Northern Iowa’s Taylor Lujan earned MAC Wrestler of the Week after defeating Illinois’ #8 Zac Brunson in the 174 pound championship at the UNI Open last Saturday.
Lujan has had an impressive start to his season, going 11-1 overall. His only loss was to Virginia Tech’s Zach Epperly, who is ranked second in the country, 9-7. Lujan gave Epperly all he wanted, but was unable to pull off the upset against the Hokie.
On Saturday Lujan was able to score a couple of early takedowns and got a four point nearfall early in his match. Brunson would make a comeback, but Lujan was able to hold him off for the 13-10 decision and first place.
Lujan is the first Panther to earn the Mid-American Conference’s Wrestler of the Week Honors. The Panther Train will be rolling into Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday for a 12 o’clock dual with the Badgers. The dual can be seen on BTN Plus, and we’ll have coverage from Madison as well. Come back later this week for our full dual preview.
Cover photo courtesy of UNI Athletics
[…] was led by the reigning MAC Wrestler of the Week, Taylor Lujan. Lujan won his match 10-3 against #20 Ryan Christensen. Lujan jumped out to a 4-1 […]
[…] #20 Ryan Christensen. Lujan has undoubtedly been the biggest surprise for UNI this season, earning MAC Wrestler of the Week honors for defeating then-number-eight Zach Brunson from Illinois. Lujan’s only loss on the year was to […]