Wrestling | March 16

DeKALB, IL – Three Northern Illinois University wrestlers begin their runs in the NCAA Wrestling Championship at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Thursday.
 
The first session on Thursday begins at 11 a.m. CT with the broadcast on ESPNU. Each of the eight mats will have its own feed on ESPN3. The full broadcast schedule is available at the following link.
 
Redshirt-Seniors Brit Wilson (Mexico, Mo./Mexico) and Mason Kauffman (Stratford, Wis./Stratford), along with redshirt-junior Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) will represent the Huskies in Detroit this weekend. All three wrestlers earned automatic bids into the NCAA Championships by winning Mid-American Conference titles in their weight classes on March 5. It was the first time NIU had three MAC champions at the same meet since 2003 when Sam Hiatt (133), Scott Owen (157) and Ben Heizer (184) accomplished the feat.
 
Wilson joined Heizer as the only three-time MAC champions in program history with his 184-pound title two weeks ago. He outscored his opponents 37-6 in his four matches for his third consecutive championship. This is the fourth time Wilson has qualified for the NCAA Championship, joining NIU Hall of Famer T.C. Dantzler as the only NIU wrestlers to qualify for four NCAA Championships. Wilson earned All-American honors last season when he placed sixth. He enters the weekend with 112 career wins, second all-time at NIU to Scott Owen's 116. Wilson is seeded 12^th and will take on Wyoming's Tate Samuelson on Thursday.
 
Kauffman is making his second trip to the NCAA Championship. He won his first career MAC title at 174 pounds with a 7-5 victory over Ohio's Sal Perrine in the championship match. Kauffman has won his last seven matches, six of which were decided by three points or less. Last year Kauffman became the first NIU student-athlete to be honored with the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA Championships. Kauffman is seeded 22^nd in his weight class and will face Peyton Mocco of Missouri in the first round.
 
Olejnik is the highest-seeded of the three Huskies headed for Detroit. The 165-pound redshirt-junior is 11^th on the bracket and will face Rodrick Mosley of Gardner-Webb Thursday morning. Olejnik won his first MAC title 7-5 in sudden victory over Lock Haven's Ashton Eyler. Like Kauffman, Olejnik also enters the NCAA Championship on a seven-match winning streak. He has scored at least six points in five of those victories. Olejnik went 2-2 at last year's NCAA Championship.
 
--NIU--