The NIU wrestling team faced Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Sunday evening in their final regular season matchup of the season. The Huskies dominated and defeated the Cougars 35-3 at the Convocation Center in DeKalb.

How it happened 

Senior night for the Huskies saw redshirt senior Brit Wilson pick up his 31st career win by fall after defeating Cougars senior Sergio Villalobos. Senior Mason Kauffman then recorded a takedown in each period against Cougars graduate student Kevin Gschwendtner to win 7-4. Redshirt junior Anthony Gibson and redshirt senior Drew West picked up the most dominant wins on the day. Gibson would defeat Cougars junior Max Kristoff 14-2 and West defeated Cougars redshirt junior Aaron Schulist 15-1. 

Thoughts from coach Ludwig

Ludwig on the team’s positioning ahead of the Mid-American Conference championships

“This is what we wanted to see,” head coach Ryan Ludwig said. “Our guys are out here getting to their scoring positions, taking more attempts, getting to their attacks, and our momentum continues to build as we head into MAC championships.”

The end result

NIU dominated the Cougars, winning nine out of the eleven matches. The Huskies finished the regular season 6-10, 2-4 within the MAC conference, and placed second to last in the conference as they head into the postseason, which begins next week. SIUE finishes their regular season with a 1-14 record, 1-7 in the MAC, and finishes last in the division.

NIU is next in action at the Mid-American Conference Championships that begin in Ohio from March 4-5.