NJCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS: Process pays off for NIC's Porter

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Brant Porter believed.

Now, so does the rest of the NJCAA.

Porter became NIC’s first national champion since 2021, when Sal Silva won at 149 pounds, beating Easton Taylor of Pratt by a 4-2 decision in the 141-pound championship match on Saturday at the Mid-American Center.

“He was fantastic all weekend,” said NIC interim coach Derrick Booth, a wrestler on the Cardinals previous NJCAA title team in 2013. “He just trusted the process, went out and did his thing. He fought the entire seven minutes and did a fantastic job all weekend.”

Porter is the 56th individual champion from NIC in program history.

“It’s pretty cool for him,” Booth said. “He deserves it.”

Porter was unavailable for comment following the tournament.

Ben Mitchell, a sophomore from Mead High in Spokane, finished runner-up at 157 pounds, falling 5-4 to Fabian Padilla of Iowa Western in the championship match.

“Ben competed his heart out tonight,” Booth said. “He came up short, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort by any means. The guy didn’t want to wrestle him in the third period and Ben did a good job of pushing the pace. He came in under the radar, did his thing and really got the job done.”

NIC finished fifth with 93 points. Western Wyoming of Rock Springs won the national title with 134.5 points.

“I’m proud of what they did this weekend,” Booth said. “It’s not what we came for, but we’re happy with where we ended up. These guys trusted the process and got it done tonight.”

NIC sophomore Ledger Petracek was fourth at 165 pounds and freshman Kanai Tapia sixth at 149.

“We were just blessed with a great group of guys,” said Booth, who took over as interim coach in October. “They gave us an opportunity to come in, trusted us as coaches and believed in the process that we were doing to try to get it done.”

Jett Strickenberger, who was third at 125 as a freshman at North Idaho, won the NJCAA title with a 7-6 win over Jakason Burks of Iowa Western.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Western Wyoming 134. 2, Pratt 112.5. 3, Iowa Western 106.5. 4, Northeast Oklahoma 94. 5, North Idaho 93. 6, Northwest Kansas Tech 92. 7, Iowa Central 84.5. 8, Nassau 83.5. 9, Indian Hills 79. 10, Northwest College 74.5. 11, Clackamas 67.5. 12, Rochester 60.5. 13, Triton 56.5. 14, Carl Albert State 51. 15, Ellsworth 47.5. 16, Harper 44.5. 17, Ridgewater 39.5. 18, Cloud County 39. 19, NIAAC 38.5. 20, Cowley 36. 21, Northeastern 31.5. 22, Snow 30.5. 23, Camden County 28.5. 24, Labette 24. 25, Itasca 21.5. 26, Southwestern Oregon 21. 27, Lackawanna 17.5. 28, Bryant and Stratton 16.5. 29, Joliet 15.5. 30, Southwestern MIchigan 12.5. 31, Muskegon 11. 32, Otero 10. 33, St. Clair 8.5. 34, Bergen 7.5. 35, Southwest Virginia 6.5. 36 (tie), Henry Ford, Mott, Niagara 6. 39 (tie), Colby, Iowa Lakes 4.5. 41 (tie), Garrett, Patrick & Henry 4. 43 (tie), Barton, Jamestown, 3.5. 45 (tie), Middlesex, Morton, Rowan 3. 48, Neosho County 2.5. 49, Union 1.5. 50, Northland 1. 51, Umpqua 0.5. 52 (tie), Ancilla, Southwest Virginia, Sussex County, Thaddeus Stevens 0.

NIC RESULTS

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Championship matches

141 — Brant Porter, NIC, d. Easton Taylor, Pratt, 4-2.

157 — Fabian Padilla, Iowa Western, d. Benjamen Mitchell, NIC, 5-4.

Third-fourth place

165 — Cayleb Adams, Pratt, d. Ledger Petracek, NIC, 4-2.

Fifth-sixth place

149 — Brayden Lowry, Northwest College, p. Kanai Tapia, NIC, 2:55.

Semifinals

141 — Porter, NIC, md. Malachi Bordovsky, Iowa Western, 12-4.

157 — Mitchell, NIC, p. Bryce Boumans, Northwest Kansas Tech, 6:16.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Finals

149 — Kris Ketchum, Nassau, d. Tapia, NIC, 5-3.

165 — Petracek, NIC, p. Justice Compton, Northeast Oklahoma, 2:32.

Semifinals

149 — Matt Sorbo, Iowa Central, p. Tapia, 4:44.

165 — Petracek, NIC, tf. Wilhelm Yasseri, Ridgewater, 18-2.