NIU wrestling faces its last season competing in the Mid-American Conference before moving to the Pac-12 in 2026, and head coach Ryan Ludwig is looking forward to the change.
But first, the Huskies are looking to claim some hardware in their last season competing in the MAC before making their grand exit.
“We want to make sure we really get a hold of something big here in the MAC Championship with our last season in the tournament,” Ludwig said during NIU’s winter sports media day on Oct. 27. “The guys are fired up to take charge and leave their legacy on that event this year.”
Ludwig said the biggest thing this season is the pure leadership that comes from redshirt seniors Blake West, Spencer Mooberry and Devon Dawson — the latter two being North Dakota State transfers.
West is coming off of back-to-back seasons wherein he qualified for the NCAA tournament. The Shakopee, Minnesota, native won the MAC title at 125 pounds last season. West went undefeated in MAC competition, going 7-0, and had a 10-match winning streak, defeating four ranked opponents and finishing with a 24-7 overall record.
Mooberry, a 197-pounder, missed most of the 2024-25 campaign with an injury. He posted a 4-3 record in his first year for the Huskies after a three-year stint at NDSU.
Like Mooberry, Dawson didn’t compete in the 2024-25 season due to injury. Prior to that season, he logged a 10-14 record at North Dakota State, going 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference championships and 1-6 against ranked opponents.
The Huskies retained all three of their NCAA tournament qualifiers from last season. Those include 133-pounder Markel Baker, 157-pounder Landen Johnson and West. At 141 pounds, Charles Curtis returns for his sophomore season after going 9-4 in 2024-25, including a 5-0 win streak to start off the year. NIU also brought in Oklahoma State transfer Colin Young. The 165-pound redshirt freshman compiled a record of 5-2 in his lone season with the Cowboys.
FAREWELL, MAC
The Huskies open their season at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Michigan State Open, in which they’ll compete against teams such as Northwestern University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Central Michigan University and Michigan State University. NIU will then head to the Boilermaker Duals on Nov. 15, facing the University at Buffalo, American University and Purdue University.
The following month, the Huskies will travel to Nevada to compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational from Dec. 5 to Dec. 6. NIU will then go to Evanston, Illinois to compete in the Ken Kraft Midlands Invitational from Dec. 29 to Dec. 30.
After the new year, the Huskies will return to compete in the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duels in Cedar Falls, Iowa from Jan. 9. to Jan. 10.
“That’s invite only, so we’re honored to get invited to that, and we accepted eagerly,” Ludwig said.
NIU kick off its dual schedule by hosting Central Michigan on Jan. 16. The Huskies will then host a double matchup as they go up against Ohio and Kent State on Jan 23. They’ll spend the next three weeks on the road facing, Lock Haven (Jan. 30), Buffalo (Feb. 6) and Northwestern (Feb. 13).
NIU will finish the regular season at home against SIUE on Feb. 20.
The Huskies will compete in the MAC Championship from March 6 to March 7 in Buffalo, New York. NIU also has the potential to qualify for the NCAA championships, which will be held from March 19 to March 21 in Cleveland, Ohio.
“We want to grow every year,” Ludwig said. “We want to have a higher seat at the national tournament and ultimately get on that podium and ultimately to the very top step, so the bigger the challenge, we want to run to it.”
