COUNCIL BLUFFS - Keaton Geerts and Jorden Pryor claimed individual national championships here Saturday night for Iowa Central.
The Tritons placed second in the team race, scoring 127 points. Clackamas was first with Northeast Oklahoma A&M and Western Wyoming behind Iowa Central.
Fellow ICCAC rivals North Iowa Area and Iowa Western finished fifth and sixth overall.
Iowa Central was one of two schools with two champions along with NIACC. Iowa Western also had a champion, giving the league five of the 10 weight classes with 26 All-Americans and five more runner-up finishes.
Along with Geerts and Pryor finishing on top, Jose Rodriguez made the finals, setting for a second a season after winning it all.
Under Luke Moffitt, Iowa Central has now finished in the Top-3 at nationals 13 times and placed in the Top-8 18 consecutive seasons. They have hoisted seven national titles during that span and crowned 33 individual champions with 52 finalists and 108 All-Americans.
Geerts, who reached the championship match last year, was a dominant force throughout his five wins at 149 pounds. He picked up three pins and a technical fall before earning a 9-0 major decision over Jacob Beeson of Pratt in the finals.
Rodriguez was unable to repeat, falling in the 174 finals to Muskegon's Josh Kenny. Prior to the setback, the reigning national champion had reeled off two falls, a major decision and a decision.
Pryor, also a finalist a year ago, didn't settle for silver this time. He dominated Devon Dawson from Pratt in the final match of the tournament at heavyweight, 10-3. During his four wins, Pryor had two falls, a major decision and a decision.
Nolan Miller-Johnston claimed third at 157 pounds, scoring a 4-2 decision over Rochester Tech's William Vonruden in the consolation finals. Miller-Johnston advanced to the semifinals, finishing the tournament 5-1.
Both Darnai Heard and Josh Ramirez placed seventh. Heard went 4-2 during the two-day event at 141 pounds, while Ramirez posted a record of 5-2 at 165.
-By Dana Becker
Photos courtesy ICCAC