NIACC Open a huge success

BY MATT PFIFFNER
Publisher, The Predicament

When asked how he thought the first college wrestling competition at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City was going a couple hours into the Kaye Young Open on Saturday, Nov. 3, head coach Richard Fergola just pointed towards the packed stands and to the action on the mats.

"If this is any indication of what our first dual will be like...I'm just excited that we're wrestling somebody," he said.

NIACC is in it's first year of wrestling after a 32-year absence and kicked off the regular season with the Kaye Young Open, named after the team's first coach, who guided the Trojans to the NJCAA National title in 1973.

Young was in attendance for the monumental event and couldn't have been happier.

"I'm tickled to death. It's sure fun to see a gym full of wrestling," he said. "I told (Dan) Gable when they dropped the program that we would be back. I just didn't think it would take 32 years.

"I heard last fall that we were going to go for it and I've been on a high ever since."

More than 200 wrestlers competed in the tournament in Mason City.

"For this being a first-year tournament, there are some really good kids here," Fergola said. "There's a lot of All-Americans here. We're excited about that.
"We didn't just have to get ready to host an open. We got ready for a debut. It's a really important day here."

Young said he believes the return of wrestling to NIACC will begin a snowball effect for the sport.

"I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think you'll see a lot of programs added up and down the line," he said. "That will give a lot of high school kids more opportunities to wrestle for somebody in college."

The first day of wrestling in 32 years at NIACC was punctuated by a title run from Trojan freshman Albert White (pictured) at 149.

A four-time State champion from Illinois, White was considered by many to be the top overall recruit in the country last season. When his plans to attend the University of Illinois were put on hold, he chose NIACC to begin his collegiate career.

White had a pair of falls and a major decision to reach the finals, where he claimed a 9-5 decision over T.J. Hepburn of Colby Community College.

T.J. Moen, a two-time State champ at Saydel, had the next highest place finish for the Trojans with a fourth-place effort at 141. Moen reached the semifinals, where he was pinned by another former two-time Iowa State champ, Dalton Jensen of Iowa State, who wrestled at Missouri Valley.

Placing fifth for NIACC were Cody Hogan at 125, DaVaughn Perkins at 157, 184-pounder Jordan Graham and Luke Stika at 197.

Several teams from the state of Iowa sent wrestlers to Mason City and three others joined NIACC's White as individual champs.

Josh Malott of William Penn won the crown at 133 as an unseeded wrestler. He had a pair of pins and a major decision to reach the semifinals. He then edged top seed Ty Costa of Dana College, 7-6, to reach the finals. In the title bout, Malott took down No. 2 seed Justin Dixon of Ellsworth, 6-2.

Ryan Pratt of Buena Vista gave wrestlers from Iowa schools three place winners at 133, as he finished fifth.

At 174, Buena Vista had a champion in Joshua Murray. The Beaver grappler won by major decision and two decisions to reach the semifinals, where he received a medical forfeit from top seed Enock Francois of Northwestern College. In the championship bout, Murray scored a 15-8 win over Josh Ghobadpoor of Dana College.

Four of the six place winners at 174 came from Iowa schools. Trevor Gehringer of Ellsworth finished fourth, Tom Eaton of Northwestern was fifth and Francois defaulted down to sixth.

The final champion from the state was at 197, where Matt Wonderlin of Dubuque struck gold. He had wins of 3-0, 7-2 and 3-1 to reach the title bout, where he edged Steven Wood of St. Olaf College, 5-3.

Also at 197, Brian Stueve of Buena Vista finished third and Stika of NIACC was fifth.

Runner-up finishers from the state were Jensen of ISU at 141, Joey Verschoor of Buena Vista at 157, Andrew Sorensen of Iowa State at 165 and Cole Spree of Northwestern at 184.

After pinning three of his first four opponents, Jensen dropped a 5-1 decision to Lyubo Kumbarov of Colby. Verschoor lost 4-3 to Dan Pray of Dana and Spree fell 4-1 to Chris Kearn of Colby. Verschoor reached the finals as an unseeded wrestler and knocked off NIACC's No. 2 seeded Perkins in the quarterfinals, 4-3. Spree, seeded second at 184, had wins by fall, technical fall and 7-3 to reach the finals against the top-seeded Kearn.

Other place finishers from Iowa colleges were: 125 - Mike Millie of Buena Vista, 4th; Taylor Louie of William Penn, 6th. 141 - Jeremy McCoy of Ellsworth, 3rd; Luke Satern of Buena Vista, 5th. 149 - Jordan Keckler of Northwestern, 4th; Kurt Simon of Ellsworth, 5th; Cody Schultz of Buena Vista, 6th. 157 - Brad Kruse of Iowa State, 3rd. 165 - Kody Koster of Buena Vista, 4th; Lamar Reed of Northwestern, 5th; Bryan Loftus of Ellsworth, 6th. 184 - Austin Hayes of Buena Vista, 3rd; Royce Thoams of William Penn, 6th. 285 - Kyle Simonson of Iowa State, 3rd; Derrick Kaul of Ellsworth, 4th; Nic Hagan of Dubuque, 5th; Chauncey Coleman of William Penn, 6th.