Wrestling | December 29

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Three grapplers of the Northern Illinois University wrestling team can summit a podium at the 58^th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships tomorrow at NOW Arena. Jaivon Jones (141) and Blake West (125) will look to advance in their consolation brackets while Izzak Olejnik aims for a title at 165.

"We saw a lot of things to digest and grow from today," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "Blake West went toe-to-toe in a tight battle with a former NCAA runner up [Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)] and Jaivon Jones avenged a tight loss from last year [Carmen Ferrante (Penn)] with a fall to move to day two,"

West beat Mid-American Conference foe Nick Molchak of Cleveland State in the opening round of 125. He followed with another triumph with a 6-0 blanking of Harvard's Beau Bayless before falling to Brandon Courtney of Arizona State to be forced into the consolation bracket.

However, West has an opportunity to keep things interesting with a bout against Indiana's Jacob Moran tomorrow.

Jones doped his opening match of the day but logged four-straight wins in the 141 consolation bracket. Jones will battle Danny Pucino of Illinois tomorrow as well.

Olejnik blew through his 165 championship bracket, downing four opponents in succession before his night was capped with a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 8 Justin McCoy (Virginia).

"Olejnik wrestled an excellent match against a top-10 opponent to move into the semis. We are looking forward to more action tomorrow."

Action resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m.. Follow @NIUWrestling on twitter for live updates.
 
125 – No. 31 Blake West
               Nick Molchak (Cleveland State) W, 6-0
               Beau Bayless (Harvard) W, 6-0
               Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) L, 4-3
               Jacob Moran (Indiana) TBD (cons)

133 - Lucian Brink
               Pat Phillips (Franklin & M) W, 3-1
               Brian Beers (Illinois) W, 2-1
               Taylor Lamont (Wisconsin) L, 9-6
               Bryce West (NIU) L, 5-4 (cons)  
  
141 - Jaivon Jones
               Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) L, 11-5             
               Bryce Shelton (Air Force) W, 6-0 (cons)
               Caleb Brooks (NIU) W, 6-0 (cons)
               Cole Rhemrev (Indiana) W, 6-4 (cons)
               Carmen Ferrante (Penn) W, Fall 6:45 (cons)
               Danny Pucino (Illinois) (cons) TBD

165 – No. 10 Izzak Olejnik
               Blaine Bergey (Princeton) W, Fall 2:07
               Kendall Norfleet (Triton Junio) W, Fall 6:09
               Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) W, W, 4-0
               No. 8 Justin McCoy (Virginia) W, 3-2
               Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) TBD

184 – Matthew Zuber
               Wyatt Haynes (Chicago) W, 11-0 MD
               Jaritt Shinhoster (UW-Whitewater) L, Fall 4:26  
               Tyler Kocak (George Mason) L, SV-1 3-1 (cons)

285 - Terrese Aaron
               Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) W, 3-2
               Lucas Davison (Northwestern) L, 3-0
               Dan McKiernan (SIU Edwardsvill) W, 3-1 (cons)
               Tyrie Houghton (NC State) L, Fall :39 (cons)