DEKALB, Ill. – Sophomore Brit Wilson captured the conference title at 184 and helped lead the Northern Illinois University wrestling team to a third-place finish at the 2020 Mid-American Conference Championships at the Convocation Center on Sunday.
 
"We needed a strong finish," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "The goal really was to punch as many guys through to NCAAs as we could.
 
"Brit Wilson being a MAC champion, we haven't had one of those for a while. So, for him to get rewarded for his leadership and hard work was just outstanding, especially avenging a loss from earlier in the year."
 
Ludwig shared MAC Coach of the Year honors with Central Michigan's Tom Borelli. He is the first Huskie head man to win that award since Dave Grant accomplished the feat in 2002.
 
Wilson was one of seven wrestlers to place, and one of three to earn a bid to the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis March 19-21. In addition to Wilson, redshirt-freshmen Izzak Olejnik and Gage Braun wrestled their way into the dance.
 
Wilson, who suffered an 11-3 setback to Missouri's Dylan Wisman of Missouri when the two met in Columbia last month, fell behind 2-0 after a first period takedown. However, the Mexico, Mo. native regrouped and battled back in the second. After Wisman went up 3-0 on an escape to open the second period, Wilson kept on his attacks, earning a takedown a minute into the second period and another with 24 seconds left to tie the match, 4-4, heading into the final frame.
 
Taking neutral to open the third period, Wilson scored a takedown 10 seconds in to go up 6-4. After an escape, Wilson posted another takedown with 39 seconds left and rode Wisman out the rest of the match for the victory.
 
Wilson is NIU's first MAC champion since Austin Eicher (133) in 2016 and the first at 184 since Brad Dieckhaus in 2011, also at the Convocation Center.
 
Braun posted a thrilling, last-second 9-8 win to finish third at 197. After jumping out to a 4-2 first-period lead, Braun found himself tied 5-5 with Central Michigan's Landon Pelham at the end of the second. Braun opened the third with a quick escape, but was taken down midway through the period.
 
With the match tied, 7-7, with the riding time in favor of Pelham and two seconds left, the wrestlers were returned to the center of the mat to restart the match after going out of bounds. At the whistle, Pelham stepped back, Gage attacked and scored a takedown as time expired for the victory.
 
Olejnik, who advanced to the championship match in his first MAC Championships, finished second after suffering a 10-5 setback to Buffalo's Troy Keller. Kenny Moore finished the tournament in fourth place, but lost the true fourth-place match for NCAA Tournament placing.
 
"I thought Izzak Olejnik had a fantastic tournament," Ludwig said. "He's a young guy that was in the MAC championship against a seasoned senior. Bottom line is, he got to the MAC championship match and he found himself a way to Minneapolis."
 
Max Ihry, who stepped up a weight class this season, finished fifth at 285. Ihry defeated Cleveland State's John Kelbly, 3-2 in the fifth-place match. Bryce West and McCoy Kent won their seventh-place bouts to round out the top performers for NIU Sunday.
 
West defeated Christian Gannone of Bloomsburg, 9-7, at 125, while Kent scored a maj. dec. 11-2 victory over Lock Haven's Brock Port.
 
The NCAA will announce all the bids for the 2020 National Championships on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central Time.
 
Team Standings - Final
1.  Missouri, 142
2.  Central Michigan, 121
3.  NIU, 90.5
4.  Rider, 84.5
5.  Lock Haven, 82
6.  Old Dominion, 68
7.  Cleveland State, 62
8.  Ohio, 51.5
9.  Kent State, 51.5
10.  Buffalo, 49.5
11. Edinboro, 45.5
12. Clarion, 39.5
13. George Mason, 39
14. Bloomsburg, 32.5
15. SIUE, 31
 
2020 MAC Wrestling Championships Results for NIU
 
125 - Bryce West (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Bryce West (NIU) fall Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg), 2:55
Quarterfinal: Cameron Valdiviez (Missouri) fall Bryce West (NIU), 6:03
Cons. Round 2: Bryce West (NIU) fall Trevor Giallombardo (Ohio), 1:34
Cons. Round 3 - Jonathan Tropea (Rider) dec. Bryce West (NIU), 10-6
Seventh-Place Match: Bryce West (NIU) dec. Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg), 9-7
 
133 - Caleb Brooks (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Allan Hart (Missouri) maj. dec. Caleb Brooks (NIU), 12-1
Cons. Round 1: Caleb Brooks (NIU) bye
Cons. Round 2: Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) dec. Caleb Brooks (NIU), 4-0
 
141 - Anthony Gibson (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Anthony Gibson (NIU) won Shakur Laney (Ohio), 8-6
Quarterfinal: Sa`Derian Perry (ODU) dec. Anthony Gibson (NIU) 13-8 (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Round 2: Anthony Gibson (NIU) tech fall Cory Simpson (KSU) (TF-1.5 4:58 (21-6))
Cons. Round 3: Alex Madrigal (George Mason) tech fall Anthony Gibson (NIU) (TF-1.5 2:48 (17-0))
Seventh-Place Match: Marcus Robinson (Buffalo) dec. Anthony Gibson (NIU), 7-5
 
149 - McCoy Kent (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: McCoy Kent (NIU) dec. Gino Fluri (Rider), 3-2
Quarterfinal: Colston DiBlasi (George Mason) dec. McCoy Kent (NIU), 5-2
Cons. Round 2: McCoy Kent (NIU) dec. John Arceri (Buffalo), 3-2
Cons. Round 3: Kenan Carter (ODU) dec. McCoy Kent (NIU), (TB-1 2-1)
Seventh-Place Match: McCoy Kent (NIU) maj. dec. Brock Port (Lock Haven), 11-2
 
157 - Mason Kauffman (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Larry Early (ODU) dec. Mason Kauffman (NIU), 4-1
Cons. Round 1: Mason Kauffman (NIU) dec. Brady Chrisman (KSU), 8-5
Cons. Round 2: Logan Parks (CMU) dec. Mason Kauffman (NIU) 12-10 (Dec 2-1)
 
165 - Izzak Olejnik (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) dec. Riley Smucker (Cleveland State), 8-3
Quarterfinal: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) dec. Joseph Terry (Ohio), 6-0
Semifinal: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) dec. Peyton Mocco (Missouri), 6-3
First-Place Match: Troy Keller (Buffalo) dec. Izzak Olejnik (NIU), 10-5
 
174 - Kenny Moore (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Kenny Moore (NIU) dec. Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE), 7-4
Quarterfinal: Andrew McNally (KSU) dec. Kenny Moore (NIU), 3-2
Cons. Round 2: Kenny Moore (NIU) maj. dec. Chase Archangelo (Cleveland State), 17-4
Cons. Round 3: Kenny Moore (NIU) dec. Alex Cramer (Old Dominion), 5-2
Cons. Semi: Kenny Moore (NIU) dec. Jake Lowell (CMU), 4-3
Third-Place Match: Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. Kenny Moore (NIU), 7-0
 
184 - Brit Wilson (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Brit Wilson (NIU) dec. Ben Cushman (CMU), 7-3
Quarterfinal: Brit Wilson (NIU) dec. Corey Hazel (Lock Haven), 10-4
Semifinal: Brit Wilson (NIU) dec. Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg), 8-5
First-Place Match: Brit Wilson (NIU) dec. Dylan Wisman (Missouri), 8-5
 
197 - Gage Braun (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Gage Braun (NIU) dec. Jake Walker (Ohio), 4-1
Quarterfinal: Gage Braun (NIU) dec. Benjamin Smith (Cleveland State), 5-3
Semifinal: Greg Bulsak (Clarion) dec. Gage Braun (NIU), 8-2
Cons. Semi: Gage Braun (NIU) dec. Dylan Reynolds (Edinboro), 9-3
Third-Place Match: Gage Braun (NIU) dec. Landon Pelham (CMU), 9-8
 
285 - Max Ihry (NIU)
Champ. Round 1: Max Ihry (NIU) dec. Trey Hartsock (Lock Haven), (SV-1, 4-2)
Quarterfinal: Jon Spaulding (Edinboro) dec. Max Ihry (NIU), (SV-1 3-1)
Cons. Round 2: Max Ihry (NIU) dec. Jacob Bullock (ODU), (TB-1 2-1)
Cons. Round 3: Max Ihry (NIU) dec. over Colton McKiernan (SIUE), 3-1
Cons. Semi: Ryan Cloud (Rider) dec. Max Ihry (NIU), 5-2
Fifth-Place Match: Max Ihry (NIU) dec. John Kelbly (Cleveland State), 3-2
 
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