Zillmer and Julson not only marked the only wrestlers in the league to earn All-America finishes this season but also the first time that NDSU's has ever had multiple placers in the same season at the Division I level.
After going a perfect 4-0 in the wrestlebacks on Friday to secure the first All-American finish of his career, the sixth-seeded Zillmer dropped two tight matches during Saturday's medal round (fifth session) to place sixth. In the consolation semifinals, Zillmer fell to No. 13 Victory Avery of Edinboro by a score of 4-2 and then 4-3 to Ohio State's Kenny Courts in the fifth-place bout. The senior Zillmer finished his 2015 NCAA Championship run with a 5-3 record and a 38-6 clip overall.
Julson went 3-1 in the wrestlebacks on Friday to punch his ticket into Saturday's seventh-place match at 174 pounds. In another close match, the unseeded Bison grappler found himself on the wrong end of a 3-2 score to Virginia Tech's Zach Epperly to end up placing eighth at 174. Julson concluded his 2015 run at the `Big Show' with a 4-3 clip and a 23-12 record overall.
In all 23 wrestlers competed for the WWC at the NCAA Championships this weekend, and 14 of them made it to day number two of the three-day event.
With two placers, NDSU led the conference in the team race as it finished in 23rd place with 19.5 points. Wyoming was next as it tied for 39th with six points while Northern Colorado followed in a tie for 46th with three.
With Zillmer and Julson's sixth and eighth-place finishes on Saturday, the WWC has now crowned 17 All-Americans in its nine year history.
To view final brackets from the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships click HERE.
The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of six schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming.
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