Triton Wrestling Captures NJCAA National Duals for Eighth Time
For the eighth time in program history, the Triton Men's Wrestling program has captured the NJCAA Coaches Association Duals National Championship after a dominating performance in Miami, OK.
With over 30 athletes making the trip, the Tritons had a depth that most of the other teams couldn't match throughout the weekend. "It was a total team effort. We were able to use multiple guys throughout the eight duals," said Triton Head Coach, Luke Moffitt, following the Tritons' victory. "The guys showed up and competed hard. It showed in the head-to-head matchups against highly ranked opponents."
The Tritons had no trouble in the pool round on Friday (1/9), going 5-0 with victories over Snow (48-4), Labette (48-5), Northwest (41-0), Murray State (46-3), and Neosho (53-0). Saturday's bracket round would be much of the same with wins over Cowley (34-12) and Clackamas (34-7), before their 20-12 victory over Western Wyoming to claim the title. The Tritons outscored their opponents 324-43 throughout the tournament.
Individually, Tegan Sherk and Jarrel Miller led the way for the Tritons, going 7-0 in the tournament with Michael Myers (6-0), Kaden King (5-0), Gary Walker III (3-0), and Zaman Anwar (3-0) all going undefeated. Che Jenkins (7-1), Damarcus Powe (5-1), Temuulen Mendbileg (4-1), Marcelo Rosario (4-1), Muhammad Bilal (3-2), Derrick Foster (2-0), Kolton Keller (2-0), Andrew Schwab (1-0), Chancery Deane (1-0), CJ Mikeley (1-0), Devin Perez (1-0), Jacob Marshall (1-0), Jamie Taylor (1-0), Kade Johnson (1-0), Levi Johnson (1-0), Shane Schwab (1-0), Cole Rogers (1-2), and Matthew Roche (1-2) all contributed with victories.
"Ultimately, this is just a stepping-stone towards our goal in March at the NJCAA Championships," said Moffitt. We still have a lot of work to do, but this experience will only help us"
The Tritons are back in home action on Thursday, January 15th for a matchup with Southeastern. First match is scheduled for 7:00 PM following the Triton Women's dual. On Wednesday, January 21st, the #3 Tritons will matchup with top-ranked Indian Hills for a dual that will be broadcast live from Hodges Fieldhouse on IPTV Sports.
*Photo courtesy of Kendall Ryan