DETROIT, Mich. – Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield, Calif/Bakersfield), Mason Kauffman (Stratford, Wis./Stratford) and Brit Wilson (Mexico, Mo./Mexico) of the Northern Illinois University wrestling team all went 1-1 on Thursday at the first day of the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championship at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

"This tournament is full of twists and turns," said head coach Ryan Ludwig. "Our guys have been doing a good job of staying focused and moving on to the next thing in front of them.
 
Olejnik, the number-11 seed at 165 pounds, battled Gardner-Webb's Rodrick Mosley to a 2-1 win in tiebreaker-1 to win his first round match. After both earned escapes to force sudden victory tied at 1-1, Olejnik avoided a Mosley takedown in the first sudden victory period to get to the tiebreaker. He earned the escape in the first tiebreaker and rode out Mosley to advance to the round of 16.

In the second round, Olejnik took on the sixth-seeded Cameron Amine of Michigan. The two wrestled to a scoreless first period, Amine escaped early in the second to go up 1-0 then took down Olejnik for a 3-0 advantage. Olejnik put two points on the board in the third period, but Amine's riding time point gave the Wolverine a 4-2 victory.

Kauffman upset 11th-seeded Peyton Mocco of Missouri 3-1 in the first round at 174. The redshirt-senior scored all three of his points in the second period, starting with an escape and later taking down Mocco to go up 3-0. He faced the six-seed Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the second round. Plott led 2-1 after the first period, then scored three points in the second to take a 5-1 lead before winning the bout 8-2.
 
Wilson led Samuelson 3-0 after two periods in the first round of the 184-pound tournament against Wyoming's Tate Samuelson. Samuelson came back in the third to tie it 3-3 and force sudden victory, where he took down Wilson for the 5-3 win. Wilson bounced back in dominant fashion in his first consolation bout in the evening session, defeating Pittsburgh's Gregg Harvey by major decision 17-3. He got off to a fast start against Pittsburgh's Gregg Harvey, taking the Panther down twice in the first period and earned a four-point near fall for an 8-1 lead.

"Brit's win was great to get that momentum kicked in as well as bonus points for the team," Ludwig said. "That's the way to compete. We aim to be ready to go on the first whistle tomorrow, put our best out there and be offensive".

NIU is back in action Friday morning when competition resumes at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championship at 10 a.m. CT. Fans can watch the action on ESPNU with a video feed of each mat on ESPN3. Olejnik will take on Thomas Bullard of North Carolina State. Kauffman will face Benjamin Pasiuk of Army West Point and Wilson will go up against Jonathan Loew of Cornell.
 
2022 NCAA Wrestling Championship Results for NIU

Izzak Olejnik – 165
Champ. Round 1 – Olejnik dec. Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) 2-1, TB-1
Champ. Round 2 - Cameron Amine (Michigan) dec. Olejnik 4-2
 
Mason Kauffman – 174
Champ. Round 1 – Kauffman dec. Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 3-1
Champ. Round 2 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec. Kauffman 8-2
 
Brit Wilson – 184
Champ. Round 1 – Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) dec. Wilson 5-3, SV-1
Cons. Round 1 - Wilson maj. dec. Gregg Harvey (Pittsburgh) 17-3

—NIU—