Wrestling | March 4
FAIRFAX, Va. – Redshirt senior
Izzak Olejnik of the Northern Illinois University wrestling team defended his 165 title while three other Huskies placed at the 2023 Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday at EagleBank Arena on George Mason University's campus.
"We wrestled very hard. We wrestled for everything that we could get and we just needed to execute in a couple of small situations that were the difference in some of those matches," said head NIU coach
Ryan Ludwig. "We obviously really appreciate and love the way our guys compete, and that's what we wanted out of them. So, a successful overall venture, very proud of our champ and our outstanding wrestler, and everybody else's efforts,"
Along with his first-place medal, Olejnik was tabbed Outstanding Wrestler in the field of 130 student-athletes.
"Anytime you can walk away from that tournament with the Outstanding Wrestler of the MAC Championship is a day to be celebrated. So,
Izzak Olejnik's fantastic performance obviously was voted as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, and deservedly so. That was amazing to have a MAC champ and also that prestigious award,"
Top-seeded Olejnik's path to the podium's peak began yesterday when he beat three opponents, two via bonus-point, to secure a spot in the finals. His foe, No. 6 Enrique Munguia (Kent State), put up a strong fight, but Olejnik overpowered him and was awarded the 7-2 decision to land back-to-back titles. With the win, Olejnik punched his ticket to the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa.
Unseeded redshirt senior
Terrese Aaron put a bow on his Huskie career with his first MAC Championship placing. The 285 lbs. runner-up upset No. 2 Isaac Reid (Lock Haven) yesterday in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship finals with No. 1 Colton McKiernan (SIUE). Aaron nearly knocked off the top-seed but was edged 2-0 in a heartbreaking loss.
"For
Terrese Aaron to get there was outstanding, and I think obviously his sights were set on winning that thing and he sold out. It was a tight match, and it didn't go his way today, but extremely proud of his effort,"
Redshirt junior
Jaivon Jones, also unseeded, made his way to the third place bout with No. 2 Saul Ervin (SIUE) after rebounding from a loss in the 141 lbs. semifinals yesterday. It was a defensive bout, but Jones emerged victorious 2-0 over Ervin, improving from his fourth place showing at last year's championships.
No. 5 redshirt freshman
Blake West was the final Huskie grappler to place at the championships. West marched his way to the third-place match with No. 4 Markel Baker (George Mason) after beating four opponents through the two-day event. West beat Baker 2-1, giving him a chance at a true second placing and a trip to Tulsa. However, West lost 6-5 to No. 2 Jake Ferri (Kent State) in a thrilling bout.
"Couldn't be more proud of the efforts of
Jaivon Jones and
Blake West, battling all the way back to third and then Blake [West] got a chance at that true second place match. An unbelievably back-and-forth match with Jake Ferri of Kent State and it just didn't go his way today,"
Despite West and Jones losing and thus not earning an automatic bid to the NCAAs, the pair still have a chance to make the national tournament with an at-large bid. Be sure to tune in to the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, March 8th at 7 p.m. CT on NCAA.com to see where Olejnik, Jones, and West stand. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com.
"We really like our chances at some at-large bids. At 125 with
Blake West, we feel that he's been on the periphery, in and out of the national rankings with the coaches' panel. He's got a good RPI ranking and also his winning percentage is above where it needs to be, in the 70 percentage, so he's done a fine job. We really hope that it works out for him. Jaivon [Jones] obviously proved his case here, more with the MAC only having two automatic qualifiers and having a very good tournament. We expect him to be in the mix as well. So, hopefully things 'play to chalk' in the other conferences and we can get some at-large bids and get these guys to the NCAAs."
