by Derek White
The National Junior College Athletic Association held their district tournaments all over the country this last weekend. Fort Hays Tech Northwest and Colby Community College traveled to Pratt on Feb. 15 to qualify for the national tournament at the South-Central District tournament. With eleven teams in the district, Fort Hays Tech won the tournament with 165 points, with a seven-and-a-half-point lead over Pratt with 157.5 points in second place. Colby finished in seventh place with 73 points.
Fort Hays Tech Northwest Tigers took the tournament by storm resulting in a team district championship, head coach Chris Guillot won district coach of the year, while Otgonbayar Batsurri won Wrestler of the Year, and Jeisser Sampson-Sanchez won MVP of the tournament. They ended the day with 9 national qualifiers, 6 finalist, and 4 individual champions.
Batsuuri won his bracket after climbing to the final by defeating Labette’s Jayden Ford by major decision 16-6 after receiving a first-round bye. Then he defeated Carl Albert State’s Deontre Buttram by decision 4-3. In the final, he took the championship by defeating Northeast Oklahoma’s Trey Bennett by decision 9-2 at 174 pounds.
At 285 pounds, Fort Hays Tech’s Sampson-Sanchez took first after defeating Colby’s Nicholas Martinez in the first round by major decision 14-3. Then he defeated Northern Oklahoma’s Christian Clark by fall, followed by a major decision over Labette’s Gabe Kant in the semifinals. In the championship match, he won a dramatic bout in overtime against Pratt’s James Bankston by decision 4-1 after a takedown earning him MVP of the tournament.
Lazaro Crespo took first at the tournament at 184 pounds after collecting three technical falls against Cowley’s Brannigan Reyes 20-5, Pratt’s Peyton Besco 19-4, and Neosho’s Dylan Waggerman 21-5. In the final, he was rewarded the win after Carl Albert State’s Ethan Day medically forfeited.
Job Lee was the final Tiger to be claimed champion at the tournament, he earned his way to the final by defeating Carl Albert State’s Trequan Buttram by fall in the first round. He then won by technical fall over Neosho’s Hunter Jennings 23-4, followed by an overtime victory against Cowley’s Jacen Jackson 7-4. In the final, Lee won by decision over Pratt’s Johnny Thomas 4-2 at 157 pounds.
Finishing in second place was Dayton Bell at 165 pounds, he received a first-round bye, then advanced to the semifinal after Cloud County’s Easton Boone forfeited for medical reasons. In the semifinal, Bell defeated Northwest Oklahoma’s Jackson Wilkins by decision 7-6. Unfortunately, in the final Bell lost by technical fall 19-4 to Pratt’s Melton Powe.
At 197 pounds, the Tigers found their second runner-up, Victor-Samuel Montoya won his first-round match against Barton’s Keyven Schroeder by technical fall 20-1. Then he beat Northeast Oklahoma’s Samuel Murphy by major decision 16-6, followed by a win by fall over Norther Oklahoma’s Kanden Young in the second period. In the final, Montoya had to medically forfeit to Labette’s Matthew Marcum
John Kenney took fourth place at 133 pounds after winning his first two matches by technical fall, then losing in the semifinals against Northeast Oklahoma’s Karim Allal by decision 7-5. Kenney walked into the fifth-place match after Colby’s Luis Vasquez medically forfeited in the consolation semifinals. Kenney ended up losing by major decision 15-4 against Pratt’s Rashaud Morgan to finish in fourth.
At 125 pounds, Kaiden Ballinger placed sixth after earning his way to the semifinals but lost to Pratt’s Zane Donley by fall. On the backside he lost his next two matches to end the day in sixth place after losing to Labtte’s Caleb Collins in his final match.
Xavier Castillo also took sixth after advancing to the quarterfinals but then lost to Northeast Oklahoma’s Toryion Stallings in overtime 5-1. He then won his next two matches against Colby and Carl Albert State but then lost his next two matches at 141 pounds.
At 149 pounds Tucker Wark finished the day in eighth place after suffering an injury in his first match against Cowley’s Shawn Bamba in the quarterfinals. He then had to forfeit his next two matches ending the day in eighth place.
Colby
The Colby Community College Trojans improved greatly upon last year’s campaign to the district tournament, with this year they’ll have seven wrestlers advancing to the national tournament. First year head coach Joseph Cornejo has done an excellent job turning around a program that only scored 17 points the year before, improving by 53 points.
Best on the team was Ethan Anderson at 197 pounds, he finished third after defeating Northern Oklahoma’s Kanden Young by fall in the consolation final. To start his day he received a first-round bye, then defeated Pratt’s Raymond Gary-Hernandez by major decision 20-8. Anderson then lost to Labette’s Matthew Marcum by technical fall 17-0 in the semifinals, then he defeated Northeast Oklahoma’s Samuel Murphy by decision 4-1 before he battled for third place. In the Consolation semifinal, Anderson ended up winning by fall 7:33 into the match against Northern Oklahoma’s Kanden Young for bronze.
At 125 pounds, Luis Vasquez finished the day in fourth place after running into some medical issues. He had a first-round bye, then lost to Northeast Oklahoma’s Logan Crawford in the quarterfinals. On the backside of the bracket Vasquez won by fall over Northern Oklahoma’s Pryce Jeffries, and then he was awarded a win by medical forfeit from Fort Hays Tech’s Kaiden Ballinger. In the Consolation semifinal, Vasquez ended up losing by fall to Carl Albert State’s Keegan Sullivan to finish fourth.
Cah’mari Johnson took fifth place at 165 pounds winning his first match by fall against Neosho’s Ty Leedy. Then he lost to Carl Albert State’s Cayden Felts by decision 6-0, then won his next two matches to advance to the consolation semifinals. Defeating Barton’s Frances Aguilar by decision in overtime 4-3, then Cowley’s Dylan Reed by decision 1-0. Johnson then lost his next match to Northeast Oklahoma’s Jackson Wilkins by technical fall 16-0 but then won his fifth-place match by medical forfeit over Cayden Felts from Carl Albert State.
Alec Schmuck finished in sixth place after defeating Labette’s Davion King by fall, then beating Barton’s Kayden Blake by decision 9-4. In the semifinal he lost to Pratt’s Johnny Thomas by fall, then suffered an injury against Northeast Oklahoma’s Zach Dawson and remained out the rest of the tournament to finish sixth at 157 pounds.
At 149 pounds, Xzavier Martinez placed seventh after defeating Carl Albert State’s Mason Gordon by decision 4-1. Then he lost to Pratt’s Kolton Field by major decision 20-6, followed by a win over Northern Oklahoma’s Walee Khairi by decision 6-2, after which he lost to Labette’s Eric Streeter by technical fall 21-2. Martinez then received the victory for seventh place after Fort Hays Tech’s Tucker Wark forfeited for medical reasons.
Mouhamadou Sene at 184 pounds had a bye in the first round, then lost to Rodney Trotter of Labette by decision 9-6. Sene then won by fall over Northern Oklahoma’s Aiden Vasquez by fall but then lost to Cowley’s Brannigan Reyes by decision 5-1. He then won his seventh-place match against Pratt’s Peyton Besco by decision 6-3.
The final Trojan to advance to the national tournament was Nicholas Martinez, advancing through a wild-card spot. He lost his first match to Fort Hays Tech’s Jeisser Sampson-Sanchez by major decision 14-3, then to Carl Albert State’s Marquonn Journey by major decision 11-1.
Both teams will be traveling to Council Bluffs, Iowa to begin the NJCAA Wrestling Championship beginning on March 7.
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