NIU wrestler Ben Heizer, with the highest preseason ranking in school history, almost didn’t come to NIU. In fact, he didn’t even know it existed.

“I’d never even heard of Northern before,” Heizer said. “I was getting looked at by Oklahoma, Air Force Academy, Cornell; schools like that.”

Heizer never won a state title while at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas.

He also began wrestling a little later than most kids. He was in seventh grade when he first hit the mat.

The 184-pounder thinks he didn’t get looked at by many schools because he didn’t have any state titles to show how good he was, but he knew how good he was and just needed an opportunity to showcase his talents.

Heizer got that chance at the Senior National Tournament. That is where he met NIU coach Dave Grant.

“Grant told me that he was going to take a chance on me,” Heizer said. “He told me he likes what I said when we talked, and he liked how I know that I have the abilities, so he said he would take a chance on me.

“So I told him, ‘I am going to give you a chance, too, because your program isn’t so good right now either.’ So it was basically him giving me a chance and me giving him a chance in return.”

The move of getting Heizer in NIU’s cardinal and black has paid off. He has a 68-17 record and earned All-American honors last season.

Coming into this season, Heizer is the No. 2 wrestler in the 184-pound weight class.

“I think that it is an honor, for one,” he said. “It’s great to be valued and see your hard work pay off and have people think highly of you and place you as second. Of course my goal is to be national champion, so I know I still have to work hard.”

The move from Texas

Heizer said traveling to NIU was difficult for him because he had to leave his family, with whom he is very close. He feels he has benefited from the change in scenery, though.

“I am really glad that I chose to go to school out of state,” Heizer said. “You learn so many valuable life lessons that you can’t learn if you’re so close to home, and you have your parents there to help you out.”

Heizer said the move was difficult, but he did find one thing that was hard to adjust to.

“It was a little hard getting used to the cold weather,” Heizer said. “It usually doesn’t get this cold down there.”

Aside from the cold weather and missing his family, Heizer did find other major differences with his change of geography.

The personalities of people here also differ from those in Texas, he said.

“Where I’m from, people are more outgoing and friendly,” he said with a smile. “Up here in the north, people are more reserved. They are like, ‘I don’t really know you so I don’t want to talk to you.’ In Texas, it’s kind of more free-spirited.”

Making everything click

NIU assistant coach Jason Hayes said he remembers when Heizer was a sophomore, and everything started to click and he began to dominate.

Hayes credited John Kading, a four-time All-American and two-time national champion, for helping Heizer bring it all together.

“I think Kading had a conversation and talked to Ben, and was kind of his mentor for a while,” Hayes said. “He told him that it just has to click within yourself. I think Ben really took that to heart and really understood that. Then, towards the middle of the season, he just started dominating everybody.”

Kading, who wrestled for Oklahoma, helped Grant out in the 2001-’02 season.

“Kading helped me out both mentally and physically on the mat,” Heizer said.

Respect your elder

With this year’s team being one of the youngest in NIU history, the members have one senior to look up to.

There are three wrestlers from last season that made the NCAA championships, and Heizer is one of them. The younger guys know that he has what it takes to get there.

“Ben doesn’t really say much, but when he does, the guys listen,” Hayes said. “He comes in and works hard and the guys see that. He’s strong and does everything he’s told. It rubs off.”

Ladies, he’s off the market

On Dec. 20, Heizer, 22, and his fiancee, Stephanie Bouffard, 23, will get married. They are set to get hitched in St. Charles.

“We’re really excited that all this wedding-planning stuff is finished, so we can sit back and look forward to the wedding,” he said.