DeKALB — The NIU wrestling team kicked off their season at the Michigan State University Open, having a strong showing as three Huskies made it to the championship round. 

Redshirt senior Brit Wilson won the title at 184 pounds, leading the Huskies results in a solid season-opening effort. Head coach Ryan Ludwig spoke on how excited he and the team was to get back in action this fall season.

“It was great to get back to action this fall,” Ludwig said in a Saturday NIU Athletics news release. “We wrestled hard and learned a lot about what we will work on moving forward.”

Wilson came out showing his experience, earning  first period pins of Redshirt sophomore Dylan Miracle of Cal Poly University and University of Findlay freshman Mark Trifelos in his first two bouts. He advanced to the championship match with an 8-1 decision over Oklahoma’s junior Darion Roberts.

Redshirt sophomore Bernie Truax of Cal Poly suffered an injury in his semifinal match, giving Wilson the championship.

Redshirt junior Izzak Olejnik, who had a great season last year, began his season on the right foot. Olejnik won his first three matches of the season at 165, including a pair of wins over Central Michigan University wrestlers. Olejnik started off with a 16-1 tech fall over freshman Alex Jacobs of CMU in his first match of the day. He then moved on to a 6-0 victory over another CMU opponent in sophomore Tracy Hubbard.

Olejnik advanced to the championship match after a 3-2 win over Northwestern University sophomore David Ferrante. Olejnik would fall to redshirt senior Evan Wick of Cal Poly as he was unable to score on Wick, losing 11-0 in the finals.

Freshman Tulga Zuunbayan competed at 157. After a bye, Zuunbayan defeated sophomore Derek Gilcher from Indiana University 9-3. He then defeated Central Michigan’s Johnny Lovett, 4-3, to advance to the semifinals.

It took an extra frame, but Zuunbayan was able to come out with a win over redshirt sophomore Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern 10-8. After wrestling to an 8-8 tie after three periods with a takedown in the first overtime, setting up his final match against Michigan State’s sophomore Chase Saldate.

Saldate defeated Zuunbayan within 37 seconds via pin, just as he’d done to the rest of his opponents, to hand Zuunbayan his first loss of the season.

The Huskies return to action Saturday when they open conference competition at Rider University. The match begins at 5 p.m.