Nineteen champions crowned at 2003 NJCAA Championships and USA Wrestling Collegiate Nationals
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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
03/01/2003
Rochester, Minn. - Nineteen champions were crowned Saturday during the 2003 National Junior College Wrestling Championships and the first annual USA Wrestling Collegiate Nationals. In Junior College action, second-ranked North Idaho took 2 of 3 finals matches to score 140 team points and capture the Division I team title over top-ranked Colby Community College, which also earned 2 titles and 135 team points. Rounding out the top five DI team race were Iowa Central with 79, Northwest Wyoming with 77.5, and Ellsworth with 74 team points. Despite crowing just a single champion, top-ranked Nassau ran away with the Division III team scoring 107.5. Finishing behind the top-ranked team was Harper 66, Ridgewater 32, Middlesex 21.5, and Bergen 20. Capturing titles for North Idaho were Chris Nedens at 141 pounds and Keri Stanley at 149 pounds. Nedens major decisioned Brian Miller of Colby, and Stanley earned a 9-4 decision over Mark Dickman of Meramec. North Idaho's John Zamora dropped a close 7-5 decision to Nassau's Carlos Patrick at 165 pounds. Iowa Central put team points on the board with the first two finals wins coming at 125 and 133 pounds. IAC's Brett Allgood won 8-2 over Meramec's Nick Vogt, and Paul Collum captured his title with a 5-0 decision over Erkin Tadzhimetov of Colby. Vogt also finished second in last year's championships. The only two finals falls were scored by Colby Community College grapplers at the 157 and 184 pound weight classes. At 157 Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov pinned Harper's Mike Rio in 4:02, while CB Dalloway earned the fall over Bergen's Mike Massenzio in 3:24 at 184. Two Labette grapplers earned positions in the finals. At 174 Aaron Meister earned a 9-2 decision over Ryan Luna of Meramec, while James Williams dropped a tough 2-0 decision to Ridgewater's Josh Janousek at 197 pounds. In the heavyweight division, Tyler Rhodes of Northwest Wyoming earned a 6-4 decision over Dathon Miller of Lasson. In addition to the 80 all-American titles earned by the top eight place winners in each weight class, a series of other awards were presented. Nassau's coach Paul Schmidt was named the Coach of the Year; Nedens of North Idaho received the Outstanding Wrestler award; Meramec's Nick Vogt earned the Sportsmanship Award; and the Most Falls Award was presented to Nick Hiller of Ellsworth. Nine additional champions were crowned today as part of the Collegiate Nationals, the first folkstyle collegiate national tournament presented by USA Wrestling. "The idea for the tournament is to provide an opportunity for wrestlers who don't have a chance to go to a qualifying tournament to have a season ending national tournament," said USA Wrestling Events Director Pete Isais. The tournament drew 90 participants from 26 schools, including several junior national place winners and high school all-Americans. Athough all participants wrestled unattached, grapplers from Big Ten schools shone. Five of Minnesota's Golden Gophers earned spots in the finals, while Indiana and Illinois both claimed four final positions. Tough competition at 125 found second-seeded Luke Smith of Central Michigan losing in the semis to Joel Karr of Illinois. Karr moved on to the finals where he dropped a 5-3 decision to top-seeded Quincy Osborn of Minnesota. The 141-pound class also pitted Illinois against Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers would settle for a split as top-seeded Tommy Owen of Minnesota lost a tough 3-2 overtime decision to Michael Martin of Illinois. The top two seeded wrestlers at 149 also met in the finals. No. 1 Mark Disalvo of Central Michigan maintained the top position with a 2-1 decision over Cole Wunicke of Wisconsin. No. 3 Anton Dietzen of Illinois knocked off top-seeded Josh Medina of Pima with a 7-6 decision in the semis, but then dropped a 6-5 decision to Hoosier Matt McIntire in the 157-pound championship final. In an exciting 165-pound final, Derek Hebrink of Wisconsin-LaCrosse pinned top seeded Anthony Castillo of Illinois in 1:20. At 174, Golden Gopher Nate Baker easily captured his championship with a 12-2 major decision over Bryce Hasseman of Northern Illinois. However, 184-pound Gopher teammate Eli Ross did not fare as well, falling to Hoosier Andy Rios in just :55. The battle of the Hoosiers occurred at 197 with Indiana's Josh Buuck earning a title by forfeit over fellow Hoosier Allen Weinzapfel. The third championship earned by a Gopher came at 285, where Cole Konrad pinned Zac Jensen of Northern Illinois in 1:45. USA Wrestling's Pete Isais said the new tournament was a success and was pleased with the outstanding quality of wrestlers who participated. He said the tournament will be held again next year at the same venue, but will likely be moved to the third week in March. Junior College Championship Results 125 - Brett Allgood (Iowa Central) dec. Nick Vogt (Meramec), 8-2 133 - Paul Collum (Iowa Central) dec. Erkin Tadzhimetov (Colby), 5-0 141 - Chris Nedens (North Idaho) maj. dec. Brian Miller (Colby), 19-8 149 - Keri Stanley (North Idaho) dec. Mark Dickman (Meramec), 9-4 157 - Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (Colby) fall Mike Rio (Harper), 4:02 165 - Carlos Patrick (Nassau) dec. John Zamora (North Idaho), 7-5 174 - Aaron Meister (Labette) dec. Ryan Luna (Meramec), 9-2 184 - CB Dalloway (Colby) fall Mike Massenzio (Bergen), 3:24 197 - Josh Janousek (Ridgewater) dec. James Williams (Labette), 2-0 285 - Tyler Rhodes (NW Wyoming) dec. Dathon Miller (Lasson), 6-4 USA Wrestling Collegiate Nationals Championship Results 125 - Quincy Osborn (Minnesota) dec. Joel Karr (Illinois), 5-3 141 - Michael Martin (Illinois) dec. Tommy Owen (Minnesota). 3-2 OT 149 - Mark Disalvo (Central Michigan) dec. Cole Wunicke (Wisconsin), 2-1 157 - Matt McIntire (Indiana) dec. Anton Dietzen (Illinois), 6-5 165 - Derek Hebrink (Wisconsin-LaCrosse) fall over Anthony Castillo (Illinois), 1:20 174 - Nate Baker (Minnesota) major dec. Bryce Hasseman (Northern Illinois), 12-2 184 - Eli Ross (Minnesota) fall over Andy Rios (Indiana), :55 197 - Josh Buuck (Indiana) win by forfeit Allen Weinzapfel (Indiana) 285 - Cole Konrad (Minnesota) fall over Zac Jensen (Northern Illinois); 1:45