Cloud County Wrestling Wrestling Splits Day Two Action with Win Over #13 Triton
A day after being handed a pair of gut-wrenching last match dual defeats, the number-11 ranked Cloud County Community College wrestling team would manage to split a pair of matches in pool play to close out the 2022 NJCAA Coaches Duals inside the Student Activities Center on the campus of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami, Oklahoma on Saturday, January 15th.
CCCC would pick up a come-from-behind win over number-13 ranked Triton College by a final score of 27-22 before dropping a 42-15 decision to number-two ranked and host Northeastern Oklahoma A&M to finish out their weekend 1-3. Full result recaps from both duals on Saturday can be found below.
Against #13 Triton College: Dual Results
After getting out to a 4-0 lead following the 125-pound match from an 11-2 major decision victory by Sajen Kemling, Cloud County would drop each of the next four matches including an open weight forfeit at 141 pounds to trail the Trojans by a score of 22-4. Triton would get a 15-5 major decision at 133 pounds and a first-period fall in the 149-pound match to go along with a second period fall in the 157-match but would give up their second major decision of the day in the 165-pound match as sixth-ranked Cooper Mosier earned a 14-6 win over Alonzo Smiley. Brandon Rohr followed up by scoring Cloud County's first fall of the day with a first-period win over Michael Koenig as Micah Sterling kept things going in the 184-pound match with a first-period fall of his own. Having cut an 18-point deficit down to two at 22-20 heading into the 197-pound match, CCCC would reclaim the lead as top-ranked Zach Ferris picked up a 13-3 major decision to give the T-Birds another bonus point and make it 24-22. Wrestling up weight in the 285-pound match, freshman Ibrahim Ameer would take on Triton's Ronald Krewer by grabbing a 4-1 lead after three minutes of action before adding a takedown in the third period to go along with a riding time point to earn a 7-1 decision and secure a CCCC win.
Against #2 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M: Dual Results
A wore down T-Bird squad would face their tallest task of the year in taking on district foe, dual tournament host, and second-ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M that would feature four top-10 ranked wrestlers in their lineup. In a similar fashion to their first dual of the day, Cloud County would get out to an early lead in the first match as Bray Skinner would earn a second-period fall over Peyton Brown and give CCCC their largest lead of the dual at 6-0. Open weights for the T-Birds at 133 pounds and 141 pounds would put the Norsemen on top 12-6 before tacking on a first period fall from number-two ranked Dylan Brown in the 149-pound match to put CCCC in an 18-6 hole. Jonny Crome would give the T-Birds some momentum at 157 pounds with a second period fall over Gage Shetley, but things would start to unravel as sixth-ranked Cooper Mosier would be injured in his match against 10th-ranked Richard Mack to give NEO six more team points followed by a first period fall in the 174-pound match to secure the dual. With Cloud County having open weights at 184 pounds and 285 pounds, the final match of the day would come with Ferris taking on previously ranked wrestler Seth Sarasua and picking up nearly an identical result by winning with an 8-4 decision.
What's Next?
Fans that have been waiting to get a glimpse of the T-Birds in person can finally do so on Thursday, January 20th as Cloud County will host Barton Community College and Northwest Kansas Technical College as part of a double-dual beginning at 5 PM. The evening will kick off with CCCC taking on Barton at 5 PM followed by Northwest Kansas Tech and Barton at 6 PM. The nightcap will feature the number-11 ranked T-Birds taking on the number-18 ranked Mavericks at 7 PM as Cloud County will be going for their second win in program history against each opponent.