opponents in the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships as the NCAA revealed the brackets on Wednesday.
 
"I am confident in the abilities of these guys," said NIU head wrestling coach Ryan Ludwig.  "It's the National Tournament and seeds are conversation.  We need to approach each match as an opportunity."
 
Hudkins, a native of Danville, Ind., enters his second NCAA Championships competing against the No. 7 seed Taylor LeMont from Utah Valley at 125. The Huskie sophomore was 17-10 this season including a 6-3 record in the MAC.  Hudkins settled for a second place finish at the MAC Championships.
 
At 184, Gorman, who hails from Manhattan, Ill., enters his first NCAA Championship wrestling against the No. 2 seed Myles Martin of Ohio State. The Huskie redshirt-junior is 11-8 this season and went 4-4 in the MAC.  Gorman wrestled to a second-place finish at the MAC Championships last weekend
 
The Huskies have sent at least one grappler to the NCAA Championships for 47 consecutive years.  NIU sent five wrestlers to the Championships last season, the most since 1985. 
 
The NCAA Championships are in a double-elimination format, with all competitors in the winners bracket wrestling for individual titles and those in the loser's bracket fighting for All-American honors. The NCAA Championships are March 15-17 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
­-NIU-