Cory Hansen
The Carl Albert State College (CASC) Vikings and Northeast Oklahoma A&M (NEO) Golden Norsemen traveled to Barton Community College on Saturday, February 10 to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) South Central District tournament. Both teams competed very well on the day. CASC got two district champions and NEO had one wrestler win his bracket.
Carl Albert State College
Carl Albert College entered the district tournament tied in the NJCAA rankings for 11th, making them the fourth highest ranked team at the tournament. The Vikings wrestled very hard all day and finished third as a team with a pair of district champions and four total tournament finalists. At 133 pounds, Cooper Evans was fantastic from the very beginning and claimed the South Central district championship. After receiving a first round bye, Evans picked up a second round pinfall. Evans’ semifinal match was one where he was a paper underdog, facing the ninth ranked wrestler in the NJCAA coaches poll. Evans did not get the memo, and went on to score a major decision, upset victory. Evans kept the momentum rolling into the finals, where he scored another major decision to pick up the district championship. CASC’s other district champion was NJCAA’s second ranked 149 pounder, Jaden Two Lance. Two Lance was every bit as dominant as one would expect a highly ranked wrestler to be throughout the day. After receiving a first round bye, Two Lance scored back to back technical falls to make the finals. The 149 pound finals featured a top three NJCAA matchup, as the second ranked Two Lance faced off with the third ranked Gabe Maki. In one of the most anticipated matches of the day, Two Lance showed how dominant he can be, as he racked up points, and finished the match with an 18-9 major decision victory to win the district championship.
RJ Jones had a very strong tournament for the Vikings as well. After a first round bye, Jones scored a pair of pinfall victories to make the district finals. Unfortunately, Jones came up short against a top 5 opponent, and had to settle for second place. Noah Smith also settled for second place on the day in the 157 pound bracket. Smith received an opening round bye before making the finals with two gritty decision victories on the day. In a finals that matched up two top 6 wrestlers, Smith got out of position just a bit and ended up giving up the pinfall.
The Vikings had three wrestlers take an early loss in the tournament, but rally back to make the consolation round finals. In the 174 pound bracket, Matthan Mason had a first round bye before scoring a tech fall victory in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Mason was matched up against the NJCAA’s top ranked wrestler at 174 pounds, where he fell painfully short, dropping a 6-7 decision. Undeterred, Mason fought back and picked up a decision victory to make the consolation finals, where he would be awarded the victory by medical forfeit to finish the tournament in third. Josiah Rhodes got a really unfortunate draw in the 184 pound bracket. After receiving a first round bye, Rhodes was matched up with the NJCAA’s fourth ranked wrestler in the quarterfinals, where he dropped a scrappy 5-12 decision. After receiving another bye in the opening round of the consolation bracket, Rhodes went to work, earning a pair of hard fought decision victories to make the consolation finals before falling and settling for fourth place on the day. After also receiving a first round bye, Hunter Hall picked up a pinfall victory to make the 197 pound semifinals. After coming up short and moving to the consolation round semifinals, Hall earned another pinfall to make the consolation finals where he dropped a very close decision to finish fourth.
At 141 pounds, Cale Glover placed sixth for the Vikings. Glover went 2-2 on the day with decision and pinfall victories before accepting a medical forfeit in the fifth place match. Austin Tischer had a similar day for the vikings in the 285 pound bracket. After an opening round loss, Tischer scored back to back decision victories to make the consolation semifinals where he was defeated before also accepting a medical forfeit to finish the day in fifth. Mason Gordon also competed for the Vikings in the 165 pound bracket, going 0-2. The Vikings entered the district tournament well prepared and ready to compete and most of the team finished at or above their seed.
133
Cooper Evans (12-12) placed 1st and scored 23.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Cooper Evans (Carl Albert State) 12-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Cooper Evans (Carl Albert State) 12-12 won by fall over Avery Wolf (Barton) 13-12 (Fall 4:03)
Semifinal – Cooper Evans (Carl Albert State) 12-12 won by major decision over John Kenney (Northwest Kansas Technical College) 10-8 (MD 16-3)
1st Place Match – Cooper Evans (Carl Albert State) 12-12 won by major decision over Corban Zugelder (Labette Community College) 26-11 (MD 13-2)
149
Jaden Two Lance (23-2) placed 1st and scored 23.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Jaden Two Lance (Carl Albert State) 23-2 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Jaden Two Lance (Carl Albert State) 23-2 won by tech fall over Kayden Blake (Barton) 11-14 (TF-1.5 0:00 (19-3))
Semifinal – Jaden Two Lance (Carl Albert State) 23-2 won by tech fall over Jamarius Koshko (Labette Community College) 17-15 (TF-1.5 4:32 (21-5))
1st Place Match – Jaden Two Lance (Carl Albert State) 23-2 won by major decision over Gabe Maki (Pratt Community College) 17-5 (MD 18-9)
Northeast Oklahoma A&M
The tenth ranked Golden Norsemen entered the South Central district tournament with very high hopes that they would be able to improve on their runner up finish at last year’s district tournament. Unfortunately for NEO, the tournament did not go as well as they expected and despite scoring 105.5 points and wrestling hard all day, the Golden Norsemen finished seventh overall in the ten team district tournament. Despite the tough day as a team, Geoffrey Freeman stood out in a big way as the Golden Norsemen’s lone finalist on the day. Freeman entered the district tournament ranked seventh in the NJCAA at 197 pounds and he was on a mission to prove he deserved to be higher. Freeman made the finals after receiving a first round bye, followed by back to back major decisions. In the finals, Freeman faced the daunting task of facing the number one ranked wrestler in the NJCAA, Labette’s Matthew Marcum. In a defensive war, Freeman and Marcum finished regulation tied at 1-1. The two extra minutes were still not enough for a takedown to be scored, so the match went to the tie breakers. Marcum started the first 30 second go on bottom and escaped in just 7 seconds. Facing the challenge of getting out faster than Marcum, Freeman started the second 30 second round on bottom. Freeman started off the whistle as if shot out of a cannon, and earned the escape in just 4 seconds. After receiving the match’s lone stall call, Freeman was able to hang on and earn the district championship and massive upset victory with a three second advantage in riding time.
NEO had two wrestlers face early adversity by taking a loss in the championship bracket, but bounced back to make the consolation finals. Marcus Terry received a first round bye in the 133 pound bracket before earning a gritty 3-0 decision victory to make the semifinals. After coming up short in the championship semifinals, Terry bounced back in the consolation semifinals by earning a tech fall victory before receiving a medical forfeit in the finals to finish the tournament in third place. At 285 pounds, John Bray had a very eventful day, winning his first two matches by major decision and pinfall to make the championship semifinals. After a tough defeat, Bray bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a pinfall victory, but lost a tight decision in the finals to settle for fourth place.
The Golden Norsemen had four other wrestlers place in the top 6 of the district tournament. At 133 pounds, Karim Allal lost in the quarterfinal round but bounced back with a pinfall in the consolation bracket to make those semifinals. After falling in that match, Allal received a medical forfeit in the fifth place match to finish the tournament in fifth place. Elijah Reece won and lost by major decision on the championship side of the 149 pound bracket. Reece rallied in the consolation bracket picking up a pinfall and a tech fall before getting stopped in the consolation semifinals. Reece bounced back, again, in the fifth place match by picking up another pinfall to close his tournament with a fifth place finish. Gabriel Commons competed in the 184 pound bracket for theGolden Norsemen, winning his quarterfinal match with a pinfall before suffering back to back defeats in the championship and consolation semifinals matches. Commons did bounce back, however, scoring a tech fall victory in the fifth place match. In the 157 pound bracket, Cason Deyalsingh started his day with an opening round pinfall victory before being defeated in the quarterfinal round. Deyalsingh would then pick up a pinfall victory in the consolation round before falling in the consolation semifinals and the fifth place match to finish the district tournament in sixth place.
Jake Anthonysz and Christopher Wohrley also competed at 165 and 174, respectively, for the Golden Norsemen, each going 0-2 on the day. In what was a largely disappointing day for NEO, at least as compared to their expectations, there were still a lot of positives to take away from the day. They had seven wrestlers place in the top 6, which should have an impact as the other districts conduct their qualifier tournaments over the next week.
197
Geoffrey Freeman (16-9) placed 1st and scored 21.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Geoffrey Freeman (Northeast Oklahoma) 16-9 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Geoffrey Freeman (Northeast Oklahoma) 16-9 won by major decision over Gavin Dodge (Northwest Kansas Technical College) 12-13 (MD 14-2)
Semifinal – Geoffrey Freeman (Northeast Oklahoma) 16-9 won by major decision over Hunter Hall (Carl Albert State) 15-13 (MD 11-3)
1st Place Match – Geoffrey Freeman (Northeast Oklahoma) 16-9 won in tie breaker – 1 over Matthew Marcum (Labette Community College) 27-7 (TB-1 3-2)
Final Team Scores
1 Labette Community College 159.5
2 Pratt Community College 155.5
3 Carl Albert State 145.5
4 Northwest Kansas Technical College 125.5
5 Cloud County Community College 107.5
6 Cowley College 106.5
7 Northeast Oklahoma 105.5
8 Neosho County Community College 57.0
9 Barton 32.0
10 Colby Community College 15.0
The Vikings and Golden Norsemen both fought hard at the district qualifier tournament and should advance many of their wrestlers to the NJCAA national championship tournament. The South Central District was the first NJCAA district tournament to be completed this year. The final district tournament is scheduled for next Sunday, after which the official national tournament qualifiers will be compiled and the brackets will be made. The NJCAA wrestling tournament will take place in Council Bluffs, Iowa between Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 2024.
