DEKALB, Ill. – Fifteen schools will converge on DeKalb to compete for 10 individual championships and one team title when the 2020 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships takes place at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center this weekend.
The two-day event, which begins on Saturday at 10 a.m. and runs through Sunday afternoon, will feature 150 wrestlers vying for 41 bids to compete in the 2020 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. March 19-21.
Tickets for the event are on sale now through
Ticketmaster. A two-day pass is available for $40, while single day tickets are $25. A group rate of $20 can also be purchased.
Fans will be able to watch the championships from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday free via NIUTube on NIUHuskies.com. Each mat will have its own stream. Starting at 4 p.m. Saturday, the action shifts to ESPN+. The championship bouts will also be shown on ESPN+ starting at 1:30 p.m. All times listed are Central. Trackwrestling will provide live scoring throughout the championships and the link will be available later Friday.
The Huskies, who enjoyed their best regular season since 2004-05, posted a 13-4 regular season record and a 7-2 mark in conference action. However, NIU head coach
Ryan Ludwig knows that means little heading into this weekend's tournament.
"It's almost two separate seasons really," Ludwig said. "That was in the past. That was dual meet season. The dual meet season went well, but you can take all that and scrap it. It was really used for seeding purposes.
"Now everyone's 0-0 heading into the MAC Championship. You've got to forget about things that went well or didn't go well and realize now that the only thing that matters is how prepared you are on that Saturday morning."
NIU had seven grapplers seeded in the 10 weight classes, with Izzak Olejnik earning the highest seed at No. 3 wrestling at 165. The redshirt freshman went 16-9 on the season and 7-2 in MAC competition. He concluded the regular season on a five-match winning streak.
Redshirt-sophomores
Brit Wilson and
Bryce West, who qualified for the NCAA Championships last year, were seeded No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Wilson was 18-3 on the season and 7-2 in the league wrestling at 184 and has won 12 of his last 13 bouts. West reached the 20-win plateau, going 20-9 on the season competing at 125.
Max Ihry, who made a run during last year's MAC Championships, stepped up a weight class this season, wrestling at 285. He's been impressive, earning a 16-9 overall record and playing a key role in several Huskie victories this season. He's seeded eighth heading into Saturday.
Seniors
McCoy Kent and
Kenny Moore were each seeded No. 6 at 149 and 174, respectively. Redshirt freshman
Gage Braun, who's been very impressive at 197, earned a fourth seed.
The Huskies will be pursuing their first MAC championship since 1985 in front of the hometown fans.
"It's always comfortable to be at home to know your surroundings, be able to sleep in your bed," Ludwig said. "I think having our own facilities in which to prep, everyone's weight cut is a lot smoother with their own facility, all those kinds of things are going to help our guys out. Really, just the mindset of knowing we're at home, we have all our fans, friends and family, that should provide a comfortable environment for us."
This year's event is unique as it's the first time the league will feature 15 schools. NIU's wrestlers have faced more than half the teams in the league already. However, Ludwig feels whether one of his wrestlers has faced his opponent before or not, each Huskie grappler needs to have the right mindset heading into the tournament.
"You can look at it both ways," he said. "It's an advantage if you haven't seen somebody, so now maybe they haven't seen your best stuff. Maybe there's an advantage of seeing somebody sometime so now you can game plan for them.
"It's all about putting a positive mindset on it for yourself. If you're too worried about the other guy, then you're thinking about the wrong things."
-NIU-
