Wrestling | December 28

DeKALB, Ill.—Returning to the mat after an eight-day break, the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program (2-1, 2-0 MAC) is set to compete at the 60th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern. Action will take place from December 29-30 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.   
 
Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) took sixth place at the 2023 tournament, the lone Huskie to place.
 
First round of the competition is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT with 10 mats in action. Fans can view action by following along with TrackWrestling or with BigTen+ (subscription based).
 
Ken Kraft Midlands
 
There will be 37 men's teams in action over the two-day tournament which will also feature a women's wrestling division. Nine Big Ten institutions will be in action with nine Mid-American Conference schools also seeing the mat.
 
The first session will start at 9:30 a.m. on December 29 followed by the second session beginning at 7 p.m. December 30 sees the third session and the beginning of the women's division start at 10:30 a.m. before the final session begins at 3 p.m. Awards will conclude at 6 p.m.
 
For more information on the Ken Kraft Midlands and a full list of teams competing, click here.
 
Huskies in the Rankings
 
West and Jacob Brya (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) land in this week's rankings for the Huskies. West is ranked in four polls, landing at No. 15 in WrestleStat and at No. 26 in Intermat, FloWrestling, and The College Wrestling Report. Brya finds himself in three polls, landing at No. 22 in Intermat and The College Wrestling Report while sitting at No. 27 via WrestleStat.
 
Last Time on the Mat
 
The Huskies were last in action on December 19 and 20 as they traveled to Kent State.
 
The Huskies posted a 23-19 win over the Golden Flashes on December 19 in a conference dual which saw West, Markel Baker (Freeport, Ill./Freeport), Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna), Tommy Bennett (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) and Sean Carroll (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) all claim victories for NIU.  
 
Camren French (Mattoon, Ill./Mariner) led the Huskies at the Kent State Open on December 20 as four Huskies landed in the top-5. Brody Hallin (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) took fourth place at 157 pounds while Lucan O'Brien (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Edwards) and Tyler Schofield (Olivet, Mich./Olivet) grabbed fifth place finishes at 149 and 165 pounds respectively. Grabbing a sixth-place finish, Ian Smith (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) competed for the Huskies at 197.