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

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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