Wrestling | March 22

CLEVELAND – Redshirt senior Izzak Olejnik of the Northern Illinois University wrestling team earned his second Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week plaudit of the season, the conference office announced Wednesday.

NIU's 165-pounder earned the award after finishing in eighth place at the 2023 NCAA Championships last weekend in Tulsa.

No. 12 seeded Olejnik went 4-3 at the tournament, earning wins over No. 22 Tanner Cook (South Dakota State), and No. 20 Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) before upsetting No. 10 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) to land All-America honors.

The back-to-back MAC champion finished the year with a 31-5 overall mark, including being a perfect 6-0 in conference duals.

The MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition.  Each week schools are asked to nominate one female and one male among the sports that are in season at the time.  The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.

With his first recognition in week 15, Olejnik is the fourth Huskie to win the award this academic year. Previously, A'Jah Davis and Chelby Koker of women's basketball were named MAC Scholar Athlete in weeks 12, 13, and 18 while Alyssa Al-Ashari of gymnastics was honored in week 20.