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Coach Zeigler Says Trappers Will Be ‘Very Competitive’
The Trapper party heading to the NJCAA National Wrestling Championship (Feb. 27-28) won’t be as crowded as it was last season, but Northwest College coach Jim Zeigler knows this season’s five are the wrestlers who deserve to be going.
“I think there’s no question — the five guys that we have earned their spot,” Zeigler said after four NWC sophomores and one freshman earned berths at the NJCAA West District Regionals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Saturday. “I think they’re all going to be very competitive, I think they’ll do a great job for us.”
Zeigler joined 10 Trappers last season who pushed NWC to a national runnerup finish while taking home two individual championships. But the longtime head coach realized this year’s squad was different, and was still impressed with its results.
“Each team is different,” Zeigler said. “Obviously this team is not the caliber of the team that was national runner-up last year with 10 qualifiers and two champs, and the list of accolades goes on and on.
“But for this team, I think they did pretty well this past weekend, I think their accomplishments are good.”
Freshman Eduardo Pehna was the first Trapper to punch his nationals ticket, pulling off an upset at 133 pounds. He moved into the semifinals with a bye, where he knocked off Western Wyoming Community College’s Brett Jones 6-3. He then met Clackamas Community College’s No. 5-ranked Lawrence Otero in the finals, and pulled off a shocker.
“He caught a lot of people off guard ... he wrestled really well,” Zeigler said.
Pehna has a rich background in Brazilian jiu jitsu, and can often be a matchup problem for the opposition. Otero opted to attack Pehna early and often, which Zeigler said gave Pehna the advantage.
“[Otero] is an outstanding talent, but he is a guy that really comes after you,” Zeigler said. “And with [Pehna’s] background in jiu jitsu, they really thrive on people coming after them ... getting people into him ... and this guy just played right into Eduardo’s hands.”
Pehna triumphed, 10-7, over Otero, and said being the underdog actually helped him.
“It was definitely cool having no pressure,” Pehna said. “He was supposed to win and I wasn’t even supposed to be there. So I went in with nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Two weight classes up, redshirt sophomore Jeff McCormick earned a return trip to nationals after qualifying at 149 pounds. Ranked second nationally, Mc- Cormick squeaked by North Idaho College’s Tyler Booth with a 3-2 decision, but had a much easier time in the finals. He pinned Southwestern Oregon Community College’s Quinn Johnston in 2:24 to take the title. McCormick finished third in the nation last season, and said despite his high ranking this year, he feels no pressure.
“The way I see it, why feel pressure to succeed?” he said. “Why do you have to put pressure on yourself to be successful? Just go out there and take care of business, that’s all it is to me.”
NWC sophomore Kaelen Loveless took care of his own business, recovering from a defeat to take third at 165. After an up-and down year, Zeigler has recently said Loveless is wrestling some of his best matches of the season, and that trend continued in Idaho.
Loveless earned a first-round win before dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to No.1-ranked Dajour Reece of North Idaho in the semis. Loveless responded with a 6-1 decision in the consolation semis before surviving Southwestern Oregon’s Andrew Orr for a 5-4 decision in the third-place match.
“I feel good about it, but I know there are still things I can get better at,” said Loveless, who is now a two-time national qualifier. “I think the biggest thing is my mindset about everything ... I just know that I’m close to the end and I’m almost done, and I just want to work hard and be on top of the podium.”
At 174, sophomore Jacob Beck was handed an opportunity to redeem himself, and took advantage. Per a “true fourth” rule, if the fifth-place finisher did not wrestle the fourth-place finisher, the fifth-place wrestler has a right to challenge for fourth place.
Such was the case for Beck, who pinned No. 5-ranked Ismael Rubio of Southwestern Oregon for fifth before challenging and defeating Antonio Melendez of Highline Community College by decision to reach the national tournament for the first time.
“I knew I had to pin [Rubio] to even challenge for fourth place, so that was really scary,” Beck said. “But it was an opportunity, and I knew that if I didn’t beat him, it was going to possibly be my last match ever.
“I was super lucky to be in that position, and going into the challenge match (against Melendez) I was still thinking ‘This is my last match ever if I lose,’ and I just wrestled like it was my last match,” he said.
NWC’s qualifiers ended with last season’s national runner-up, Jon Wixom, who took second on Saturday at 197. The sophomore cruised to back-to-back 10-0 major decisions before hitting a wall in the title bout. Johnathen Dennis of North Idaho College got the best of Wixom in a 10-3 victory, leaving Wixom hungry heading into the national tourney.
“I just know that I need to get better and learn from my mistakes,” Wixom said. “I’ll have a good stretch of matches, and then have one where I just hit a bump. I know that I’m going to have to fix that and get better if I want to be at the top of the podium this year.”