Perry, Trujillo reach semis at nationals
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Things didn’t start out so well for North Idaho College at the NJCAA wrestling tournament on Friday.
Then, the Cardinals turned it up a notch.
Levi Perry (184 pounds) and Damian Trujillo (285) advanced to the semifinals for NIC, which is in seventh with 57 points after the first day of the tournament, just five points behind Iowa Western, which is fourth after the first day at the Mid-American Center.
Thomas Stevenson (157), Esco Walker Jr. (125) and Jacob Swift (165) are still alive in the consolation round, which resumes this morning.
All five remaining Cardinal wrestlers are guaranteed All-American status for placing in the top eight in their weight.
Four NIC wrestlers were eliminated on Friday.
“It didn’t start out very good with Esco being up 6-5 before getting pinned,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “(Austin) Iorga got beat, then (Brent) Evans got beat, and it wasn’t looking good. But they turned it up and got going. There was some gutsy, gutsy matches by those guys.”
Evans bounced back to go 2-2 before being eliminated in the third round in the consolation bracket.
“He just couldn’t do anything on that ankle,” said Whitcomb of Evans, who broke his ankle during the West District tournament on Feb. 10 in Oregon City, Ore. “To tape it up and wrestle was pretty gutsy on his part.”
Trujillo will wrestle Odgerel Batkhising of Northwest Kansas Tech in the semifinals.
“Damian’s just hitting on all cylinders right now,” Whitcomb said. “He’s got a little bit of an advantage because he can wrestle for a full seven minutes.”
Perry will face Nick Maximov of Clackamas in his semifinal.
“That’s going to be a battle as usual,” Whitcomb said. “They’ve seen each other twice with each of them winning. We just want to continue to climb the ladder.”
TEAM SCORES — 1, Northeast Oklahoma 99. 2, Iowa Central 86.5. 3, Clackamas 75. 4, Iowa Western 62. 5 (tie), Ellsworth, Western Wyoming 61. 7, North Idaho 57. 8, Northwest Wyoming 52. 9, Barton 49. 10, Nassau 40. 11, Northwest Kansas Tech 40. 12, NIACC 36. 13, Iowa Lakes 34. 14, Niagara 32.5. 15, Harper 29. 16, Rochester 28. 17, Spartanburg 26.5. 18, Muskegon 25.5. 19, Southwestern Oregon 24. 20, Highline 21.5. 21 (tie), Labette, Triton 20.5. 23, Pratt 17. 24, Colby 16. 25 (tie), Itasca, Joliet 15.5. 27, Jamestown 15. 28, Camden 14.5. 29, Cowley 14. 30, Northeastern 12.5. 31, Lincoln 12. 32, Cloud 11. 33, Northland 10.5. 34, Middlesex 10. 35 (tie), Henry Ford, Neosho 8. 38, Ridgewater 6.5. 39, Sullivan 5.5. 40, Rowan 5. 41, St. Clair 3.5. 42, Mercyhurst 2.5. 43, Bergen 1. 44 (tie), Lackawanna, Ulster 0.5. 46 (tie), Ancilla, Minnesota West 0.
NIC RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
First round
125 — Kevin Sarvia-Merios, Iowa Lakes, p. Esco Walker, Jr., NIC, 3:24.
141 — Jake Thompson, Western Wyoming, p. Austin Iorga, NIC, 1:55.
149 — David Hollingsworth, Iowa Lakes, md. Brent Evans, NIC, 13-4.
157 — Thomas Stevenson, NIC, d. Brandon Harris, Spartanburg, 8-7.
165 — Jacob Swift, NIC, md. Thomas Fell, Lackawanna, 14-3.
174 — Cody Kingery, Iowa Western, d. Trager Abatti, NIC, 6-4.
184 — Levi Perry, NIC, tf. Nick Sanford, St. Clair, 18-3.
197 — Hunter Harnish, Mercyhurst, d. Christian Grover, NIC, 9-6.
285 — Damian Trujillo, NIC, p. Seth Stroble, Cowley, 1:02.
Second round
157 — Stevenson, NIC, p. Zeke Rubio, Northeast Oklahoma, 1:19.
165 — Swift, NIC, d. Tell Ward, Iowa Western, 8-2.
184 — Perry, NIC, p. Hunter Roller, Northland, 1:02.
285 — Trujillo, NIC, md. Brix Brickley, Barton, 11-2.
Quarterfinals
157 — Ethan Karsten, Iowa Central, d. Stevenson, NIC, 8-2.
165 — Wyatt Jordan, Northeast Oklahoma, p. Swift, NIC, 1:54.
184 — Perry, NIC, d. Antrez Clagon, Iowa Central, 4-3.
285 — Trujillo, NIC, d. Gunner Cash, Iowa Central, 9-4.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
First round
125 — Walker, Jr., NIC, d. Lucas Hagel, Ridgewater, 9-4.
141 — Sam Colvin, Northwest Kansas Tech, tf. Austin Iorga, NIC, 19-2
149 — Evans, NIC, received a bye.
174 — Abatti, NIC, d. Jacquan McPherson, Lackawanna, 5-0.
197 — Grover, NIC, tf. Alex Cantu, Labette, 16-1.
Second round
125 — Walker, Jr., NIC, md. Britches Sikula, Harper, 15-3.
149 — Evans, NIC, p. Delvin Jefferson, Middlesex, 4:28.
174 — Abatti, NIC, p. Edwin Aguilera, Middlesex, 2:18.
Third round
125 — Walker, Jr., NIC, d. Jorge Barreiro, Nassau, 7-3.
149 — John Reina, Niagara, p. Evans, NIC, 2:29.
174 — Abatti, NIC, d. Shane Slewart, Rochester, 9-3.
197 — Rodsean Graham, Joliet, d. Grover, NIC, 10-5.
Fourth round
125 — Walker, Jr., NIC, p. Mohammed Dhillo, Middlesex, 1:30.
157 — Stevenson, NIC, p. Anthony Maia, Iowa Lakes, 1:42.
165 — Swift, NIC, d. Tsogtbayar Tserendagua, Northwest Kansas Tech, 6-3.
174 — Devin Crawl, Northeast Oklahoma, d. Abatti, NIC, 8-4.