Northeast Oklahoma A&M leads after day one of NJCAA Nationals in Spokane, Wash.
by John Johnson
Spokane, Washington--- Coach Joe Renfro of NEO takes one step closer to history setting performance in the quarter finals of the NJCAA National Wrestling Championship in the Spokane Convention Center with his Golden Norse of Northeast Oklahoma.
During the preliminary rounds the race for the JUCO title was tight and looked to go along the lines of the team rankings, but Northeast Oklahoma A & M would start pulling away after the quarter-finals.
Second ranked NEO was leading the team race heading into the quarter finals with 42 points and also has the most quarter finalists with eight. The top rated Clackamas CC Cougars pushed seven wrestlers into the quarters and trailled NEO by 7.5 points with a total of 34.5 team points. Fourth rated Northwest College (WY) was close behind Clackamas with 6 quarter finalists and 32 teams points, and Iowa Central and Colby were tied for fourth with 24 points each, 28 points off the lead pace. However, The Tritons behind the guidance of Coach Luke Moffitt had 5 quarter finalists to Colby’s four. Also with five quarterfinalists is host school, 3rd rated Northern Idaho College with 20 points.
Also after the prelims, tenth ranked Rochester CTC was in 7th with 3 quarter-finalists and 19 points. There was a three-way tie for 9th with Harper, Iowa Lakes, and Neosho. Both Iowa Lakes and Neosho have two quarter finalists, while Harper was unable to put a wrestler into the quarters. Look for Lincoln College and Muskegon Colleges to make a move into the top ten after being tied for thirteenth after the prelims. Both Lincoln and Muckegon had 15 team points and four wrestlers in the quarter finals.
Look for the top six teams to make a good surge after the quarter finals, which will be key for the top two teams in NOE and Clackamas as they would go head-to-head in three-of-ten quarter final matches. The tournament is far from over, but the three head-to-head match ups could go a long way in determining who will come away with the NJCAA crown. The Cougars and Golden Norse matched up at 141, 149, and 184. NEO and Clackamas already had a head-to-head match at 125-pounds during the 2nd round of the prelim’s where Josh Walker (1) of NEO dec. (4) Stevan Knoblauch of Clackamas 4-3, while the rest of the 125# matches were either falls (5) or major decisions (2). NEO also went head-to-head with NW Wyoming and North Idaho in two other quarter finals this evening. No doubt, if NEO can answer the call in the quarters, the title could be in the grasp of the re-instated Golden Norse, and coach Joe Renfro could be looking at a three-peat with two different teams!!!
The Golden Norse and Cougars quarter final clashes began at 141# where #5 Michal Williams is coming off two tough wins against NIC and Naussa, and he met CCC’s Robbie Rizzolino ranked 8th. Williams (NEO) would win by decision over Rizzolino by a score of 5-3.
At 149, second ranked Kenny Martin of Clackamas with two falls on the day matced up with #12 Zack Dobbins of NEO who had a 3-1 win in the second round. Lightning would strike as Dobbins pinned Martin with six second left in the match at 6:54.
Two falls have quided #5 Caleb Cotter of NEO to the quarters where he met top ranked CCC’s 184-pounder Adrian Sales who beat Harpers Romanelli 7-1. Sales would also create a little lightning himself for CCC as he would pin NEO’s Cotter in 4:48.
On paper, the nod would have to go to CCC in 2 of the three quarter-final matches, but as many wrestlers, coaches and fans know, you don’t win matches on paper, you win them on the mat!! And win is what NEO did, the Golden Norse would take two of the three head-to-head matches with Clackamas during the quarters.
Other notable quarter final matches with team implications included NEO’s top ranked 125# Josh Walker who took on the Yellowjacket of RCTC’s Dakota Trom who is ranked 6th. The #1 rated Walker would get a major decision over Trom, 16-7.
Neosho and CCC 133-quarter final match pitted #1 vs #2 where top ranked CJ Palmer for the Cougars against Neosho’s Lamuel Johnson who both reached the quarters with falls. The #1 would prevail again with a major decision as beat Johnson Johnson by a 12-2 score.
North Iowa’s 3rd ranked Yoanse Mejias matched up with NEO’s Mark Hobson’s ranked 5th. Mejias would edge Hobson, 8-7. North Iowa would go two-for-three in the quarters as Nosomy Pozo (North Iowa) won by decision over Elijah Davis (NW Kansas Tech) 6-4, and NIACC top ranked Chakhein Chapman would lose tothe Cougars second ranked Ihoghama Odighizuma of Clackamas at 197-pounds by fall in 6:54.
5:25 minutes of work at 165-pound have put un-ranked Casey Powell of NEO in the quarters with Diorian Coleman of NW (WY) who needed OT to pin Guillaume of Ellsworth in the 2nd round. Diorian Coleman would beat Powell, 3-0. The Golden Norse put another top ranked wresler, Payne Hatter (174) into the quarters where he faced NIC’s seveth ranked Derrick Booth. Hatter would put NEO back into the win column with a 3-0 decision over Booth.
Top ranked Peter Stewrt from Iowa Western tangled with 7th ranked Matt Gay of SW Oregon at 141#.
Gay would shock the Reaver as he won in tie breaker - 1 over Stewart, TB-1, 8-7
157# featured another top ranked wrestler, Eleazar DeLuca of Clackamas who wrestled Harper’s Greg Jacquez who had two falls in 4:05 minutes of work to reach the quarters. DeLuca (would win by fall over Jacquez in 4:32. Finally, 285 saw another top two match-up as #1 ranked Dequence Goodman of Lincoln College tussled with Niagara’s second ranked El Shada VanHoesen. #1 would beat #2 again as Goodman decisioned VanHoesen by a score of 4-2.
After the end of the quarter final matches NEO had scored 89.5 points and only dropped three quarter final matches putting five Golden Norse into the semi-finals. NEO won two of three head-to-head matches with the top ranked Cougars. Clackamas won four of their seven quarter-final matches with 75.5, Northwest went three-and-three and totaled 61.5 points, Colby went three-and-one (53.5), North Idaho three-and-two (51), Neosho two-and-one (46.5), Iowa Central two-and-three (42), RCTC two-and-one (39.5), and Lincoln went three-and-one in the quarters (39).
After the completion of the consolation round that followed the quarter-finals, NEO had increased their point total to 111 points to Clackamas’s 88 points, for a 23 point lead. Northwest continues in 3rd with 77.5 points, Colby in 4th with 60.5, Neosho 5th with 60 points, North Idaho 6th with 54 points, 7th is Iowa Central with 51, SW Oregon in 8th with 43 points, Ellsworth in 9th with 42, 10th is Harper with 41.5, Muskegon 11th with 40 points, Rochester CTC and Iowa Western are tied for 12th with 39.5, and Lincoln in 14thth with 39 points. Rounding out the top 15 is Darton with 38.5 points.
Coach Luke Moffitt of Iowa Central has won five titles in a row, but no coach has three-peated and done it with two different teams. Rex Branum was the first coach to win titles at two different colleges, Lincoln and Lassen, but not back-to-back. However, on March 1st, Coach Renfro who shared the NJCAA title with NIC last year while coaching at Labette, could also win his third straight title, two with Labette and the third with his new team at NEO. The semi-finals will start at 10:30 a.m., medalrounds are at 2:00 p.m., and the finals start at 6:45 p.m. All time are Pacific time. The finals will be streamed live at http://www.njcaatv.com/njcaatv/
Quarter final match results:
125 Quarterfinals
#8 Alfredo Rodriguez (Iowa Lakes) won by fall over #3 Cody Vichi (Northwest) (Fall 2:12)
#5 Da`Wayne Robertson (Ellsworth) won by decision over #12 Eric Velez (Niagara) 2-1 (Dec 8-5)
Josh Walker (NEO) won by major decision over Dakota Trom (Rochester CTC) (MD 16-7)
Matthew Nguyen (SW Oregon) won by decision over Nate Smith (Iowa Central ) 26-19 (Dec 13-11)
133 Quarterfinals
John Dillon (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Zachary Cooper (Muskegon) (Dec 9-5)
Davion Caston (Darton College) won by major decision over Ben Jorgensen (Northwest) (MD 13-3)
Cary J Palmer (Clackamas) won by major decision over Lemuel Johnson (Neosho) (MD 12-2)
Jake Nicholson (Jamestown) won by tech fall over Jameel Carter (Triton) (TF-1.5 7:00 (15-0)
141 Quarterfinals
Michael Williams (NEO) won by decision over Robbie Rizzolino (Clackamas) (Dec 5-3)
Matt Gay (SW Oregon) won in tie breaker - 1 over Peter Stewart (Iowa Western) (TB-1 8-7)
Zac Loveless (Northwest College) won by major decision over Zach Wright (Darton College) (MD 13-3)
Joe Munos (Rochester CTC) won by major decision over Ronald Wells (Colby) (MD 10-0)
149 Quarterfinals
Tyler Stenberg (Muskegon) won by decision over Daniel Pak (Gloucester) (Dec 6-4)
Nosomy Pozo (North Iowa) won by decision over Elijah Davis (NW Kansas Tech) (Dec 6-4)
Tyler Nation (Iowa Western) won by decision over Blake Santi (Harper) (Dec 8-2)
Zack Dobbins (NEO) won by fall over Kenny Martin (Clackamas) (Fall 6:54)
157 Quarterfinals
Yoanse Mejias (North Iowa) won by decision over Mark Hobson (NEO) (Dec 8-7)
Eleazar DeLuca (Clackamas) won by fall over Greg Jacquez (Harper College) (Fall 4:32)
Richie Lewis (Iowa Central) 19-5 won by decision over Kyle Wade (Nassau) 16-6 (Dec 3-2)
Konnor Kriss (Colby) 4-1 won by decision over Dixon Richins (Western Wyoming) 4-2 (Dec 6-4)
165 Quarterfinals
O`shea Smith-Traylor (Neosho) 23-6 won by decision over Tyler McLean (North Idaho) (Dec 7-3)
Calvin Ochs (Colby) won by fall over Ryan Niven (Iowa Central) 21-12 (Fall 4:00)
Diorian Coleman (Northwest ) won by decision over Casey Powell (NEO) (Dec 3-0)
David Frazier (Lincoln College) 3-0 won by decision over Kyle Bateman (Clackamas) (Dec 8-7)
174 Quarterfinals
Garrett Miller (Rochester CTC) won by fall over Cody Carson (Pratt) 5-2 (Fall 1:53)
Jared Johnson (Colby) won by fall over Joseph Sika (Muskegon) 2-1 (Fall 4:54)
Payne Hatter (NEO) won by decision over Derrick Booth (North Idaho ) (Dec 3-0)
Brandon Sorenson (Iowa Lakes) won by decision over Archie Williams (Lincoln College) (Dec 7-6)
184 Quarterfinals
Austin Warren (Neosho) won in sudden victory - 1 over Brandon Riggins (Springfield Tech) 2-1 (SV-1 4-3)
Adrian Salas (Clackamas) won by fall over Caleb Cotter (Northeastern) (Fall 4:48)
Matt Hurford (Ellsworth) won by fall over Jonathen Dennis (North Idaho) (Fall 2:48)
Tyler White (Labette) won by fall over Miles Nixon (Northwest) (Fall 2:59)
197 Quarterfinals
Vj Giulio (North Idaho) won by fall over Bryce Fisher (Iowa Central) (Fall 2:23)
Stephon Rudicil (Lincoln College) won by decision over Tyler Cormier (Highline) (Dec 10-4)
Ihoghama Odighizuwa (Clackamas) won by fall over Shakheim Chapman (North Iowa) (Fall 6:54)
Jonathan Wixom (Northwest) won by decision over Donavan Fouchey (Muskegon) (Dec 6-5)
285 Quarterfinals
Evan McGee (NEO) won by decision over John Griswold (Spartanburg Methodist) (Dec 5-3)
Malcolm Allen (Iowa Central) won by decision over Michael Henry (Highline) (Dec 3-1)
Dequence Goodman (Lincoln) won by decision over El Shadai VanHoesen (Niagara) (Dec 4-2)
Taylor Kornoely (North Idaho College) 32-10 won by fall over Alex Yeager (Itasca) (Fall 6:58)
Team Scores after Quarter finals and Consolations |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. |
Northeastern Oklahoma A & M |
111.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2. |
Clackamas Community College |
88.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3. |
Northwest College |
77.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4. |
Colby Community College |
60.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5. |
Neosho County Community College |
60.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6. |
North Idaho College |
54.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7. |
Iowa Central Community College |
51.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8. |
Southwestern Oregon Community College |
43.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9. |
Ellsworth Commuity College |
42.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10. |
Harper College |
41.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11. |
Muskegon College |
40.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12. |
Iowa Western |
39.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12. |
Rochester Commuity & Technical College |
39.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14. |
Lincoln College |
39.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15. |
Darton College |
38.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16. |
Iowa Lakes Community College |
37.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16. |
North Iowa Area Community College |
37.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18. |
Labette Community College |
24.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18. |
Niagara County Community College |
24.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20. |
Jamestown Community College |
22.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21. |
Northwest Kansas Tech |
22.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22. |
Ridgewater College |
19.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23. |
Mercyhurst |
18.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23. |
Spartanburg Methodist College |
18.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25. |
Gloucester Community College |
15.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
26. |
Northland Commuity & Technical College |
14.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27. |
Highline Community College |
12.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27. |
Nassau Community College |
12.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29. |
Itasca Community College |
11.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
30. |
Waubonsee College |
10.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31. |
Western Wyoming College |
9.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
32. |
Springfield Tech Community College |
8.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
33. |
Bergen Community College |
7.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
33. |
Triton College |
7.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
35. |
Pratt Community College |
6.5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
36. |
Middlesex Community College |
6.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
37. |
SUNY Sullivan |
5.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
38. |
Minnesota West Community & Technical College |
0.0 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
38. |
Wentworth Junior College |
0.0 |
Read More#
Kenya Sloan appointed as NCAA Div. I and HBCU Delaware State's inaugural women's head coach
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2025 honored in moving induction ceremony in Stillwater, Okla.
Elections to be held for USA Wrestling Standing Committees positions, with July 7 nomination deadline
Lehigh adds Women's Wrestling as 26th varsity sport, with competition to begin in 2025–26