#17 Cloud County Wrestling Team Scores 25-23 KJCCC Dual Win Over #8 Northwest Kansas Tech
Momentum would continue to carry on for the 17th-ranked Cloud County Community College wrestling team as the T-Birds would earn a 25-23 dual victory over number-eight Northwest Kansas Technical College in their final home dual of the season inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Thursday, January 19th.
Picking up their fourth consecutive dual victory and sixth in the last week, Cloud County improves to 8-3 overall in dual competitions this year and remains perfect 2-0 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. NW Kansas Tech is now 2-4 in dual competitions this season and 1-1 in the KJCCC following the defeat.
Only six matches would be contested on the evening as the T-Birds would get open weight victories at 141 pounds, 149 pounds, and 165 pounds while giving up an open weight to the Mavericks at 133 pounds. In the contested matches, four of the six would feature a nationally-ranked wrestler with all four earning wins in their matches. At 125 pounds, number-two-ranked Jett Strickenberger for Northwest Tech would jump out to a 6-1 lead after one period of action against Brady Foster before extending his lead to 11-2 heading to the third. Two more points would be scored by Strickenberger with a takedown in the final period to go along with a riding time point in what would wind up being a 14-2 major decision victory.
The 157-pound match would also be a major decision victory for the Mavericks as the top-ranked 149-pound wrestler Bryce Boumans would wrestle against Dylan Ancheta and lead 6-2 after three minutes of action. Ancheta would then score a second-period takedown but give up two escapes to trail 8-4 heading to the third and see Boumans add a pair of takedowns along with a riding time point to end the match and secure the bonus point with a 13-5 major decision.
Following the 165-pound open weight victory for the T-Birds to put CCCC up 18-14, action would resume at 174 pounds with Gabriel Bailey for Cloud County taking on Jon Carr of Northwest Kansas Tech. An early takedown for Carr allowed the Ames, Iowa native to grab an early lead that would be cut in half on an escape before he could reach a minute of riding time as Bailey would trail 2-1 heading to the second. Earning an escape to tie the match, Bailey would be awarded a penalty point late in the second to go up 3-2 but wind up giving up a third-period escape as both wrestlers would be unable to a match-winning takedown. Heading to sudden-victory overtime, the stalemate would continue with both wrestlers looking for an opportunity to score with Bailey eventually getting a shot at a takedown in just over a minute into the sudden-victory period. Carr would manage to fight off the attempt from Bailey for the better part of 30 seconds before Bailey would eventually work into an advantage position for the takedown to be awarded to earn a 5-3 decision win.
Holding their largest lead of the dual at 21-14, Cloud County would send out Wyatt Powell to take on fourth-ranked Jameel Coles in the 184-pound match to take on the third and final ranked opponent that Northwest Tech had in their lineup. A quick takedown from Coles would be followed by an escape and then takedown from Powell as the Mesa, Arizona native would nearly turn the takedown into near-fall points by putting Coles on his back momentarily. After seeing Coles fight off his back and earn an escape, Powell would be taken down a second time and tilted to his back where a fall would be awarded with 31 seconds left in the first period.
With CCCC clinging to a one-point lead, the T-Birds would be in a position to get some much-needed team points in the 197-pound match with second-ranked Ibrahim Ameer taking on Jayshon Hines and jumping out to a 4-0 first-period lead. Neither Ameer nor Hines would be able to score in the second period after Hines would choose neutral position to start, sending things to the third where Ameer would choose the down position and manage to earn an escape in the first 18 seconds to retain a minute of riding time. The Florissant, Missouri native would manage to score another takedown in the period to push the lead to a key eight points to earn a major decision victory as the bonus point would put the T-Birds up five heading into the final match.
Needing to avoid a technical fall or fall in the 285-pound match, Cloud County's Emanuel Munoz-Alcala would find himself locked into a low-scoring battle with Gavin Dodge as neither wrestler would score in the first period. With choice going to Munoz-Alcala to start the second period, an escape would put the sophomore up 1-0 but essentially tied as riding time would be over a minute in favor of Dodge. Dodge would match Alcala to start the third by choosing the down position but manage to get a reversal off an attempt by Munoz-Alcala to get back points as a 1-0 lead would now become a 2-1 deficit. The lead for Dodge would be insured by riding time once again getting over a minute as a pair of stall calls in the match would give Munoz-Alcala a point in the final seconds but allow Dodge to hang on for a 3-2 decision.
What's Next?
Originally scheduled for next Tuesday, Cloud County will next be in action on Wednesday, January 25th with a road double dual at Colby Community College beginning at 5:30 PM as a schedule change was necessitated due to this week's postponements. CCCC will take on the host Trojans in the first dual of the night at 5:30 PM followed by a 6:30 PM dual against Otero Junior College in their final non-conference dual of the year.