NJCAA WRESTLING: Cardinals, with four All-Americans, finish ninth at nationals

Feliciano earns award for fastest pins in tournament

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — North Idaho College returns four All-Americans from nationals after a frantic weekend of wrestling.

But for a school seeking its 15th national title, and first since 2013, those finishes aren’t the ones it is used to.

“We had some ups and downs,” said first-year NIC coach Mike Sebaaly, whose team finished ninth at the NJCAA tournament on Saturday at the Mid-American Center. “It was a good experience with seven freshmen back here this year.”

Freshmen Andres Lucero (fourth at 125 pounds), Salvador Silva (third at 149) and Cohle Feliciano (seventh at 285), as well as sophomore Hunter Gregerson (eighth at 184) were named All-Americans for finishing in the top eight of their respective weight class. Feliciano received the Bruce Traphagen Award, given to the wrestler with the most pins in shortest amount of time (five pins in 8 minutes, 35 seconds).

“That’s a nice award for him,” said Sebaaly of Feliciano. “He did a great job with four pins yesterday (Friday), and another in the placing round. I’m proud of him because he put a lot of work in this year.”

NIC finished ninth in the tournament with 68 points. Clackamas won its second straight national title with 133.5 points.

“They had a lot of firepower and three finalists,” Sebaaly said. “But Clackamas survived those tough matches, and found ways to win the close matches and some tough matches. If those go the other way, that’s the difference between being first and fourth.”

In dual matches with Clackamas this season, NIC lost 22-20 on Nov. 22 in Coeur d’Alene and 22-21 on Jan. 24 in Oregon City.

“We need a few more guys that can perform in those big moments,” Sebaaly said. “There’s no such thing as a moral loss, it’s still a loss. We need to keep improving and we’re going to find a way to win. It’s been too long since we’ve done it. We need to find a way to get better and compete at this level and punch through. If we keep working harder, we’ll close that gap.”

TEAM SCORES — 1, Clackamas 133.5. 2, Northeast Oklahoma 108.5. 3 (tie), Iowa Western, Rochester 104. 5, Ellsworth 101. 6, Western Wyoming 100. 7, Nassau 70. 8, Iowa Central 69. 9, North Idaho 68. 10, Niagara 62. 11, Harper 60. 12, NIACC 55.5. 13 (tie), Iowa Lakes, Pratt 55. 15, Cowley 52. 16, Southwestern Oregon 48.5. 17, Rowan 46. 18, Northeastern 40.5. 19, Northwest 38.5. 20, Labette 27.5. 21 (tie), Neosho, Northwest Kansas Tech, Triton 19. 24, Jamestown 18.5. 25, Northland 17. 26, Ancilla 15.5. 27, Mercyhurst 15. 28, Highline 13.5. 29 (tie), Itasca, St. Claire County 12.5. 31, Barton 11.5. 32, Spartanburg Methodist 11. 33, Colby 10.5. 34 (tie), Joliet, Muskegon 9. 36, Henry Ford 8. 37, Minnesota West 7.5. 38, Umpqua 6.5. 39, Middlesex County 6. 40 (tie), Cloud, Thaddeus Stevens 5.5. 42, Bergen, Garrett 4. 44, Camden County 3.5. 45, Union County 2.5. 46, Otero 2. 47 (tie), Lackwanna, Ulster 0.5.

NIC RESULTS

Placing matches

Third place

125 — Joel Avila, Southwestern Oregon, d. Andres Lucero, NIC, 9-7.

149 — Salvador Silva, NIC, d. Frankie Gissendander, Niagara, 9-6.

Seventh place

184 — Gavin Christofferson, Rochester, d. Hunter Gregerson, NIC, 7-4.

285 — Cohle Feliciano, NIC, p. Garrett Clark, Ancilla, :56.

Semifinals

125 — Matthew Jordan, Iowa Lakes, d. Lucero, NIC, 12-6.

149 — Jake Beeson, Pratt, d. Silva, NIC, 4-3.

Consolation

Round of 4

184 — Josh McFarland, Iowa Western, p. Gregerson, NIC, 2:15.

285 — Dan Baker, Northeast Oklahoma, md. Feliciano, NIC, 17-9.

Semifinals

125 — Lucero, NIC, d. Brandon Escobar, Nassau, 3-2.

149 — Silva, NIC, d. Cardionte Wilson, Ellsworth, 6-5.