Tritons and Roadrunners Storm to NJCAA 2007 Titles Moffit and Iraldi Honored, Elliot Is Outstanding by Johnnie Johnson
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Tritons and Roadrunners Storm to NJCAA 2007 Titles Moffit and Iraldi Honored, Elliot is Outstanding By Johnnie Johnson OCHESTER, MN — The snow Iowa Central finished with 154.5 points, Iowa Central had the team title wrapped and the sleet were not the only outdistancing second-ranked Labette (105) up even before Joe Soto, the first of their things that blew through by 49.5 points, No. 7 North Idaho (86.5) fin- four finalist stepped on the mat. Soto Rochester this weekend, so did ished 3rd, Gloucester (77.5), William Rainey (Porterville, CA), a Sophomore, brought a Iowa Central and Gloucester. In Harper (73.5), Northwest Wyoming (67.5), 25-5 season and a perfect 12-0 JUCO record the aftermath, the Tritons Clackamas (66.5), and Nassau (59). to the finals along with the #1 ranking. Soto’ R repeated in Division I and Gloucester (77.5), William Rainey Harper opponent was second ranked Heinrich Gloucester picked up their first title since (73.5), and Nassau finished 1,2,3 in Division Barns (South Africa) from Northern Idaho, 2002 in Division III. Top-ranked Iowa III, good enough to go 4th. 5th, and 8th also a Sophomore who brought an impres- Central wrestling team was dominant as respectively against the Division I scholar- sive 39-3 record and a spotless JUCO record they stormed to their second consecutive ship divisions. of 21-0 to the finals. Both wrestlers were NJCAA national title for the first time in The Tritons also had a school-record nine returning all-Americans from last season, Triton history. Iowa Central was also cap- All-Americans from their 10 qualifiers, Soto was the consolation champion having tured the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual including four finalists and three national placed third and Barnes was fifth in 2006. Champion title in Cedar Falls in January. champions. Although the two top rated wrestlers had ‘‘We put the pressure on the guys and pre- ‘‘The guys took care of business all year not met this season, Soto owned a pair of pared them to win,’’ said Iowa Central head long,’’ Moffitt said. ‘‘We really pulled wins last year over Barnes including a con- coach Luke Moffitt. ‘‘They took care of together as a team and had great chemistry. solation semi-final win by the score of 11-3. themselves and did all the work. They We wrestled better than I expected all sea- But, when it comes to the finals Barnes deserve all the credit for their success.’’ son long.” proved that you can throw previous meet- Tim Elliott Kenny Jordan Heinrich Barns Matt Burns Nate Carr Jr 125-Labette 133-Lincoln 141-North Idaho 149-Iowa Central 157-Iowa Central Colby Covington Travis Hammons Kyle Sand Evan Mattingly Chris Miller 165-Iowa Central 174-Triton 184-North Idaho 197-North Idaho 285- Itasca page 42 May 15, 2007 - Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine NJCAA National Championships 133 lbs. Finals - Kenny Jordan (Lincoln) dec. NJCAA National Championships 149 lbs. Finals - Matt Burns (Iowa Central) dec. Josh Baldridge (Labette), 9-8. Photo by John Johnson. Tim Burdine (Spartanburg), 9-3. Photo by John Johnson. NJCAA National Championships 125 lbs. Finals - Tim Elliot (Labbette) fall Ray Stephens (Waubonsee), 4:31. Photo by John Johnson. NJCAA National Championships 141 lbs. Finals - Heinrich NJCAA National Championships 157 lbs. Finals - Nate Carr Jr. (Iowa Central) dec. Jeb Clark Barns (North Idaho) dec. Joe Soto (Iowa Central), 13-11. Photo (Northwest Wyoming), 6-5. Photo by John Johnson. by John Johnson. Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine - May 15, 2007 page 43 for the 165-pound finals was top rated his Cardinal team led by head coach Joe Colby Covington (Springfield, OR) where Renfro to a national runner-up finish. 2006 NJCAA he would face Nassau’s third ranked Chris Labette would put out their second final- Wrestling Championships Wade (Islip, NY) a sophomore, both men ist for the night at 133 pound with second sported a perfect record against JUCO rated Josh Baldridge (Wichita, KS) who Final Team Standings wrestlers. Covington would prove that his placed fourth at the NJCAA’s in 2006. top ranking was legitimate as he majored Baldridge would match up against the top Rank School Pts. Wade by the score of 15-3. Coach Moffitt rated wrestler from Lincoln College, fresh- 1. Iowa Central 154.50 stated, ”Covington really dominated the man Kenny Jordan (Frankfort, IL) who was 2. Labette 105.50 field, and I am not sure he had an offensive a perfect 28-0 on the season. Jordan’s perfect 3. North Idaho 86.50 point scored on him. With the way he dom- record included a previous win over 4. Gloucester 77.50 inated his opponents I thought he would Labette’s Baldridge, when Kenny downed have been a strong contender for the Josh by the score of 10-4 on January 20th. 5. William Rainey Harper 73.50 Outstanding Wrestler.” Baldridge was able to close the gap from his 6. Northwest Wyoming 67.50 Iowa Central’s Terrance Young (125) previous loss to Jordan, but the Lincoln 7. Clackamas 66.50 placed third, while Russell Weakley (133), wrestler would stay perfect on the season as 8. Nassau 59.00 and Nate Willard (184) each finished fifth. he won the title by the score of 9-8 and 9. Southwestern Oregon 58.00 Algona High School graduate Jacob Combs adding another titlelist for coach Dave 10. Western Wyoming 51.50 (heavyweight) was seventh, and Kevin Klemm. 11. Ridgewater 50.00 Flynn (174) finished in eighth. Triton’s Travis Hammons (Harvey, IL) 12. St. Louis Meramec 48.50 On winning their second straight title ranked third at 174 entered the finals with a 13. Spartanburg 39.00 Moffitt states, ”We knew it would be hard to perfect JUCO record of 15-0 and a season 14. Triton 38.00 repeat, it was a goal, but we knew we have record of 27-2. His opponent, Jesse 15. Itasca 36.50 never repeated at Iowa Central. A lot of our Linczmaier (Fox Lake, IL) of Harper has guys stepped up and we had 8 of nine guys dropped three matches this year to 16. Pratt Community College 34.50 attain AA status. All of these guys did a Hammons, including the Central District 17. Lincoln 33.00 tremendous job and wrestled at or above title match. The Triton would make it four 18. Waubonsee 28.50 their expectations.” in a row as Hammons downed Linczmaier 19. Ellsworth 25.50 In just his third year as the headman at 10-7. Despite Linczmaier’s loss, Harper 20. Colby 24.00 ICCC Moffitt earned “National Coach of the was the runner-up team in the non-scholar- 21. Highline 23.00 Year” honors for the second straight season. ship division and Triton placed 5th. 22. Pima 21.00 Luke states, “It’s a nice award to receive, but 184 pounds would see yet another district 23. Niagara 20.00 I have to give a lot of credit to my assistants, finals rematch from the West District finals 24. Rochester 18.50 the team, former Coach Ostrander, the fac- and a meeting of the top two wrestlers at Tie Yakima Valley 18.50 ulty and administration at Iowa Central.’’ this weight. North Idaho would send out As far as next season, Moffit states, ”It’s their second of three finalist in second an expectation that we have every year, ranked sophomore Kyle Sand (Arvado, CO) ings and rankings out the window as he were going to go hard after it (the title) who placed 4th in the NJCAA’s in 2006, he downed the top rated Soto 13-11 to give the every year, we’re going to reload and give it would face number one ranked and return- Cardinal a title. another try.” Iowa Central will not have to ing AA Brad Padgett (Buckley, OR) who is At 149 pounds Iowa Central put out the reload too many weights as the Tritons had perfect on the season with a 25-0 record first of three freshmen to make the finals, top seven freshmen in their line-up. So, look for including a win over Sand in their district ranked Matt Burns (Urbandale, IA) who Moffitt and Company to have their sites set finals. NIC’s Sand would turn the tables on was 29-9 on the season and 15-2 against on the “three-peat” when the 2008 title is Padgett in the national finals with a 10-6 vic- JUCO competition. Burns opponent, anoth- decided again in Rochester, which has been tory over the previously unbeaten wrestler er freshman, was Tim Burdine (Brandon, FL) one of the best venues and well run nation- from Highline. of Spartanburg Methodist College who was al tournaments. NIC would send their third finalist at 197 23-7 on the season and 5-0 against NJCAA In other title bouts the greatest challenge pounds with seventh rated Evan Mattingly foes. ‘‘Burns wrestled really well the whole would be at 125 pounds where sophomore (Vashon Island, WA) with a 15-2 JUCO tournament,’’ said Moffitt. “Matt came out Tim Elliott (Wichita, KS) of Labette face the record, where he would like his teammate and took control of the match, he got the only returning national champion in the Sand, face the a top ranked and undefeated takedown and then turned his kid.” Burns field, Raymond Stephens (Homestead, FL) wrestler in Alfred State’s Jamie Luckett (St. downed Burdine by the score of 9-3 for the of Waubonsee.