Morrill of the story
<p>North Idaho College's Michael Carreon drives Sukhan Cahal, of Simon Fraser University, to the mat during the 133-pound match Thursday in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
<p>VJ Guilio, of North Idaho College, takes a single leg shot on Simon Fraser's Manvir Sahota, top, during the 197-pound match.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - North Idaho College sophomore Jarrett Morrill saved his best for last on Thursday night.
In his final home wrestling match at Christianson Gym, Morrill pinned sophomore Dillon Hume in 15 seconds at 141 pounds, helping the top-ranked Cardinals beat the Simon Fraser Clansmen of Burnaby, British Columbia, 29-15 to conclude the regular season 13-1.
"I was pretty confident I could beat him, but wasn't expecting to pin him off the bat," said Morrill, of Logan, Utah. "I was just trying to put points on the board and I guess his back was flat on the mat and the ref counted him down. It's a great feeling. Not everyone gets to win their final home match, but it feels good to win. We work hard as a team and I work hard myself and a lot of it is working hard to the point where you're confident when you step on the mat."
"The guys wrestled hard," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "It was a good way to send those sophomores out."
Simon Fraser struck first with a pin by Skylor Davis at 125 pounds against Brock Banta, but NIC rolled off four straight wins, with pins by Morrill and Jeremy Golding in between decisions by Michael Carreon and Nico Moreno.
"It was tough for Brock," Whitcomb said. "He'd pinned that kid the last time we faced them (on Nov. 17 at the Cardinal Duals in Coeur d'Alene). But that kid (Davis) is tough when he gets his hands locked. All in all, it's a good lesson to learn going into nationals."
Morrill and the rest of his teammates turn their attention to the Region 18 tournament Feb. 9 at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., then the NJCAA tournament two weeks later in Des Moines, Iowa.
"The national tournament is tough," said Morrill, who finished eighth at nationals last season. "There's 32 guys in the bracket, so you've got to win a lot of matches. Last year, I actually lost my first match (at nationals), so I had to come back and win a lot of matches in a row. It’s certainly a learning experience to know that you’ve got to be ready for that first match and not overlook anyone.”
Caleb Rivera won by forfeit at 184 pounds and freshman V.J. Guilio of American Falls finished the scoring for NIC with a pin in the final tenth of a second in the second round of a 197-pound match.
“V.J. is dangerous and at almost any time, he can put a kid on his back,” Whitcomb said. “It’s a shame that Caleb didn’t get to wrestle in his final match, but he’ll get his due next week at regionals.”
Simon Fraser — which moved up from NAIA to NCAA Division II this year — won four matches.
“We’re used to coming down here,” Simon Fraser coach Justin Abdou said of NIC. “We’ve been their final home dual for the last five to six years. It’s something our guys look forward to because it’s a nice place to wrestle and they’re a well-balanced team. We haven’t beat them in a dual in a long time, but they’ve got a team that can probably win it at the JUCO level. I like the way they’re wrestling. They wrestle with confidence and have had a pretty successful year up to this point.”
125 — Skylor Davis, SF, p. Brock Banta, 1:25. 133 — Michael Carreon, NIC, d. Sukhan Chahal, 9-4. 141 — Jarrett Morrill, NIC, p. Dillon Hume, :15. 149 — Jeremy Golding, NIC, p. Alex Stemer, 15-7. 157 — Nico Moreno, NIC, md. Josh Punzo, 10-0. 165 — Brock Lamb, SF, d. Jake Mason, 3-1. 174 — Cody Coombes, SF, d. Casey Quinn, 12-5. 184 — Caleb Rivera, NIC, by forfeit. 197 — V.J. Guilio, NIC, p. Manvir Sahota, 4:59.9. 285 — Arjun Gill, SF, d. Curtis Berger, 5-3.