Rodriguez crowned district champ; Fort Hays Tech takes home the team title

Cowley College freshman Evan Rodriguez showed why he is the top-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds as he captured the district title with a win over Colby's Jamdarrious Goolsby in the championship match. The No. 10-ranked Tigers placed seventh out of 12 schools at the NJCAA South Central District Championships held Saturday in Colby, KS.

In addition to the District Title for Fort Hays Tech Northwest, post-tournament honors were earned by Tiger head coach Chris Guillot as District Coach of the Year and Jeisser Sampson-Sanchez (285 pounds) as Tournament MVP as FHNW scored 165 points to edge out Pratt, who scored 157.5 total points. Labette was the next highest Jayhawk Conference school with a fourth-place finish and 130.5 points, with Cowley (sixth, 116 points), Colby (seventh, 73 points), and Barton (eighth, 40.5 points) rounding out the top eight.

Along with Rodriguez, fellow Tigers Shawn Bamba and Jacen Jackson also wrestled well, with Bamba advancing to the semifinals at 149 pounds and Jackson placing fourth in the 157-pound weight class.

"We wrestled pretty well as a whole," Cowley head coach Justice Circle said. "We overcame a lot of adversity this weekend."

Of the 77 National qualifying bids awarded at the tournament, 58 total wrestlers from the KJCCC earned a bid by finishing in the top seven of their respective weight class or by earning one of the seven wild card bids available at the tournament.

Cowley has eight wrestlers qualified to compete at the NJCAA Division I National Championship scheduled March 7-8 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

"I am proud of our team and ready to make a run in March at Council Bluffs," Circle said. Labette, the conference runner-up in the regular season, leads the way with 10 national qualifiers, while regular-season champion Pratt and Fort Hays Tech Northwest have 9.

Teams at the meet were Barton, Carl Albert, Cloud County, Colby, Cowley, Fort Hays Tech Northwest, Labette, Neosho, Northeast Oklahoma, Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, and Pratt.

Results:

*133 pounds – Cam Kiser (CC) defeated Evan Coble (Neosho) 2-0 in the consolation round.

*141 pounds – Evan Rodriguez (CC) won by fall over Jamdarrious Goolsby (Colby) in the district title match.

*149 pounds – Shawn Bamba (CC) lost by tech fall in the semifinals to Jarret Mader (Barton).

*157 pounds – Jacen Jackson (CC) placed fourth.

*165 pounds -  Dylan Reed(CC) lost to Cah'mari Johnson (Colby) 1-0 in the consolation round.

*174 pounds – Keenan Smith (CC) won by fall over Kash Alley (Colby) in the consolation round.

*184 pounds – Brannigan Reyes (CC) lost by fall to Dylan Waggerman (Neosho) in the consolation semis.

*197 pounds –  Chad Adams (CC) lost a 6-4 decision to Keyven Schroeder (Barton) in the seventh-place match.

*285 pounds – Jacob Acedo (CC) won by fall over Christopher Colwell (Neosho) in the consolation round.