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No. 1 Tritons aim for title

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Iowa Central head coach Luke Moffitt instructs one of his wrestlers earlier this season inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

COUNCIL BLUFFS — With a target firmly on their backs, the top-ranked Iowa Central wrestling team embarks on another national championship chase.

The Tritons will bring 10 qualifiers to the NJCAA National Tournament, which begins here Friday and concludes Saturday night inside the Mid-America Center.

After taking over the top spot in the latest rankings, Iowa Central will attempt to add title No. 9 to its storied collection. The Tritons were runners-up last year to Northeastern Oklahoma.

The first session is from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., while Session II takes place 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday night. On Saturday, the medal round will be from 10:30 a.m. until noon, with finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Iowa Central has previously captured titles in 1981, 2002-10, and most recently, in 2015.

Luke Moffitt, who has been the head coach for six of those crowns, is preaching a simple — but sound — motto to his group all week.

“The guys who go out and wrestle in the postseason usually win,” Moffitt said. “The guys that stand around and wait for a break or want an easy match? Those are the guys who fall short.

“It sounds simple but that’s what wins in the postseason.”

Much like last season when the Tritons were given six first-round byes, seven of their 10 qualifiers this time around will sit on the sidelines and miss a chance to secure any bonus points.

“We are a bit behind the eight-ball early on, but that’s no different than any other year,” Moffitt said. “Points are tough to get at the national tournament and you want to have advantages, but it comes down to going out and wrestling to get those points back.

“The kids can look at it like they have something to prove and really go out there and make up the difference.”

Todd Small, Zak Hensley, De’Andre Reed, Brandon Murray, Antrez Clagon, Danny Bush and Thomas Petersen all have moved into the second round before the tournament begins, while Dayton Racer, Brady Vogel and Kendrick Jones have matches right from the start.

Hensley was a runner-up at nationals a year ago, while Murray placed seventh.

“We’d love to be at 100 percent, but just like everyone else, we have guys who are banged up,” Moffitt said. “But at this point, that doesn’t matter. You have to go out and wrestle your style and believe you are going to have your hand raised at the end.”

Second-ranked Clackamas, defending national champion and No. 3 Northeastern Oklahoma, fourth-rated Ellsworth, and No. 5 Iowa Lakes are expected to be the top challengers to the Tritons, but all four of them have a strong advantage over Moffitt’s bunch.

Combined, the four schools have 36 qualifiers, but received just 10 byes compared to Iowa Central’s seven. Four of Northeastern Oklahoma’s 10 will not compete in the first round, while Clackamas (nine qualifiers) and Iowa Lakes (seven) have three byes each. Ellsworth did not receive a single bye after advancing nine.

Racer, one of four Tritons with a No. 1 individual ranking, will begin his pursuit at 157 pounds vs. Jake Vershoor of Harper. Racer spent his freshman season at Virginia Tech before transferring to Iowa Central.

“Dayton will be our first match and hopefully he can go out and light at fire for us that the rest of the guys can follow,” Moffitt said. “He’s done a good job of putting up a lot of points all year.”

Vogel takes on Shaylan Loomis of Lincoln at 165 pounds and could be in line to meet Northeastern Oklahoma’s sixth-ranked Wyatt Jordan in the second if both advance.

Jones, meanwhile, will square off with Wyatt Westfall of Southwestern Oregon at 197 pounds. Both are currently ranked, as Jones is No. 8 and Westfall is third.

Hensley at 133 pounds, Bush at 184 and Petersen at heavyweight are all ranked No. 1. Reed is fourth at 141, Murray is second at 149 and Clagon fifth at 174.

Hensley would meet sixth-ranked D’Andre Brumfield of Iowa Western in the second round, while Bush could be paired with Devin Crawl of Northeastern Oklahoma in a key contest.

Along with the Lakers and Panthers being ranked entering the meet, Iowa Western is No. 9 and North Iowa Area is 12th.

“It’s going to be a close tournament,” Moffitt said. “Coming back and getting some of those points we miss from competing in the first round will be key.”

Coverage of nationals will be available on FloWrestling.org while complete brackets and tourney information can be found at NJCAAWrestlingCB.com.

NJCAA NATIONAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

(First matches for Iowa Central qualifiers)

125 pounds

First round: Todd Small received first round bye

Second round: Small vs. winner of Brian Maas, Iowa Lakes/Benny Gomez, Muskegon

133 pounds

First round: Zak Hensley received first round bye

Second round: Hensley vs. winner of D’Andre Brumfield, Iowa Western/Christophe Rosario, Bergen

141 pounds

First round: De’Andre Reed received first round bye

Second round: Reed vs. winner of Cody Foos, Labette/Chris Deters, Colby

149 pounds

First round: Brandon Murray received first round bye

Second round: Murray vs. winner of Dominique Evans, Northwest Kansas/Valention Ortiz, Triton

157 pounds

First round: Dayton Racer vs. Jake Vershoor, Harper

165 pounds

First round: Brady Vogel vs. Shaylan Loomis, Lincoln

174 pounds

First round: Antrez Clagon received first round bye

Second round: Clagon vs. winner of Ryan Kottschade, Rochester/Michael Morris, Camden County

184 pounds

First round: Danny Bush received first round bye

Second round: Bush vs. winner of Juwan Anderson, Harper/Devin Crawl, Northeast Oklahoma

197 pounds

First round: Kendrick Jones vs. Wyatt Westfall, Southwestern Oregon

285 pounds

First round: Thomas Petersen received first round bye

Second round: Petersen vs. winner of Wyatt Fitterer, Itasca/Jonathon Morris, Muskegon

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