Harper sends eight wrestlers to national tourney
The National Junior College Athletic Associaton's wrestling elite will gather at the Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for this weekend's national championships.
Harper, ranked No. 19 nationally, will have eight participants. The Hawks finished second as a team behind ninth-ranked Lincoln College two weeks ago in the qualifying meet held at Harper.
Harper's best chance at an individual title seems to rest with 125-pound district champion Ian Mullen. The sophomore ranks third in his weight class nationally.
The Hawks will be represented at 133 pounds by Britches Sikula, who faces De'Khayle McFarland (Labette). The weight class' top-ranked wrestler, Zak Hensley (Iowa Western), is also placed in the top half of their bracket.
At 141 pounds, Harper's Dylan Elmore and Jarrett Ziegler (Camden County) face off in first-round action. If Elmore were to advance to the second round, he'd face Kurt Mode (Clarkamas), the class' top-ranked competitor.
There are two more Harper/Camden County matchups, at 149 and 165 pounds.
At 149, the Hawks' Howie Olsen faces Charles Bramble.
In the 165-pound class, Zachary Beard (Otero) is ranked No. 1. He will await the winner of the matchup between Harper's Caleb Dorsey and Cliff Owens (Camden County).
Anton Krocko looks to have the most difficult first-round draw for Harper at 164 pounds. He'll meet top-ranked Jordan Gundrum (Elsworth).
Harper's Juwan Anderson also finds himself in a difficult draw as he opens 184-pound action against Devin Crawls (Northwest Oklahoma). Danny Bush (Iowa Central) will be the second-round opponent for the winner.
At 197 pounds, both Harper's Logan Nesselrodt and Northwest's Jerry Oakes earned first-round byes and will meet in the second round.
Matt Cravins is the Hawks' representative in the heavyweight divsion. After a first-round bye, he will face the winner of Miguel Morales (Highline) and Stephen Boone (Iowa Western).
The tournament begins Friday morning and concludes on Saturday.