After
a great showing at the national tournament, two Iowa Lakes Wrestlers were named
All Americans in Div. I NJCAA Wrestling.
Freddie
Rodriguez completed his freshman season as the national champion for 125
pounders and an All American
.
“Freddie
showed up as prepared and focused as any athlete I’ve ever coached,” said Head
Coach Cody Alesch. “I knew he was going to have a great weekend and would be in
the hunt for a title but to dominate like he did was something you don’t see at
that level very often.”
Rodriguez
finished the season with an overall record of 32-8 on the mat. This included 13
pin falls, 2 tech fall, and 4 major decisions.
“When
a student-athlete is focused like he was it really has little to do with
coaching at that point. I felt like Assistant Coach Matt Mincey and I had a
front row seat to his dominance from match one through the finals,” Alesch
added
Brandon
Sorenson ended his freshman year finishing fourth place at 174 pounds at the
national tournament also earning All American status
.
“Brandon,
like Freddie, was focused too and wrestled extremely hard all weekend. He let
the semi match slip away some but losing to the eventual champ is never anything
to be ashamed of,” Alesch stated when asked about Brandon’s performance. “He
wrestled back hard to claim his first AA honors as a
freshman.”
Sorenson
finished the season with an overall record of 33-11; 8 pin falls, 1 tech fall
and 7 major decisions.
Iowa
Lakes had seven national qualifiers and finished twelve at the NJCAA Div. I
National Wrestling Tournament. Freddie Rodriguez- 125lbs, Juan Torres- 133lbs,
Tyler Ellwood- 157lbs, Elijah Dennis- 154lbs, Brandon Sorenson- 174lbs, James
Connaghan- 184lbs, and Davion Franklin- 285lbs were the Lakers that competed.
“As
a team we could have had a better first day but all the guys gained valuable
experiences and as long as they build off of that starting today they will
surpass their successes of this season,” Coach Alesch said. “We are excited
that all of our qualifiers were freshman and that we
have great leadership coming back to build on.”
All-Americans
125
1st
Alfredo Rodriguez, Iowa Lakes Community College
2nd
Josh Walker, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M
3rd
Da’ Wayne Robertson, Ellsworth Community College
4th
Cody Vichi, Northwest College
5th
Tim Prescott, Neosho County Community College
6th
Matthew Nguyen, Southwest Oregon Community College
7th
Jake Bellis, Harper College
8th
Hunter Price, Colby Community College
174
1st
Payne Hatter, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M
2nd
Jared Johnson, Colby Community College
3rd
Garrett Miller, Rochester Community and Technical College
4th
Brandon Sorenson, Iowa Lakes Community College
5th
Cole McArthur, Northwest College
6th
Derrick Booth, North Idaho College
7th
Cody Carson, Pratt Community College
8th
Thomas Daniels, North Iowa Area Community College
