Triton Wrestling Qualifies Ten For NJCAA National Tournament

With the NJCAA National Tournament just under three weeks away, fifth-ranked Triton Wrestling qualified all ten of their wrestlers following a second-place finish in the North Central District Regional Tournament on Sunday (2/16) in Council Bluffs.

The Tritons narrowly missed the tournament title by just 5.5 points, scoring 149 points to Indian Hills' 154.5 points. Iowa Western finished third with 118.5 points.

"I thought we competed well. We were one match, one position away from winning the regional title," said Triton Head Coach, Luke Moffitt. "We're in a good place. You can't get too high or too low about the national qualifier. We accomplished the goal of qualifying all ten."

Eight Tritons wrestled in championship matches with Drew Cooper (133 lbs.), Kaden King (165 lbs.), Lawrence Rosario (174 lbs.), and Coen Grimm (197 lbs.) scoring individual victories. Jaydale Whitlock (125 lbs.), Chance Davis (157 lbs.), Sam Libby (184 lbs.), and Umair Ahmad (285 lbs.) all finished as district runners-up.

Matt Roche finished third at 141 pounds and Gary Walker III finished fourth at 149 pounds.

"We'll continue to focus on scoring in tough situations and keeping an aggressive pace," said Moffit on preparing for the upcoming National Tournament. "We're peaking at the right time. With the tournament just a couple weeks away, I like our odds."

The Tritons will be chasing their tenth national championship when NJCAA National Tournament action begins on Friday, March 7th and continues on Saturday, March 8th in Council Bluffs, IA at the Mid-American Center. NJCAA National Tournament details can be found at www.njcaa.org/championships/sports/wrest/index

Photo courtesy of Tristan Spears.