COEUR d'ALENE - No matter what league they're in, the one thing that's for certain is the North Idaho College wrestling team will make a run at a national title.

The NIC wrestling team, 14-time national champions, which finished sixth at the NJCAA tournament in Spokane, have signed eight to the program for the 2014-15 season.

From Washington, the Cardinals have signed three-time state champion Cruz Del Angel, a 174/184-pound wrestler, from Kiona-Benton High in Benton City, John Godinho (133) from Union High in Camas, who was a state champion this year.

Michael Nguyen, who was an All-American in 2013 while at Southwestern Oregon, an NJCAA school in the same region as NIC, will transfer to the Cardinals at 125.

"Michael wanted to get a different flavor, so he didn't return to school," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "He got a hold of us and we'd kept an eye on him after he left. I think he'll be a good fit for us."

Isaac Aguilar, an Oregon state champion and Tri-State champion from Hermiston has also signed after wrestling for former NIC coach Shaun Williams.

From the east coast, NIC also landed Jordan Cooks (174), a two-time Michigan state champion from Davison High and Deondre Wilson, a two-time state champion at 133 from Indianapolis.

"With Deondre, (NIC assistant coach) Keri (Stanley) wrestled with his high school coach at Minnesota when he left here," Whitcomb said. "The Cooks kid is the real deal and is really talented."

Cooks also had an offer from Michigan State, but will start his college career at NIC.

"After wrestling here, he'll move on," Whitcomb said.

Dajour Reece (157), a two-time Arizona state champion, and Jro Byrd (184) round out the signings.

"This is as good of a class as we've had in a while," Whitcomb said. "Talent wise, we should be on board to make a run for a national title. We'll need to compete each year, and I think we can do that with this group. I'm excited about this next year."

All-American Taylor Kornoely (285), as well as national qualifiers Tyler McLean, Johnathon Dennis (165) and Bryce Weatherston (133) will return for their sophomore seasons.

NIC will transition all but one of its sports from the NJCAA Scenic West Athletic Conference to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges in the coming years, with men's and women's soccer moving in the fall and softball next spring.

Basketball and volleyball will move at the start of the 2016-2017 season after spending the next two years in the NJCAA.

Wrestling is the only sport to remain in the NJCAA.

"We really didn't have to change anything with our recruiting," Whitcomb said. "We had a No. 1 team last year when we recruited, and just wanted to get back up there. There's always been that many blue chippers out there for junior college, but I don't remember when we were able to go out and get all of them. No matter what league we're in, we want to make a run at it."