Northeastern Oklahoma A&M holds slight lead over Iowa Central CC after first day of NJCAA Championships

Alex DelaCruz (Iowa Central CC) in action at the NJCAA Championships. Photo: Roy Tucker.

Council Bluffs, Iowa - After day one of the NJCAA Championships, the reigning champions from Iowa Central Community College are in striking distance of a championship once more.  

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M is atop the team standing after the first day of competition, holding a 5.5-point lead over second place Iowa Central CC.

Luke Moffitt’s ICCC Triton’s punched five wrestlers into tomorrow’s semifinal round, the most of any team.

“We came out and wrestled well,” Moffit said. “We needed to score bonus points.  There’s a few matches we lost head to head earlier in the year and those guys avenged those losses.”

There were several big upsets during today’s competition. 2015 NJCAA runner-up Oscar Ramirez of Iowa Western was upset early when he fell to Cory Pych of Harper, 4-2, in the round of 16 at 149 pounds.

Pych continued the upset trend in the quarterfinal round as he downed No. 2 ranked Nate Skonieczny of Jamestown by fall. Skonieczny was up big on the scoreboard before getting too high on a tilt and getting pinned out of bounds.

Impressing in early rounds was reigning NJCAA Champion Jacobe Smith of NEO A&M. He won both of his matches by fall. Standing in his way of a return trip to the national finals is Preston Lauderbach of Iowa Western. Like Smith, Lauderbach has won both of his matches by fall.

Action tomorrow is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. (CT), starting with the semi-finals. Placement matches will begin at 1:15 p.m. (CT) and the championship finals will begin at 7 p.m. (CT).  

You can watch every match from day two of the NJCAA Championships live on Flowrestling.com.

2016 NJCAA Championships
Feb. 26-27 at Council Bluffs, Iowa

Team Scores After Day One
1. NEO A&M - 83.5
2. Iowa Central - 78
3. Iowa Western - 69.5
4. Ellsworth - 68.5
5. North Iowa Area - 63.5
6. Clackamas - 56.5
7. Iowa Lakes - 47.5
8. Niagara - 45
9. Highline - 41
9. Nassau - 41

Semifinal Match-Ups
125
Alex DelaCruz, Iowa Central vs Andrea Tereza, Highline
Blake Walker, Ellsworth vs Cole Verner, Western Wyoming

133
Eduardo Penha, Northwest Wyoming vs Shiquan Hall, North Iowa Area
Tepra Wright, Ellsworth vs Zak Hensley, Iowa Central

141
Braydon Akeo, Southwestern Oregon vs Colton Adams, Iowa Western
Jason Alfau, Iowa Central vs Jaydon Rogers, Western Wyoming

149
John-David Henderson, Northwest Wyoming vs Toby Hague, Rowan at Gloucester
Cory Pych, Harper vs Chris Garcia, Clackamas

157
Zach Colgan, Niagara vs Christopher Schmidt, Ridgewater
Dawaylon Barnes, NEO A&M vs Quincy Kalkbrenner, North Iowa Area

165
Zach Revier, Ridgewater vs Daquan Wilson, Spartansburg Methodist
Gavin Grater, Colby vs Dajour Reece, North Idaho

174
Preston Lauterbach, Iowa Western vs Jacobe Smith, NEO A&M
Dominic Ruggiero, Rowan vs Jordan Gundrum, Ellsworth

184
Jacob Hill, NEO A&M vs Wesley Schultz, Iowa Lakes
Haszell West, Clackamas vs Tyler Hoffman, Iowa Central

197
Dymere Rappa, Camden County vs Elias Mason, Highline
Kendrick Jones, Iowa Central vs John Morin, Clackamas

285
Mario Pena, North Iowa Area vs Guy Henson, Iowa Lakes
Blake Andrews, NEO A&M vs Dalonte Holland, Ellsworth

Quarterfinal Results
125
Alex DelaCruz, Iowa Central dec Davaughn Sapien, Clackamas, 8-3
Andrea Tereza, Highline dec Brian Mass, Iowa Lakes, 6-5
Blake Walker, Ellsworth dec Francisco Barrera, Southwestern Oregon, 10-5
Cole Verner, Western Wyoming dec Paul Mascarenas, North Iowa Area, 4-3

133
Eduardo Penha, Northwest Wyoming dec Curtis Burnett, NEO A&M, 9-4
Shiquan Hall, North Iowa Area dec Kyle McGregor, Niagara, 5-2
Tepra Wright, Ellsworth dec Iowa Lakes vs George Farmah, 6-2
Zak Hensley, Iowa Central WBF Detric McCoy, Mercyhurst, Fall: 2:17

141
Braydon Akeo, Southwestern Oregon dec Taylor Lehman, North Iowa Area, 3-1
Colton Adams, Iowa Western dec Jake Wilson, NW Tech, 7-3
Jason Alfau, Iowa Central dec Zech Bresser, Clackamas, 3-1
Jaydon Rogers, Western Wyoming maj John Riena, Niagara, 9-1

149
John-David Henderson, Northwest Wyoming dec Ryne Cokeley, Iowa Central, 9-6
Toby Hague, Rowan at Gloucester dec Kristian Holquin-Mendez, NEO A&M, 11-9
Cory Pych, Harper fall Nate Skonieczny, Jameston, 2:34
Chris Garcia, Clackamas fall Bryan Burnett, Labette, 4:04

157
Zach Colgan, Niagara maj TJ Barnes, Muskegon, 9-0
Christopher Schmidt, Ridgewater dec Brandon Murray, Iowa Central, 6-1
Dawaylon Barnes, NEO A&M fall Matthew Kirkland, Ellsworth, 4:54
Quincy Kalkbrenner, North Iowa Area maj Cameron Braden, Northwest Wyoming, 10-2

165
Zach Revier, Ridgewater dec Sam Schwartzafel, Nassau, 3-2
Daquan Wilson, Spartansburg Methodist fall Stephon Gray, Iowa Central, 1:47
Gavin Grater, Colby dec Sam Colebert, Mercyhurst, 4-0
Dajour Reece, North Idaho dec Tyree Overton, Lincoln, 7-3

174
Preston Lauterbach, Iowa Western fall Devon Barker, Barton, 1;14
Jacobe Smith, NEO A&M fall Ralph Cazzetta, Nassau, 5:16
Dominic Ruggiero, Rowan at Gloucester maj Kaden Campbell, Western Wyoming, 15-6
Jordan Gundrum, Ellsworth fall Alex Kelly, Niagara, 1:04

184
Jacob Hill, NEO A&M dec DeAndre Jones, Ellsworth, SV 5-1
Wesley Schultz, Iowa Lakes fall Anthony Liberatore, Niagara, :37
Haszell West, Clackamas dec Deuly Espinal, Nassau, 4-3
Tyler Hoffman, Iowa Central fall Tucker Cook, Southwestern Oregon, 4:48

197
Dymere Rappa, Camden County dec Christian Dulaney, Iowa Lakes, 15-8
Elias Mason, Highline dec Josh Latham, NEO A&M, 4-1
Kendrick Jones, Iowa Central fall Tyler Mattison, Mercyhurst, 4:32
John Morin, Clackamas dec Kyler Mathews, North Iowa Area, 9-3

285
Mario Pena, North Iowa Area dec Jenard Rosemond, Nassau, 3-2
Guy Henson, Iowa Lakes dec Damian Trujiilo, North Idaho, 7-2
Blake Andrews, NEO A&M dec Ben Aquilina, Middlesex, 5-0
Dalonte Holland, Ellsworth maj Brandon Johnson, Clackamas, 8-0