Wrestling | March 6
DeKALB, Ill. – Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) is the top-seeded wrestler at 125 pounds as the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program is set to compete at the 2025 Mid-American Conference Championships, March 7-8. Action will take place at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey with Rider University serving as the host school.
Action will start at 11 a.m. on March 7 with the opening round of the tournament. The final bracket will be released on Thursday evening (March 6). More information can be found on the Championship Central website.
The Huskies last won the MAC title in 1985. NIU has crowned 46 MAC Champions since 1975 and six since the 2020 season.
During the 2024 MAC Championships, West and
Jacob Brya (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) took runner-up honors in their respective weight classes.
Tommy Bennett (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) took eighth at 165 pounds last year.
West is one of six Huskie wrestlers to be seeded for the tournament.
Markel Baker (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) holds the third seed at 133 pounds as he and West went undefeated in MAC duals this season. Brya holds the fifth seed at 141 pounds while
Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) is the fifth seed at 157 pounds after going 14-10 this season (4-3 in the MAC). Rounding out the seeded wrestlers are Bennett at 174 pounds with the seventh seed and
Sean Carroll (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) is the seventh seed at 197 pounds.
The Huskies enter the MAC Championship on a five-dual winning streak, having not dropped a contest since January 17. This season, NIU has claimed two MAC victories by a single point.
West and Baker are both receiving rankings in the national polls, with their highest rankings coming from WrestleStat. West clocks in at No. 13 while Baker lands at No. 32. The duo is also ranked in the latest Intermat Poll at No. 19 (West) and No. 33 (Baker).
West leads the NIU wrestlers with 19 wins this season and is just six wins away from eclipsing 100 career wins as a Huskie. Additionally, West leads the Huskies with eight major decision wins this season. Johnson leads NIU with seven wins via fall as Brya, Baker, and Johnson team up to lead the team with three technical fall victories.
