IRVING, Texas – North Dakota State wrestling’s Jared Franek has been named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week following his performance last week in two duals, picking up a pair of ranked victories.
Franek started off the week on Friday by upsetting No. 4 Brayton Lee of Minnesota, winning 2-1 in the first tiebreaker round of overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory, Franek escaped in two seconds and then held off a late charge from Lee to secure the victory.
The Harwood, N.D. native then defeated No. 23 Michael Petite of Buffalo on Sunday. Franek secured a pair of first-period takedowns on his way to a 6-3 win and improve to 3-1 on the season and 2-1 against ranked competition.
The senior didn’t allow any points aside from escapes in the two matches. The win over Minnesota’s Lee is the highest-ranked win of Franek’s career. This is Franek’s first career Big 12 weekly award.
Franek is the first Bison to claim Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors this season and the first since Owen Pentz won the award on January 18, 2022, last season. He is the sixth Bison overall to win Big 12 Wrestler of the Week.
Franek and the Bison Wrestling team are set to return to action on Sunday with a dual at Little Rock.
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