Wrestling | February 19

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Three bonus-point wins helped the Northern Illinois University wrestling team defeat SIUE 25-12 in the Huskies' regular season finale Sunday afternoon at First Community Arena. NIU improved to 8-5 overall and now co-leads the Mid-American Conference (MAC) West Division as the conference championships are just 12 days away (March 3-4).

"I thought our guys competed hard. We went out and we did what we talked about," said head NIU coach Ryan Ludwig. "We looked to assert our will, we looked to get out and control the ties and score first. And in a lot of those matches that we came out on top, that's what we did,"

HM Blake West, the MAC and NCAA Wrestler of the Week, kicked off the action with a commanding major decision win over Austin Macias. West built a 6-2 lead in the first frame and a 9-2 advantage in the second before winning the bout 11-3 to put the Huskies (8-5, 5-1 MAC) up 4-0 early, his sixth-straight win.

"It was great to see Blake West put together a lot of offense getting the leg attacks. That's something we want to see more out of him.

In his fifth dual start of the season, Lucian Brink helped NIU go back-to-back, edging Aaron Schulist at 133. After leading 6-4 as the second period ended, Brink chose bottom and fended off Schulist's comeback. Brink held on to earn an 8-7 win and improved to 4-1 in MAC duals this season.

"Brink was really able to grind out a great match, wrestling his position. I thought that was a big win for him. He lost to him earlier in the year at the Cougar Clash,"

SIUE (6-8, 2-7 MAC) came within one point (7-6) after two-straight wins at 141 and 149, but Anthony Gibson put an end to the retaliation, pinning Caine Tyus in just :57 seconds, his quickest and fifth fall of the year.   

"I think we lost some real tight battles there that we can turn around for the next tournament. Then things really started to separate, which was fantastic because in those dual settings, you look for bonus-points. So at 157, Anthony Gibson with a first period pin was huge,"

At 165, No. 13 Izzak Olejnik beat Cardi Wilson 2-0 before Hayden Pummel built NIU's lead to 22-6 after pinning Chase Diehl at 1:53, snapping his seven-bout skid.

Matthew Zuber was the final Huskie to record a win with a 5-1 decision over Sergio Villalobos. The Cougars won the final two bouts, but NIU's lead was large enough for it to have any effect on the dual's outcome.

With the Huskies' regular season in the books, the team looks ahead to the MAC Championships March 3-4 in Fairfax, Va.

"For us right now, it's just about continuing to focus on the foundations of wrestling, the basics that win wrestling matches. Getting our best positions down to muscle memory, so we're making the right decisions when it gets really crucial. Understanding and believing in our training so that we can understand how hard we've worked and how well we've prepared all year so that we can have a prime and peak performance at the MAC Championship like these guys have worked for."