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Penha, Henderson Upset Ranked Opponents, Apodaca Award Bestowed Upon Escobedo
The Northwest College wrestling team lost the wars, but won key battles along the way.
Sophomores John-David Henderson and Eduardo Penha upset ranked opponents as the No. 14 Trappers went 0-2 as a team in the Apodaca Dual Showdown over the weekend.
Northwest remained within striking distance in the final bout of each dual, but fell 28-19 to No. 4 Iowa Central on Saturday and 29-21 to No. 5 Iowa Western on Friday in Cabre Gym.
NWC head coach Jim Zeigler said he was proud of Northwest’s showing despite an absence of a dual victory.
“After those first eight weights, if we’re in a position where we can win the dual, I think we’ve done great,” Zeigler said.
The Trappers continued to demonstrate improvement over the weekend and are starting to wrestle above the expectations of their opponents. That could result in a surprising — to some — finish for the Trappers as they head into regionals, and then nationals.
“As we are climbing, other (teams) are falling off and we’re moving up quicker,” Zeigler said. “We could end up finishing higher than people had expected us to finish.”
Northwest knocked off a pair of top-four wrestlers during the opening night against Iowa Western.
Henderson is unranked at 149 pounds, but his 7-4 win over No. 1 Oscar Ramirez may soon change that.
“It certainly helps,” Zeigler said. “He beat the No. 1 guy and he’s beaten the No. 2 guy.”
Henderson started to turn heads on a national scale when he beat No. 2 Kristian Holguin- Mendez 9-8 at the National Duals on Jan. 8.
“He’s getting quite a bit of attention in terms of recruiting already. This will definitely bolster that,” Zeigler added.
Henderson beat No. 5 Ryne Cokely of Iowa Central with a first-period pin on Saturday.
Penha, the No. 4-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, narrowly edged Iowa Western’s Clay Stine, who is ranked one spot above him.
Penha earned a takedown in the final 15 seconds of round three to force an overtime period, during which he scored another takedown for the automatic win.
Zeigler credited Northwest’s coaching staff, specifically the help of assistant coach Seth Wright, for the success of the Trappers’ top two wrestlers.
“The three of us work really well together,” Zeigler said. “Seth and I communicate real well on how we communicate with John David, and to Eduardo, and I think they’re both benefiting tremendously from him.”
Freshman Justin Polkowske won both of his weekend bouts by way of pin. He took down Iowa Central’s Stephon Gray on Saturday and Iowa Western’s Jro Byrd on Friday.
“He’s on fire. He really lit it up this weekend,” Zeigler said of Polkowske. “Those are two big pins, and big wins, and I’m really proud of him. I don’t know where that sets him on a national level at 165 pounds, but it’s certainly a boost to him and to us, and it shows that he’s making progress.
“And if he’s not a threat now, he will be at some point.”
NWC freshman Matthew Barfuss opened Friday night’s dual with a pin of Prentice Walls in the 125-pound bout.
Northwest’s Heber Shepherd (184) wrestled perhaps the weekend’s most entertaining bout on Friday.
Shepherd fell behind 2-1 to the Reivers’ Jhalen Flanders after one period, and trailed 3-2 late in the third. With the Northwest crowd and bench encouraging Shepherd as time ticked away, the freshman scored a disputed takedown that put him ahead 4-3. Iowa Western’s coach contested that Shepherd did not have control of Flanders’ legs when he was awarded two points, but the call stood and the wrestlers reconvened at the center of the mat.
“I couldn’t see the boundaries over there. It’s one of those real close situations,” Zeigler said. “But I do know that Heber had been chasing him and had been doing all the work up to that time. I know if we’re in that situation, if we’re running from somebody, you get what you deserve.”
Needing only to hold on for two seconds to secure the win, Shepherd let Flanders escape to score the tying point and force overtime.
Shepherd came through in the extra period, however, and put the Trappers up 21-17 with a 5-4 decision.
“There’s no excuse for that, he should have never given up the point with two seconds left. But he kept his head in the game and got the takedown and won it,” Zeigler said.
The Trappers suffered back-to-back pins in the final two weight classes to close out both duals.
“Unfortunately those are two weight classes that we’re struggling with this year,” Zeigler said. “If we’re climbing up those first eight weights and we’re right there in the mix, I feel like we’ve competed real well.”
APODACA GOES TO ESCOBEDO
In a surprising — though not unprecedented — twist, the Apodaca Award went to a Trapper who hasn’t wrestled at all this season.
Student assistant coach Gabe Escobedo, who spent the previous two years as Northwest’s heavyweight wrestler, was announced as the Apodaca winner prior to Friday night’s dual with Iowa Western.
Zeigler said Escobedo, who returned to Northwest for a third year, grew tremendously from the beginning of his freshman year, and made himself an invaluable part of the school and wrestling program.
“He comes in there every single day, he works out all the time, he handles anything I want him to take care of, he’s just Johnny on the spot all the time,”
Ziegler said as he snapped his fingers to animate Escobedo’s efficiency. “The kids look up to him, he provides good instruction, he organizes things for road trips and travel. This guy is probably the guy that contributes to the team in a fashion that nobody else does.”
And despite all that, Escobedo wasn’t an immediate or obvious choice for Zeigler, who was contemplating his options when Escobedo’s literal presence made things clear.
“I’m sitting in my office (in the Johnson Fitness Center) and Gabe walks in. ‘Hey coach I did this, this and this, what else do you need me to do?’ It just hit me and I went, ‘No doubt.’”
Former Trapper and current Lovell wrestling coach Nick DeWitt was given the Apodaca Award in 2007 despite never wrestling for the Trappers.
BRADEN BOUNCES BACK
NWC freshman Cameron Braden continued to impress his head coach with a 1-1 weekend that featured his own cheering section.
Braden attracted a contingent of 40-plus people from his hometown of Moorcroft, who came from the Greybull wrestling tournament on Friday.
Unfortunately for the Braden fan-base, Iowa Western’s Chase Lemons won by pin.
“Those are all his old high school teammates, his coaches, his parents, there’s some pressure on the kid,” Zeigler said. “I don’t know if that bothered him or not, but it was an unusual circumstance. He got behind early, got in a bad situation and just got worse because he tried to dig out of it.”
Braden recovered well on Saturday by beating Iowa Central’s Cory Collins via decision on Saturday.
“I was proud of the way he bounced back (Saturday) with his head up, wrestled a good match and beat a good kid.”