Sullivan, Hawthorne second for Cardinals in Iowa

PLEASANT HILL, Iowa — It was a good week for the North Idaho College wrestling team.

This week, as coach Pat Whitcomb described, might be the most important of the semester for his squad.

Cooper Sullivan (285 pounds) and Hassan Hawthorne (149) each went 4-1 for the Cardinals in Saturday’s Grand View Open, finishing second in their respective weight classes in the tourney at Southeast Polk High.

“Both of those guys were just on the offensive all day,” Whitcomb said. “They just tried to score every bit of the match they could. Hassan really had it going and had a good gameplan today. Connor, he got another huge win against an Iowa Central kid (Gunner Cash) that’s really going to help with seeding at nationals. Just having those head-to-head matches is going to be huge for us down the road.”

NIC beat Iowa Central, ranked sixth in the latest NJCAA poll, on Thursday, then beat Iowa Western — which had received votes — later that night.

Nicholas Hara (133) was third for NIC, which returns home to face Clackamas, ranked fourth in the latest poll, on Friday at 7 p.m. The Cardinals, ranked 20th will also host the annual Cardinal Duals next Saturday, then conclude the weekend with the Spokane Open at the Spokane Convention Center on Nov. 18.

“Overall it was a great tournament for all of our guys,” Whitcomb said. “Everyone that didn’t place was a match away from the placing rounds. A lot of them got five matches, and we really found out what we wanted to. Next week is the most important weekend of the semester for our guys. They’re beat up right now, but we’ll be ready to go next week.”

NIC RESULTS

125 — Jacob Frias 3-2, fifth place; Jacob Garrison 4-2, did not place.

133 — Nicholas Hara 5-1, third place.

141 — Dylan Lockwood 3-3, sixth place.

149 — Hassan Hawthorne 4-1, second place.

157 — Cooper McCullough 3-2, did not place.

165 — Izaiah Duran 3-3, sixth place; Austin Burrell 4-2, fourth place.

174 — Trager Abatti 3-2, did not place.

184 — Christian Grover 4-2, did not place.

197 — Hunter Gregerson 5-2, fourth place.

285 — Cooper Sullivan 4-1, second place.