Wrestling | March 18
DeKALB, Ill.—Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) makes his second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships while
Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) makes his debut as the pair are set to represent the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program in Philadelphia this week. The 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia from March 20-22.
The first session begins on March 20 at 11 a.m. CT with preliminary rounds and first matches before the second session begins at 6 p.m. CT. A full schedule can be found at NCAA Wrestling Championship Central. All matches throughout the championship will be available on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+).
West is the No. 16 seed at 125-pounds after winning the MAC Championship while Johnson earned the No. 32 seed at 157-pounds.
"This is the best time of the year as we head to the NCAA Championships," said NIU head coach
Ryan Ludwig. "It's incredible competition and a celebration of the hard work put in all year long. The guys have been focused on the details of their game as they prepare for the first match in Philly. They are in their routine and ready to get things going."
In his second appearance at the NCAA tournament, West will face No. 17 Max Gallagher of Penn in his opening round after defeating Gallagher at the 60th Midlands Championships in December.
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 claimed wins over ranked opponents from Missouri, Princeton, Penn, and Cal Poly this season.
In his debut match, Johnson will face No. 33 Richard Fedalen of Columbia. Johnson took third at the MAC Championships. Johnson claimed a ranked win over then-No. 26 Kaleb Burgess of Buffalo and 17-11 in his debut season with the Huskies.
Markel Baker (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) is an alternate at 133-pounds and will travel to the NCAA Championships after taking fourth at the MAC Championships. Baker posted a record of 17-7 and went undefeated in MAC duals.
With West and Johnson 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.
