Wrestling | December 30

HOFFMAN ESTATS, Ill.—Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) took sixth place at the 59th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern, as the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program finished action at the tournament.

The Huskies scored 41.5 points at the two-day tournament.

"We have a lot of things to build on over the past couple weeks and a lot to learn from as well," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "We will get back to the room and continue to work with our end goal in mind. I'm proud of the leadership and competitive fire from (Blake) West this weekend."

West opened his day with a rematch from December 15, 2023, facing off against Elijah Griffin of California Baptist. West dropped a 10-7 decision to Griffin in the semifinal match to move to the consolation bracket. In the consolation semifinal bracket, West faced off against Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. Barnett got the better of West, handing West a technical fall loss (17-1).

In the fifth-place match, West faced off against Diego Sotelo of Harvard. Sotelo held off a late charge from West, winning in an 11-8 decision as West finished in sixth place.  

Jaivon Jones (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Nordonia) faced off against Sam Cartella of Northwestern in the consolation bracket this morning. Jones fell to Cartella in a technical fall (TF 16-0).

West and Jones both advanced to the second day of competition at the Ken Kraft Midlands in 2022.

The Huskies take their 7-1 (1-0 MAC) record on the road as they return to the mat on January 5. The Huskies travel to Rider University for a MAC dual with action set to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. Central).