A pair of Cardinals rule the prelims - then the Cougars roar at the NJCAA’s 

SPOKANE, Wash. – After two preliminary rounds host North Idaho College had the lead with 31.5 points. Pat Whitcomb’s Cardinals had 5 wrestlers who advanced to the quarterfinals and three wrestlers who are alive in the wrestle backs.  

Another Cardinal team was in second place, the Cardinals of Labette (KS) under the direction of Joe Renfro. Labette also quailed all ten wrestlers and like NIC had 8 wrestlers still alive heading to the quarters, six on the front side and two in the wrestle backs after two rounds.  

Muskegon was in 3rd with 27.5 point and in a three-way tie with the most wrestlers still alive in the tournament with nine, four on the championship side and five in the wrestle backs going into the quarters.  Rend Lake came in at 4th with 25.5 points with five wrestlers going, four on the front side after two rounds.

Clackamas, who won the tough Region 18 Championships that included North Idaho, was in fifth after the two prelim rounds with 24 points.  After the prelims, Clackamas equaled Muskegon with the most wrestlers still alive in the tournament with nine, six on the championship side and three in the wrestle backs.  

Lincoln College also finished the quarters with nine wrestlers alive, six on the championship side and 23.5 points.  Harper and Iowa Central, the D-III and D-I NJCAA Champions respectively were tied for seventh going into the quarters both with seven wrestlers alive and both with four grapplers in the front side.   Iowa Lakes and North Iowa rounded out the top ten after two rounds tied for ninth with 21.5 points.

Host college North Idaho was in the lead through two prelim rounds until the championship quarterfinals when Clackamas Community College climbed from fifth to take over the top spot with 68 points. North Idaho College dropped to second with 66.5 points with four of five Cardinals remaining in the championship bracket.  Clackamas has six wrestlers alive with five in the semi-finals.

Iowa Central Community College is in third with 63 points and four in the semi’s, Labette Community College is in fourth place with 62.5 points and three in the semi’s, Harper College also has four wrestlers in the semi’s and is in fifth place with 61 points, Rend Lake College is in sixth place with 56.5 points, Nassau is in seventh place with 52.5 points, Lincoln has six wrestlers alive in the wrestle backs and is in eighth place with 49 points. Muskegon College has four in the wrestle backs and is in ninth place with 48 points and Iowa Lakes Community College is in 10th place with 46.5 points with three wrestlers in the semi’s.

The tournament’s four returning national champions advanced through Friday’s matches with easy wins. Iowa Lakes’ Victor DeJesus (149) had a bye first rounds and then won his second match by injury default. DeJesus defeated Frankie BueneFuente with an 18-8 major decision to advance to the semi’s. 

At 197 pounds, returning national champion Walker Clarke of Labette Community College defeated Tito Gonzalez of Yakima Valley Community College with a 12-second pin and then went on to defeat Bo Younker of Southwestern Oregon Community College by a 6-2 margin. Clarke won his quarterfinals match over Trent Flegel of Muskegon College with a narrow 3-2 victory. 

The other returning national champion at 197 pounds is Jamelle Jones of North Idaho College who won the title in 2008. Jones also had a first-round bye and then dropped Weston Hawkins of Northern Iowa in 34 seconds. Jones then cruised to the semi’s with his quarter-finals major decision win (15-7) over Fred Moses of Lincoln College.

The 2010 heavyweight champion, Tyrell Fortune of Clackamas, had a first-round bye and then pinned Josh Hodge of Darton College. Fortune won his quarterfinal match with a 13-4 win over Ryan Redleaf of Labette. 

Saturday’s events will feature the championship semi-finals and quarterfinals as well as the consolation finals beginning at 10:30 a.m. The championship finals will begin at 6 p.m.  Thanks to Stacy Hudson, Public Information Coordinator at North Idaho College, for her contributions to this story.