MARQUETTE, Mich. - USA Wrestling announced its 2024 Athlete and Coach of the Year award winners during the U.S. Open in Las Vegas this past weekend. Northern Michigan's Payton Jacobson and Andy Bisek were recognized with USA Wrestling's most prestigious awards. 

For the first time in his career, Jacobson was named the 2024 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year after exploding onto the scene this past season. 

His historic season started with an inspiring performance as the No. 7 seed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials last April. His path to the championship bout included victories over No. 2 seed Richard Carlson, No. 3 seed Zachary Braunagel, and No. 4 seed and 2020 Olympian John Stefanowicz. In a battle for the ages with an Olympic berth on the line, Jacobson defeated past World Team member Spencer Woods in a best-of-three series to claim his spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. 

The native of Elkhorn, Wisconsin then represented Team USA in the Paris Olympics at 87 kg this past summer, where he was defeated by 2024 European champion Alexander Komarov of Serbia in the Round of 16.

His successes did not stop there, as he followed that up with a 5th-place finish at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania in October. Jacobson opened his tournament with two wins before being triumphed in the Quarterfinal round. After qualifying for repechage, he won another match to finish in 5th. 

Jacobson also added a bronze medal at the Valmaar Cup in Croatia in September. 

Most recently, he competed at the 2025 CLAW U.S. Open Championships this past week, where he was crowned a U.S. Open champion, earned a spot on the Senior World Team, the National Team, and the U23 World Team. 

He is the first Northern Michigan athlete to earn the award since, coincidentally enough, Andy Bisek in 2016.

Just eight years later, Bisek is now being recognized as the 2024 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach of the Year. 

"I am very grateful to receive this award," said Bisek. "We have a great group of guys here who are very driven and hungry for success. I am thankful for the effort they put into their training every day. Winning this award alongside Payton was special for me, as I have seen tremendous growth from him every year that he has been at NMU. He has a great attitude and desire to learn, and I am honored to be a part of that. I am thankful for the team at NMU and the athletics department for the support they give our program."

The head of the nation's premier college program in Greco-Roman Wrestling since 2019, Bisek was the personal coach for the aforementioned Olympian Payton Jacobson. 

He has achieved great success while at Northern. In 2024, six Northern Michigan athletes have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, where Jacobson and Max Black (60 kg) qualified for the Senior National Team. Jonathan Gurule won a 2024 U23 Nationals title at 63 kg, and Kaden Ercanbrack was third at the U20 World Team Trials to also qualify for the National Team and U23 World Team.

A 2016 graduate of Northern Michigan, Bisek has won two Senior World bronze medals for the United States in 2014 and 2015, and competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2012 and 2014 Pan American Championships. Bisek was a four-time World Team member and two-time U.S. Open champion. Bisek was named USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year three times (2014, 2015, 2016).

Bisek is the first Northern Michigan - National Training Site head coach to be recognized with Coach of the Year honors. He is also just the second to win both player of coach honors (Spenser Mango). 

More on Jacobson, Bisek, and past winners can be found here from USA Wrestling.