Kansas Wrestling (all images via ntmavericks.com)
Northwest Tech Men’s Wrestling traveled to Kearney, Nebraska, this past Saturday to compete in the Younes Hospitality Open wrestling tournament. Tech was the only junior college to enter any wrestlers in the Elite Division of the tournament, with four wrestlers; the Elite Division consisted of NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, and NAIA schools.
Notable Performances:
Job Lee (157lbs) went 3-2 in the Elite Division, with one Fall and two Major Decisions, only losing to Division I and Division II opponents.
Otgonbayar Batsuuri (174lbs) placed 1st in the Elite Division and was awarded the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Otgonbayar won by Major Decision against UNK wrestler and former NWKTC All-American Jacobi Deal in the quarterfinals; pinned University of Nebraska wrestler, Elise Brown Ton, in the first period of the semifinals; and in the 1st place match, won by Major Decision over the current #3 ranked wrestler (NCAA Division II), Cole Hernandez (Western Colorado University).
Lazaro Crespo (184lbs) placed 4th in the Elite Division, missing the finals after losing in the last seconds to University of Mary wrestler, Wyatt Lidberg, in a hard-fought match.
Gavin Dodge (197lbs) went 0-2 on the day, competing in the Elite Division, losing to #3 ranked wrestler (NCAA Division II), Caden Steffen (Southwest Minnesota State), as well as another high-quality Division II wrestler.
The rest of the team competed in the Amateur Division, with redshirt Austin Thiel (133lbs) making it the furthest, placing 6th.
“The team performed very well given that we still have guys in descent to the right weight class,” commented Coach Guillot. “It was good to see some of these young freshmen go out there and get their first collegiate victories of the season.”
Maverick Wrestling will return to competition on December 1st with a Dual against the University of Nebraska-Kearney and at the Bob Smith Open on December 2nd at Fort Hays State University.
