The #4 ranked Pratt Community College (PCC) Beavers left campus on Tuesday morning in route to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Wrestling Championships in Council Bluffs, IA. The Beavers took with them a full roster of ten wrestlers, the most to qualify in program history.
The two day championship event will take place on Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th. Official weigh-in begins tomorrow, March 4 at 7:30 am. The preliminaries begin at 9:30 am and will continue through 6:00 pm. The quarterfinals will begin at 6:15 pm on Friday night. Wrestlers that get knocked out of the championship bracket will start consolation rounds on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday, March 5, official weigh-in will being at 9:30 am with the semifinals beginning at 10:30 am. The consolation quarterfinals also begin at 10:30 am. At 1:15 pm the consolation finals for 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place will begin. The championship finals will begin on Saturday night at 6:30 pm with openening ceremonies and a parade of All-Americans.
At 125 pounds, sophomore Jason Henschel enters the championships with the #1 seed and will wrestle Brian Rea from Harper College in the opening round. Henschel was voted the most outstanding wrestler at district championships two weekends ago. Last season, Henschel finished national runner-up at 133 pounds due to a late period pin fall.
Making his championship debut at 133 pounds is sophomore Drew Liles. He will face Cantrell Johnson from Southwest Virginia. At 141 pounds, is #9 ranked sophomore Jacob Mitchell. Mitchell opens his second appearance at the championships against Frankie Gissendanner from Niagara County. Mitchell finished eighth last season.
Former national champion and national runner-up at 149 pounds is sophomore Jake Beeson. He enters his third championships as a Beaver and is ranked #1. Beeson will face Dylan Brown from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in the opening round.
Freshman Samajay Alboyd is making his NJCAA wrestling championships debut at 157 pounds. He is wrestling in place of national runner-up and #1 ranked Dayton Porsch who was unable to wrestle at district championships two weekends ago. Alboyd will open his weekend against Fabian Padilla from Iowa Western.
Ranked #7 at 165 pounds is sophomore Scott Radke. Radke will be making his debut appearance at the championships for the Beavers. He will face Parker Voss from Itasca. Wrestling his way into the quarterfinals last season for the Beavers was sophomore Cayden Atkins. Atkins is ranked #5 this season at 174 pounds. He will face Walker Ingham from Rochester in the opening round.
Sophomore Deston Miller will make his second appearance at the NJCAA wrestling championships at 184 pounds. Miller place eighth last season and is currently ranked #8 in the nation. He will face Coleton McElliot from Iowa Central in the opening round. Freshman Cayden Winter will wrestle at 197 pounds for the Beavers and will face Sebastian Lakouchevitch from Union County.
Last, but certainly not least is sophomore Devon Dawson. Dawson played fifth last year in the heavyweight division and is currently sitting at third in the rankings He will open his championship campaign against Ronald Krewer of Triton.
Last season, the Beavers placed fourth overall at the NJCAA wrestling championships a program best. Fans can watch the championships by visiting https://www.flowrestling.org and signing up for an account.