By: Eric Pratt
Messenger Sports Editor
COUNCIL BLUFFS — Luke Moffitt never openly roots for one of his wrestlers to lose, but the long-time Iowa Central head coach wasn't entirely disappointed when Matt Sarbo came up short for the first — and only — time this season during a dual tournament in late January.
"We went out to Wyoming for the Apodaca Duals (Jan. 27 and 28) and Matt got beat by what was then the No. 2 kid (Kanaipono Tapia) from North Idaho," Moffitt said. "I could tell right away that lit a fire under him. He was undefeated going into that match, and it just kind of pushed him to refocus.
"Matt was basically a man on a mission from that point on."
That mission was completed here on Saturday night, as Sarbo dominated the 149-pound bracket to capture an individual NJCAA national championship for the Tritons. John Lovett (197) and Hugo Harp (285) joined Sarbo as All-Americans for No. 7 Iowa Central, which matched its ranking by finished seventh in the final team standings.
The third-seeded Sarbo was never seriously challenged. He registered a technical fall in his opener and a pin in both the second round and the quarterfinals to set up a rematch with Tapia, the No. 2 seed, in Saturday's semis.
Sarbo then stuck Tapia in 4:44.
"Matt wanted to make a statement," Moffitt said. "He was extremely confident and in a good place both physically and mentally.
"Matt had close to a perfect tournament on paper. You could see it in his eyes from (the setback in January) on. That hunger was restored."
Sarbo, who is from Altoona, Pa., defeated top-seeded Dylan Brown of Northeast Oklahoma by pin in 6:03 to capture gold. He capped a 27-1 season in doing so, which included an undefeated run in helping Iowa Central earn the NJCAA national dual tournament crown in January.
The sixth-seeded Lovett redeemed himself and reached the podium after just missing out with a loss in the blood round a year ago. He was defeated by top-seeded Michael Gasper of Clackamas in the bronze-medal match on Saturday.
Harp, seeded seventh, wrapped up a sixth-place effort after losing to only the No. 1 and 4 seeds at 285.
"John worked hard to get back to this point and on to the podium," Moffitt said. "That loss here (at nationals in 2022) drove him. He earned it.
"Hugo had a really good year, too. Once he started believing in himself more and beat some guys to build his confidence, he really started to make strides."
Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Lane Cowell, seeded ninth, went 2-2 at 125 pounds. His brother, Brooks, was 1-2 at 133.
Second-rated Western Wyoming was the national champion with 134 team points. No. 4 Pratt (112.5) and third-ranked Iowa Western (106.5) followed.
Keaton Geerts and Jorden Pryor were national champs for the Tritons last season. Jose Rodriguez was a gold medalist in 2021.
Iowa Central took second a year ago and third in 2021.