Wrestling | March 12

DeKALB, Ill.—After punching their tickets to the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) and Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) of the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program have received their seeds as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday (March 12).
 
West is the No. 16 seed at 125 pounds after winning the MAC title while Johnson is the No. 32 seed at 157 pounds after taking third place last weekend. Markel Baker (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) is at alternate seed at 133 pounds after taking fourth place at the MAC Championships. 
 
West became NIU's first MAC Champion at 125 pounds since 2007 when he won the title on March 8 in New Jersey. West completed his fourth consecutive 20-plus win season and went undefeated in MAC action for the second straight year. West led the Huskies with 10 major decisions and claimed wins over ranked opponents from Missouri, Princeton, Penn, and Cal Poly this season. West will face Max Gallagher of Penn in his opening round after defeating Gallagher at the 60th Midlands Championships in December.
 
In his debut season for the Huskies, Johnson posted a record of 17-11 this season. Johnson took third at the MAC Championships, after dropping his quarterfinal match to then-No. 17 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan. Johnson leads Huskies with seven falls this season and has claimed a ranked win over then-No. 26 Kaleb Burgess of Buffalo. Johnson will face Richard Fedalen of Columbia.  
 
Baker posted a record of 17-7 this season and went 7-0 in MAC duals. Baker's most notable victory this season was over then-No. 2 Zeth Romney of Cal Poly in a thrilling 7-6 victory. Baker has recorded five major decisions and three technical fall victories this season.
 
With West and Johnston qualifying for the national tournament, NIU extends their streak of at least one NCAA qualifier to 54-straight years and the second straight year of two wrestlers qualifying. This dates to 1972 when Larry Johnson earned All-America honors by taking fifth.

NIU has two national champions in its history, with Roy Conrad winning the Division I title in 1960 at 177 and Neal McDonald earning the Division II championship in 1965.
 
West and Johnson are the 130th and 131st wrestlers to qualify for the national tournament in program history while Baker received a spot as an alternate.
 
The 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships will take place from March 20-22 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
 
Single session tickets, venue information, game programs, and more will be available at NCAA.com.