Nine of the ten #1 ranked wrestlers in the NJCAA have all advanced to the quarterfinal round in Des Moines, Iowa. The lone #1 ranked wrestler was Iowa Central’s Richie Lewis at 157 pounds, who lost by fall in the third period to open the tournament.
#1 Freddie Rodriguez (Iowa Lakes) and #1 Mizam Tamaradze (Springfield Tech) both opened with byes and then picked up second round falls to advance to the quarterfinals at 125 and 133. Rodriguez’s teammate #1 Andres Gonzales opened his tournament with a fall and then picked up a 7-1 decision to advance at 141. The pair of #1 ranked wrestlers are the only two left alive on the championship side of the bracket for Iowa Lakes.
Team Score after the first two rounds
| 1 | Clackamas Community College | 52 |
| 2 | North Iowa Area Community College | 37 |
| 3 | Iowa Central Community College | 33.5 |
| 4 | Ellsworth Community College | 33 |
| 4 | Northeast Oklahoma | 33 |
| 6 | Iowa Western Community College | 31.5 |
| 12 | Iowa Lakes Community College | 21 |
NIACC’s #1 ranked Nosomy Pozo advanced at 149 with a bye and major decision at 149 and he will be joined by three of his team members in the quarterfinals. Paul Mascarenas (125), #9 Shiquan Hall (133), and #2 Yoanse Mejias (157) will also be in the quarterfinals, as will former Iowa Hawkeye Jake Marlin (141) who has earned victories by fall and technical fall so far.
#3 Alex Delacruz (125), #9 Jason Alfau (141), #5 Ryan Niven (165), #3 Tyler Hoffman (184), #1 Patrick Downey (197), and Chris Ballard (285) all lead Iowa Central into the quarterfinals. Iowa Central currently sits in third place behind Clackamas (52 points) and NIACC (37 points) with 33.5 points. One of the bigger thrillers on the day was when Hoffman was down 7-2 to #2 Brock Warren (NEO) and Hoffman was able to mount a comeback by scoring a few takedowns and nearfall points to end up winning 11-8. The upset by Hoffman gives Iowa Central one more wrestler in tonight’s quarterfinals than second place NIACC.
Currently in 4th is Ellsworth with 33 points, who have also placed six into the quarterfinals, led by their #1 ranked Matt Hurford at 184. Ellworth got a fall from both Hurford and #6 DeShun Brown (125) to try and keep pace with some of th top teams. #2 Saidyoub Kakhramohov also notched a fall for Ellsworth, but was upset by #6 Clay Archer (NEO) last round.
Sitting 6th with 31.5 points is Iowa Western, who have placed five in the quarterfinal, including #6 Clay Stine (133), #12 Matt Walker (174), and #7 Jhalen Flanders (184). Iowa Western is the fourth Iowa school in the top 10, and Iowa has all five of their school in the top 15 in the team race.
Action will resume tonight with the quarterfinals starting at 6:15 PM.