When healthy, NIU senior Brad Dieckhaus is one of the most dominant wrestlers in the MAC.

Dieckhaus proved he is a force to be reckoned with, as shown by his MAC Championship last season at 184 pounds.

Health seems to be the only obstacle along the way for Dieckhaus. However, knee surgery just weeks ago has done nothing to stop the defending champion, who is expected to be fully recovered before the season begins.

Despite redshirting two seasons ago because of a torn LCL and having an uncanny knack for attracting the injury bug, Dieckhaus is determined to get the new season under way and finish his NIU career with more accolades for first-year head coach Ryan Ludwig’s program.

“We’ve raised the bar,” Dieckhaus said. “We’re trying to win a national championship. We are trying to do everything we can to put up the best performance in March.”

After advancing to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia last season, Dieckhaus fell short of his goal of becoming an All-American. This time around, the tournament is in St. Louis, Mo., only minutes from his hometown of St. Charles.

“Seeing as [the NCAA Championships] are in St. Louis this year, I’m extremely motivated,” Dieckhaus said. “It gives me an opportunity to compete in front of my friends and family back home. In terms of that, I’m more motivated than ever to make it there and to do something. Most of all, when I get there, I want to put NIU wrestling on the map and bring home the gold.”

At the end of last season, Dieckhaus already planned what areas he would need to work on to achieve his goal. Ludwig confirmed that he has made adjustments in order to take the leap from NCAA qualifier to NCAA champion.

“We’ve concentrated on picking up his conditioning and watching his weight over the summer,” Ludwig said. “He did an excellent job of that. We really worked on ironing out some of the things he needed to work on in order to get better in terms of on-the-mat wrestling, which is top and bottom.”

Dieckhaus has always been an intense and emotional wrestler, which has transitioned into a leadership role over the years at NIU.

“He’s always picking people up and pushing people to work harder,” said NIU heavyweight Jared Torrence.

Dieckhaus feels with his stance on the team, it is his obligation to help the younger talent improve every day.

“I think the difference this year is I’m trying to help the younger guys out around the room,” Dieckhaus said. “I want to push them to push themselves and get the room’s quality to increase by helping each other out.”