Bryan Deutsch had to pull off upsets to win the MAC Championship at 157 pounds. If he wants to do anything at the NCAA Championships, he will need to do the same thing, starting with his first match.

The NCAA Championships run Thursday-Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Deutsch, who enters nationals unseeded, has ninth-seeded Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State as his first opponent. Sanderson is 18-8 on the year and finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships. He was also the runner-up at Midlands back in December.

Sanderson is the brother of Iowa State’s head wrestling coach, Cael Sanderson. Cael wrestled at Iowa State from 1998-2002 and was a four-time national champion. He also never lost a match in his entire college career. After college, Sanderson won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Should Detusch defeat Sanderson, there is a good chance he will meet eighth-seeded Adam Hall of Boise State in the second round.

“That’s what it’s about, going down to nationals and wrestling a good guy,” said NIU head coach Dave Grant. “Bryan’s the kind of guy that anything can happen. He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid.”

NIU’s other participant at the tournament, Tristen DeShazer, will get North Carolina State freshman Darius Little in the 133 pound bracket. Little is 18-15 on the year. Both wrestlers are unseeded.

DeShazer is 21-11 on the year and finished third at the MAC Championships, earning an automatic bid to nationals.

“The key with Tristen is wrestling tough, getting takedowns and riding tough on top,” Grant said. “That philosophy is what got him over the hump at the MAC Championships, where he showed he can win in a lot of different ways.”

If DeShazer wins he will wrestle either unseeded Kelly Kubec of Oregon State or 12th-seeded Steve Bell of Maryland.

If the two wrestlers lose their first matches, they will fall into wrestle backs, and the best finish they will be able to get is third place.