Kornoely nabs title for NIC
DES MOINES, Iowa — Of all the tournaments that North Idaho College sophomore Taylor Kornoely had entered, he’d never known that feeling of being the last man standing.
High school state tournaments — second.
National junior tournaments — second again.
But in his final night as a Cardinal, Kornoely got to feel that same feeling that 53 other wrestlers in NIC school history have felt — an individual national championship.
Kornoely outlasted Richard Black of Neosho 3-1 in overtime of the 285-pound championship match.
“It’s a new experience for me,” Kornoely said. “I’ve never won a state title, not even a national tournament as a kid. This is the first legit tournament I’ve won. I’ve always came in second. This is a great feeling.”
Black beat Kornoely in an earlier matchup in the Apodaca Duals on Jan. 31 in Powell, Wyo., 11-2.
“I knew he had a gas tank from facing him before,” Kornoely said. “I was confident that toward the end he’d wear out eventually.”
NIC freshman Dajour Reece finished second at 165 after losing to Bryce Carr of Darton 9-5.
“I was pretty fired up for the match,” Reece said. “But it just didn’t go my way. I wrestled well the entire tournament, but just couldn’t get any of my shots in that final match and couldn’t score any points.”
NIC, which jumped to third before the finals, finished fourth with 109 points.
Iowa Central Community College, located in Fort Dodge, won the team title with 158.5 points. It is the Tritons first title since 2009, the final year of a four-year title reign. Iowa Central coach Luke Moffit was named national coach of the year following the tournament. Clackamas was second with 131.5 points.
“We did what we could with what we had,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “Iowa Central and Clackamas took off right away. To score 109 points with nine guys, that’s a big number.”
Michael Nguyen (125) and Johnathen Dennis (197) finished fourth, Jordan Cooks was fifth at 174, Tyler McLean sixth at 157 and Bryce Weatherston eighth at 141.
“We went 5-for-5 in that do or die round of consolation matches (Round 4),” Whitcomb said. “To get Michael and those guys to wrestle back to get us into third before the finals was great. We’d had loved to win a national title, or finish in the top three, but I’m proud of the seven all-americans. They showed a lot of perseverance, and capped it with Taylor winning the national title. I’m proud of these guys. It’s a close knit group. We’ll build on these returners and get ready for next year.”
Alfredo Rodriguez of Iowa Lakes was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, winning the 125-pound title by a 3-1 decision.
TEAM SCORES — 1, Iowa Central 158.5. 2, Clackamas 131.5. 3, North Iowa 113. 4, North Idaho 109. 5, Northeast Oklahoma 965.5. 6, Muskegon 75.5. 7, Ellsworth 71. 8 (tie), Iowa Western, Neosho 63.5. 10, Nassau 62. 11, Labette 59.5. 12, Iowa Lakes 59. 13, Harper 50.5. 14, Darton 41.5. 15, Rowan College 38.5. 16, Springfield Tech 34.5. 17, Colby 30. 18, Southwestern Oregon 29.5. 19, Itasca 23.5. 20, Pratt 22.5. 21, Northwest Wyoming 20.5. 22, Western Wyoming 20. 23, Jamestown 16.5. 24, Northland 15.5. 25, Highline 15. 26, Mercyhurt 13.5. 27, Niagara 10.5. 28, Ridgewater 7. 29, Triton 4. 30, Northwest Kansas Tech 2.5. 31 (tie), Lincoln, Wentworth Military Academy 3. 33 (tie), Middlesex County, Sullivan County 2.5. 35, Spartanburg 2. 36, Camden 1. 37, Bergen 0.5. 38 (tie), Arkansas Baptist, Riverland 0. 40, Minnesota West (-1.5).
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
125 — Alfredo Rodriguez, Iowa Lakes, d. Deshun Brown, Ellsworth, 3-1.
133 — Joe Russ, Nassau, d. Mizam Tamaradze, Springfield Tech, 8-5.
141 — Jason Alfau, Iowa Central, d. Jake Marlin, North Iowa, 5-2.
149 — Nosomy Pozo, North Iowa, p. Oscar Ramirez, Iowa Western, 6:44.
157 — Yoanse Mejias, North Iowa, d. Eleazar DeLuca, Clackamas, 4-3.
165 — Bryce Carr, Darton, d. Dajour Reece, North Idaho, 9-5.
174 — Jacobe Smith, Northeast Oklahoma, d. Jared Johnson, Colby, 6-2.
184 — Tyler Hoffman, p. Matt Hurford, Ellsworth, 5:53.
197 — Patrick Downey, Iowa Central, d. Ihoghama Odighizuwa, Clackamas, 9-5.
285 — Taylor Kornoely, North Idaho, d. Richard Black, Neosho, 3-1.
(NIC results only)
THIRD-FOURTH PLACE
125 — Alex DelaCruz, Iowa Central, tf. Michael Nguyen, North Idaho, 25-10.
197 — Dillon Archer, Neosho, md. Johnathen Dennis, North Idaho, 11-2.
FIFTH-SIXTH PLACE
157 — Mark Hobson, Northeast Oklahoma, d. Tyler McLean, North Idaho, 4-3.
174 — Jordan Cooks, North Idaho, d. Dylan Reel, Clackamas, by forfeit.
SEVENTH-EIGHTH PLACE
141 — Mark West, Nassau, d. Bryce Weatherston, North Idaho, 6-1.
SEMIFINALS
165 — Dajour Reece, North Idaho, d. Ryan Niven, Iowa Central, 4-2.
285 — Taylor Kornoely, North Idaho, d. John Morin, Clackamas, 3-2.
Consolation
Semifinals
125 — Michael Nguyen, North Idaho, p. Korbin Levin, Clackamas, 5:29. 157 — Alex Rice, Labette, d. Tyler McLean, North Idaho, 12-5. 174 — Nick Moore, Rowan, d. Jordan Cooks, North Idaho, 9-4. 197 — Johnathen Dennis, North Idaho, d. Donavan Fouchey, Muskegon, 2-1.
Fifth round
125 — Michael Nguyen, North Idaho, md. Jake Bellis, Harper, 15-7. 141 — Andrew Beck, Pratt, d. Bryce Weatherston, North Idaho, 4-1. 157 — Tyler McLean, North Idaho, d. Dom Ruggiero, Rowan, 3-2. 174 — Jordan Cooks, North Idaho, d. Mason Courtright, Muskegon, 4-2. 197 — Johnathen Dennis, North Idaho, p. Craig Williams, Northland, 3:00.