Western Wyoming seeks to repeat as men’s champions at NJCAA Nationals, March 1-2

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The Western Wyoming Community College wrestling program is looking to defend its first-ever NJCAA wrestling title as the competition starts Friday, March 1^st, at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, an event hosted by Iowa Western Community College.

Review of 2023 NJCAA Nationals 

To better understand WWCC’s drive to repeat, let’s review the 2023 NJCAA Wrestling Championships.  Since the establishment of Western Wyoming Community College in 1959, the Rock Springs, Wyoming school has never had a national champion team. But that all changed at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on March 4^th, 2023, when Coach Art Costillo and the Mustangs of Western won the NJCAA National Wrestling Championships. The squad totaled 134 team points, compared to runner-up Pratt Community College from Pratt, Kansas, that totaled 112.5 points.  Host Iowa Western was third (106.5), Northeast Oklahoma was fourth (94) and North Idaho rounded out the top five one point back of NEO with 93 points.

Although this is the first national championship in Western history, the Mustangs have come quite close in recent years.  In 2006, Western finished fourth at the national tournament. In 2013, they finished eighth. In 2010, they finished 10th. In 2018, they finished fourth again. In 2019, they finished eighth again. In 2020, they finished fifth. In 2021, they placed second. In 2022, the Mustangs finished fourth.

Reminiscent to Bobby Douglas’s Arizona State Div. I championship team, WWCC won the 2023 title without a national champion!  Western qualified all 10 wrestlers and produced eight all-Americans.  The Mustangs were paced by NJCAA finalist and runner-up Darion Johnson (184).  The next highest placing wrestler was Cody Phelps (133), who placed third. Then came a quartet of Mustangs who placed fourth in Bridger Ricks (125), Joseph Mecham (141), Chris Lopez (149), and Christian Smoot (174).  Jayden Luttrell (157) took fifth and Talmage Carman (197) finished sixth to round out WWCC’s eight All-Americans. 

In Division-3, placing ninth over-all, were the Lions of Nassau (NY), the highest scoring non-scholarship team, which was crowned the non-scholarship NJCAA Champions!  The Lions had four all-Americans, Joseph Russo placed eighth at 165, Kevin Lopez placed sixth at 125, Kristopher Ketchum placed third at 149, and Adam Busiello was third at 157. This was the Lions 10th National Championship, with the most previous one coming in 2018. Busiello and secured the Bruce Trapkasen Award for most Falls in the tournament and head coach Vougar Oroudjov won the Non-Scholarship Coach of the Year. 

2024 NJCAA Nationals preview

Fast forward to the 2023-2024 season, The Mustangs of Western Wyoming were the pre-season top-ranked team. The team from Rock Springs has held that ranking wire-to-wire heading into the NJCAA tournament.  The Mustangs qualified all 10 wrestlers and in the process won their seventh straight District title, with seven champs, two runners-up and a third place, qualifying all 10 wrestlers for nationals, including five All Americans from last year’s team. WWCC’s returning All-Americans are Ricks, Phelps, Lopez, Luttrell, Johnson, and one All-American from 2022, River Wardle, for a total of six AA’s competing for the Mustangs at the JUCO’s.

WWCC is led by top seeded Dmarian Lopez at 285, along with a quartet of second-seeded wrestles in Bridger Ricks (125), Cody Phelps (133), Darion Johnson (184) and Wesley Reeves at 197. Jayden Lutrell is a No. 4 seed at 165, and 157-pounder Chris Lopez is a No. 5 seed.  Add in No. 11 seed Tristan Stafford is at 149 and No. 11 seed Will Marmon at 174-pounds, giving the Mustangs nine seeded wrestlers. If all goes well, based upon seeds, the Mustangs could have a school record of six national finalists!

Coach Art Castillo stated, “we are grateful for the opportunity and we are excited to get out to Council Bluffs and perform to the best of our ability.”

Prior to Western Wyoming’s title in 2023, former Clackamas CC Coach and newly elected Hall-of-Fame member Josh Rhoden, was looking for a record five consecutive NJCAA titles, but the Mustangs of WWCC had other plans.  The NJCAA has a long and storied history, but only five teams have ever won four straight team titles.

The first with a string of four titles in a row was started in the first year of the NJCAA National Championships in 1960. Lamar College (CO), led by Earl Lynn, won titles from 1960-1963. North Idaho College, led by John Owen won four titles from 1985-1988, Rex Branum won four titles with Lassen (CA) from 1995-1998. Luke Moffitt led Iowa Central to four straight titles in 2006-2009. Lamar and Lassen are no longer active in JUCO wrestling. Coach Moffitt is still an active coach. After the 2022 NJCAA Championships, Josh Rhoden from Clackamas Community College and the Cougars joined the prestigious list of teams winning four straight titles, outpacing Iowa Central by 9.5 points in the team race.

Prior to Regionals, Clackamas CC was the No. 2 ranked team in the nation and were going  for record five straight regional titles, but No. 5 ranked North Idaho won the strong regional.   The CCC Cougars qualified nine wrestlers for the Nationals, with seven wrestlers in the finals and two wrestlers who placed third. Of the seven finalists, CCC had 4 champions and 3 runners-up.   The seven CCC regional finalist all received seeds at the NJCAA Nationals led by three top seeded wrestlers, Ane'e Vigil (125), Cesar Avelar (133), and Rocky Raby (165). Other CCC wrestlers who are highly seeded are Tim Lopez (7^th at 141), 3^rd at 149 is  Reggie Raiz (3^rd at 149),  Josh Hannan (9th at 157), and  previous national qualifier Paul Ortiz (5th at 174). Clackamas has two additional wrestlers in the field who are unseeded,  Braden Pease (184)  and Asaiah Kamplain (197).

Coach Brett Sanchez stated,” Our team feels we can do well this weekend. We will wrestle for each other and see where we finish.”

There will not be an additional NJCAA wrestling rankings prior to the NJCAA tournament, but after North Idaho topped CCC for the regional title and having nine seeded wrestlers like Western Wyoming, you would think that the NIC Cardinals would be a legitimate No. 2 or No. 3 ranked team at Nationals.  This year, they come into the tournament with a very young squad, with only three sophomores and no returning All-Americans. Returning Qualifiers for NIC are Kobi Johnson (125), Travis Waldner (184), and Bradley Whitright (197). Both Johnson and Whitright reached the blood round last year.

Coach Derrick Booth stated "As a coaching staff, we are very excited for this group of young guys to compete at nationals. We believe in our guys and we believe they all have what it takes to achieve their goals. They have come together as a group and have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish at the end of this season. Now is the time to let all the work pay off."

The No. 3 ranked team prior to regionals was Pratt CC, led by Coach Ken Kepley. Pratt was shocked by No. 14 Labette CC, as the Cardinals won the South Central district title and qualified all 10 wrestlers to the national tournament.  Labette scored 159.5 points, four points ahead of runner-up Pratt, to claim the district title, and Labette head coach Jeff Vesta was named KNJCAA coach of the year.

Despite being regional runners-up, the No. 3 ranked Pratt CC Beavers qualified all 10 wrestlers for nationals. Pratt has two top-ranked wrestlers, although Easton Taylor (141) received the No. 1 seed at nationals, while top-ranked Cayleb Atkins (165) received the No. 3 seed. A pair of Beavers are seeded No. 4, Gabe Maki (149) and  Blake Jouret (184). Kaden Spragis (125) is seeded No. 6, and Cayden Winter (285) is a No. 13 seed.  The unseeded PCC wrestlers are Kolton Field (133), Nick Carlson (157), Drew Withington (174), and Kaden Glass(197). 

Host Iowa Western, who was ranked consistently as the No. 3 team all year and slipped to No. 4 in the last NJCAA ranking. They were another regional team favorite that finished as a runner-up.  The Reivers placed second to No. 6 ranked Iowa Central in the Regional but was still able to qualify all 10 wrestlers to nationals. Of the ten qualifiers, IWCC has six seeded wrestlers and is lead by top ranked and top seeded Luke MacDonald at 197.  A pair of Reivers are seeded No. 2 in Malachi Bordovsky (141) and Cole Price (165).  Paul Ruff is seeded No. 3 at 133, CJ Carter is No. 5 at 285, and Dallas Dunn is No. 14 seed at 125. 

The No. 6 ranked Iowa Central Tritons ended a five-year drought and became Region XI/North champions, qualifying all 10 wrestlers for nationals. Head coach Luke Moffitt's team finished with 144.5 points, ahead of No. 4 Iowa Western with 130 and No.19-rated Indian Hills with 120. Moffitt was named the Region XI Coach-of-the-Year. Matt Sarbo (149), Darnai Heard (157), Lawrence Rosario (174) and Trystin Irvin (184) were individual Regional gold medalists, with Michael Myers (165), Joseph Lewis (197) and DJ Moehring (285) also reaching the finals and settling for second. Jaydale Whitlock (125), Jamey Bruner (133) and Benjamin Fosdick (141) all placed third to qualify for nationals.   The Tritons have now earned 14 of the last 20 regional titles under Moffitt's direction.

Sarbo, the Region XI Wrestler of the Year, is a returning NJCAA Champion and top seed at nationals, Other seeded ICCC wrestlers include No. 2 seed Damal Heard (157), No. 4 seed Lawence Rosario (174), No. 8 seed Michael Myers (165), No. 9 seed Joseph Lewis (197),  and a pair of No. 6 seeds in Trystin Irvin (184) and Dj Moehring (285).

Northwest Wyoming CC, led by Hall of Fame coach Jim Zeigler, qualified eight Trapper wrestlers for the NJCAA Nationals.  NWCC will be led by No. 1 ranked and top seeded Aziz Fayzullaev (184),  The Trappers were tied for No. 6 with Iowa Central in the latest NJCAA Wrestling Coaches poll, and with eight qualifiers are hoping to make some noise at the nationals.

Coach Chris Guillot and the No. 8 ranked Mustangs of Northwest Kansas Tech placed fourth at their regionals and qualified nine wrestlers to nationals.  The Mavs are led by top ranked and top seed  Otgonbayar Batsuuri  (174), followed by No. 3 seed Lazaro Crespo at 184.  Northwest Tech’s other qualifiers include John Kenney (133), Hunter Elmer (141), Dayton Bell (149), Job Lee (157), Micah Castro (165), Gavin Dodge (197), and Faustino Chaydez (285). 

For the second consecutive season, the No. 9 ranked Triton College wrestling team was Great Lakes District champions. Triton tallied 183 points, besting Southwestern Michigan College with 175 and Harper College with 147.5. In addition to the team title, the Trojans qualified all 10 of their wrestlers for the NJCAA Nationals. Head Coach Tim Duggan was named Great Lakes District Coach of the Year. Eight of the 10 Triton wrestlers finished in the top three at the Great Lakes District, including four champions, Anthony Schickel (125), Anthony Bitner at 149 Connor Svantner at 157 and Ghee Rachal at 197. Both Schickel and Svantner are repeat district champs at their weight classes. Second place finishers were Andre Giurini (133) and Andrew Mulay (165). Both Ashton Hayhurst (141) and Tylahn Ladd (285) placed third. Also qualifying for nationals with fourth place showings were Cameron White (174) and Bennett Eichert (184).

The Tritons are led by a pair of No. 3 seeded wrestlers in Anthony Schickel at 125 and Connor Svantner at 157, while Anthony Bitner is seeded No. 4 at 149.  TC’s other regional champ, Ghee Rachal, is seeded No. 5 at 197, Andrew Mulay is seeded No. 13 at 165 and Andre Giurini seeded No. 13 at 133. 

"Last year we had three All-Americans and I believe all 10 of our guys have the potential to be one this year," Coach Duggan said. "We wrestled really hard (at the district tournament) and have put ourselves in a good position to get seeded well at the national tournament.

The NJCAA has two divisions in the Wrestling Championships, a Division I or Scholarship Division and a Division III or non-scholarship division, with both divisions competing in the same tournament. Triton is currently ranked 9^th over-all in the NJCAA among all teams and is the No. 1 ranked non-scholarship team. They look to be the favorite to unseat Nassau as the team champion.

Nassau CC is ranked 11^th overall and second among non-scholarship teams and are looking to defend their Div. III NJCAA title. The Lions are led top seeded Kristopher Ketchum at 157, who place third in 2023. Other seeded Lions for Coach Oroudjov include Joseph Petrone (No. 5 at 125), Caleb Peralta Munoz (No. 8 at 133), Jacob Maiorano (No. 14 at 285)  Cole O’Brien (No. 15 at 197), Stephen Dickerson (No. 16 at 174), Gabe Thomasson (No. 15 at 184), Joseph Mettei (No. 14 at 165), and Ryan Paladino (No. 13 at 141) 

NJCAA Wrestling Championships:  Preliminary matches get underway on Friday, Mar. 1 at 9:00 a.m. with quarterfinals, consolation third round, and consolation fourth round finishing the first day of competition. On championship Saturday, Mar. 2 starts at 9:30 a.m. with semi-finals and consolation quarterfinals. The championship matches will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night. The tournament will be broadcasted live on NJCAA Network, ESPN+, or ESPNU.