By: Dana Becker 

Messenger Sports Staff 

COUNCIL BLUFFS — A trio of Iowa Central wrestlers kept national title dreams alive here Friday during the opening rounds of the NJCAA Championships.

Defending champion Matt Sarbo, Darnai Heard and Lawrence Rosario advanced to the final four of their weights as the Tritons sit second overall. Western Wyoming leads the race with 103 points and four in the semis, followed by Iowa Central with 97.5.

Pratt, with a meet-leading five in the semis, is third followed by Clackamas and North Iowa. ICCAC schools Iowa Western and Indian Hills are sixth and seventh.

"I saw a lot of really good things from everybody," ICCC head coach Luke Moffitt said. "But as far as Darnai and Sarbo go, I can't remember two guys who dominated like that. Nine of our 10 earned a pin, which is huge for bonus points as we look to place as high as we can."

After a first round bye, Sarbo went to work dominating the 149-pound field. He pinned Karsten Jensen of Southwestern Oregon in 3:27, stuck Thomas Kaliamouris from Camden County in 1:42 and earned a semifinal spot with a third pin in 2:08 over Caleb Nadig from Northwest.

Heard had a dominating day as well, scoring two technical falls and a fall to reach the semis at 157. Rosario earned a technical fall before posting back-to-back decisions at 174.

Sarbo will meet Pratt's Gabe Maki next, Heard takes on Ayden Kingery from Indian Hills and Rosario gets Otgonbayar Batsurri of Northwest Kansas.

Michael Myers at 165, Joseph Lewis at 197 and DJ Moehring at heavyweight survived elimination-round matches to secure All-American status. All three went 3-1 on the day, with Moehring dropping a tough 5-4 decision in the quarterfinals.

"I was really proud of those guys coming back in the blood-round," Moffitt said. "That is a tough task to come back 20-to-30 minutes after you lose and try to win to get on the podium. Three of four did it and that was big."

"We just have to keep doing what we've been doing. Focus on the next match and go from there."