Hudkins, Martucci named scholar athletes of the week

By Northern Star Staff

Sophomore wrestler Brock Hudkins and junior gymnast Anna Martucci were honored as “NIU Scholar Athletes of the Week” Tuesday.

Hudkins took second place in the 125-pound weight class Saturday at the MAC Championships. The achievement secured his spot at the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.

“Hudkins displayed a lot of guts in a tough situation,” said wrestling Head Coach Ryan Ludwig, according to a Monday Northern Star article. “After dropping his finals bout on a controversial score, he was able to keep his composure and win his true second bout to punch his ticket to Cleveland.”

Martucci, a gymnastics junior captain, scored a 9.975 on her floor exercise Sunday. One of the judges even scored her performance a perfect 10. Martucci’s performance was the highest individual event score in over 20 years.

“I got a really good opportunity to build off of what the team did,” Martucci said. “They all had a great run too. I commend [the judge] for being so brave and putting that score out. I knew it’d be a good score, but I wasn’t expecting that.”

Hudkins will begin his NCAA Championship run on March 15 in Cleveland, Ohio. Martucci and the gymnastics squad will be back in action 2 p.m. Saturday in Chicago at the State Championship Meet.