Your future, our focus
NWC Wrestling’s Top-10 Streak Ends AT Tough National Tournament
Trappers head coach Jim Zeigler was expecting the NJCAA National Wrestling Championship to be a tough challenge for his five qualified wrestlers.
But perhaps nobody knew it would be this tough.
Northwest College competed in the two-day national tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday, and left with their 21-year streak of top-10 finishes broken, a top-ranked wrestler nursing a bum knee and another grappler wondering what could have been.
It wasn’t all bad for NWC, however, as sophomore Kaelen Loveless earned All-American honors a year after failing to place at the tournament, and freshman Eduardo Pehna fell just short of a medal in his first appearance at the tournament.
“Overall, I’m very proud of the team. They’ve competed throughout the year,” Zeigler said. “It’s not easy to do what we do with the demands of our sport.”
NWC’s season certainly wasn’t easy, as the Trappers dealt with a limited roster for most of the season. But five wrestlers emerged from the pack at the West District Tournament on Feb. 14, and looked to finish their seasons strongly.
Among those five was sophomore Jeff McCormick. The 149-pounder finished third last season after undergoing an emergency appendectomy late in the season after nearly losing his life. McCormick spent the entirety of this season near the top of the national rankings, and was a favorite to win a national title in Iowa.
That dream ended, however, when the Kamas, Utah, native tore the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee in the second period of his quarterfinal match. McCormick lost the match and was forced out of the remainder of the tournament.
“Jeff’s situation was heartbreaking,” Zeigler said.”
“It was tough ... just disappointing,” McCormick said after a long pause. “You put in all of that work and it just comes to an end right there.
“It’s still been a pretty good year besides the injuries. I’ve had some good wins, and it’s been a pretty good career here overall, but not exactly how I wanted to finish.”
The same could be said for sophomore Jon Wixom, who finished second in the nation last year at 197, and came into the weekend’s tournament ranked second in the 197-pound division. But after a first-round win, Wixom was defeated by No. 1-ranked Patrick Downey (Iowa Central Community College) in a 17-9 major decision, and only lasted 14 seconds in his first consolation match before being pinned.
Wixom, who is moving on to wrestle at Division II Colorado State University-Pueblo, said he was more upset with “disappointing everyone who had invested so much in him” this season.
“It’s just tough knowing that so many people ... my teammates, my coaches, my parents ... the coaches at CSU that recruited me, they were all expecting me to win a national tournament and I let them down,” Wixom said. “But I just have to clear my mind and put in more work next season.”
Sophomore Jacob Beck made his first appearance at the national competition, but had a short stay in the 174-pound bracket. He dropped two close matches, 6-3 in his first and 3-2 in consolation action.
“Jacob, I think he’ll admit it wasn’t his best effort,” Zeigler said.
The best NWC performance came from Loveless, who placed eighth with a 4-3 record. In the quarterfinal round, he lost a 5-3 decision to Darton College’s Bryce Carr, who went on to win three more close matches to take the national championship. Loveless worked his way back through the consolation bracket before falling to Labette Community College’s Derrick Gates (a 13-5 major decision) to finish eighth. Loveless’ top-eight performance earned him the All- American status.
“I’m extremely proud of Kaelen for making the podium,” Zeigler said.
“I’m really happy with how I finished,” Loveless added. “I was happy to be an All- American this year ... it’s too bad I was the only one on the team this year ... but I’m happy with what I did out there.”
Pehna, a freshman, had a big weekend after turning heads at the district tourney. At the national tournament, he knocked off his first two opponents in the 133-pound division with pinfalls before falling short in a 7-3 loss to Austin Hood of Neosho County Community College in the quarterfinals. Pehna finished his tournament just shy of placing after losing his two consolation matches.
“I’m not happy with it, but now I know there are things I can work on,” Pehna said. “I ran into some tough kids, but I learned a lot, I saw some guys that were bigger than me, and now I know what I need to focus on for next year.”
In all, Zeigler said he was happy with how the season played out, but knows improvements can be made for next year.
“It’s unfortunate we weren’t higher on the podium; they wanted to be and so did I,” the coach said. “We’ve had a good run ... 21 straight years in the top 10 ... all good streaks come to an end. “It’s a time for us to — for me — to re-evaluate how we’re doing some things, particularly how we’re recruiting, and to put our focus into next season.”