SPARTANBURG, S.C. – SIUE heavyweight Jake McKiernan has been named the Southern Conference wrestler of the week for all competition from Dec. 7-13. The selection is made by the league office.

McKiernan went 2-0 for the Cougars last week, shutting out a pair of Big Ten opponents. He opened his week with a 6-0 win over No. 6 Brooks Black of 11th-ranked Illinois on Wednesday. The redshirt sophomore from Richmond, Michigan, added a 4-0 win over Northwestern’s Conan Jennings on Saturday to pick up his SoCon-leading 15th win of the season, against just four losses.

The weekly award is the first of McKiernan’s career and the second for an SIUE wrestler this season (Freddie Rodriguez, Nov. 23).

SIUE (0-4, 0-0 SoCon) opens league action when it hosts Appalachian State (5-1, 1-0) on Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern. The Mountaineers will enter the match ranked 20th nationally by Intermat and 21st by USA Today/NWCA. The following day, the Cougars will host Purdue, their fourth Big Ten opponent in five matches.

Also nominated: Austin Trott (Gardner-Webb).

2016-17 SoCon Wrestlers of the Week
Nov. 9 Nathan Kraisser, Campbell
Nov. 16 David Peters-Logue, Appalachian State
Nov. 23 Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE
Dec. 7 Nathan Kraisser, Campbell
Dec. 14 Jake McKiernan, SIUE

-www.SoConSports.com-