March 4, 2019

Ruiz leads Wrestlers at 2019 NJCAA National Championships

COURTESY DAILY NONPAREIL

Council Bluffs, IA

Clackamas (Ore.) used its depth to win the team championship Saturday at the NJCAA national wrestling meet at the Mid-America Center.

Clackmas had two individual champions, as did second-place Northeast Oklahoma, third-place Iowa Central and fourth-place Northwest Kansas.

But the Oregon school also placed two wrestlers second, two third, two more fifth and one seventh.

Host Iowa Western finished 10th. Jacob Ruiz led the Reivers at the meet, finishing third at 133 pounds.

Ruiz came back after dropping a Friday quarterfinal match to win three times on Saturday. The last of those was an 11-7 decision over Quintel Fuchs of Northeastern (Colo.) for third place.

Gad Huseman at 141 was the Reivers' only other medal-winner, taking sixth. He lost his semifinal match, then was beaten twice in consolation competition Saturday.

Reiver coach Josh Watts said he was proud of both his medalists.

He said Ruiz "showed a lot of character" to come back strong after losing his shot at a national title.

"The way he came back, I thought, was impressive. He was dominant; he showed a lot of guts. I was real proud of what he put out there this weekend."

Although Huseman had a rough Saturday, Watts said his overall tournament was impressive as well.

"He took last in the qualifier; he was a wild-card entry and turned it into being an all-American. I can't tell you how proud I am of that kid."

Huseman's Friday quarterfinal win over NIACC's Hunter Luke was the fourth meeting between the two this year, Watts said, and Luke had won the previous three by pin.

Ruiz and Huseman are among seven national qualifiers set to return next season for Iowa Western.

"We should have a lot of motivated individuals," he said.

"I think my guys learned some valuable lessons this weekend. You can't relax in matches. They learned some stuff the coaches have been harping on 'em all year about.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Reivers were ninth in the team race. They ended up 10th.

"I believe and my team believes we're better than that," Watts said.

Top 15 teams: 1, Clackamas (Ore.) 178.5; 2, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 152; 3, Iowa Central 125.5; 4, Northwest Kansas 109.5; 5, Ellsworth 89; 6, North Idaho 84.5; 7, Iowa Lakes; 72.5; 8, Western Wyoming 71.5; 9, Harper (Ill.) 52; 10, Iowa Western 51.5; 11, Northeastern (Colo.) 48.5; 12, Rochester (Minn.) 45; 13, North Iowa Area 44.5; 14, Cloud County (Kan.) 44; 15, Barton (Kan.) 41.

Championship matches:

125 pounds: Jordan Marshall (NW Kansas) maj. dec. Mason Naifeh (NE Oklahoma) 9-0; 133: Boo Dryden (NE Oklahoma) dec. Hector Candelaria (Ellsworth) 8-5; 141: Elijah Ozuna (Clackamas) dec. Zack Donathan (Ellsworth) 3-1 SV; 149: Cardeionte Wilson (Ellsworth) pinned Kendon Lee (NE Oklahoma) 4:47; 157: Ethan Karsten (Iowa Central) maj. dec. Joel Romero (Clackamas) 17-5; 165: Michial Foy (Harper) dec. Travis Willers (Iowa Central) 8-2; 174: Trajan Hurd (Clackamas) maj. dec. Ashton Eyler (Iowa Central) 11-3; 184: Charles Small (NW Kansas) dec. Marcus Placide (Iowa Lakes) 11-10; 197: Tyree Sutton (Iowa Central) dec. Joey Daniel (Clackamas) 8-2; 285: Antonio Andrade (NE Oklahoma) dec. Charles Griffin (Ellsworth) 6-0.

Iowa Western results:

133 pounds: Jacob Ruiz dec. Brock Luthens (NIACC) 4-1; maj. dec. Munkhbat Bat-Erdene (NW Kansas) 17-4 and dec. Quintel Fuchs (Northeastern) 11-7 for third place

141: Gad Huseman was maj. dec. by Elijah Ozuna (Clackamas) 9-0, was maj. dec. by Anthony Fisher (Iowa Lakes) 10-2, was maj. dec. by Kyle Evans (Western Wyoming) 17-3 for sixth place.