• Wrestling Schedule / Results
• Meet the Wrestling Team
• Meet the Coach
• Wrestling All-Americans
• Recent Wrestling News

Rochester Emerges as Top Minnesota Junior College

This past weekend the NJCAA National Tournament was held at the UCR Sports Center in Rochester, MN. This is the 10th year the event has been held in Rochester, and it is scheduled to be held again in Rochester next season. The NJCAA National Tournament brings in teams from all over the United States.

The Rochester Community and Technical College Yellowjackets qualified seven wrestlers for the event, and placed 3rd among the Division III schools. RCTC had a pair of All-Americans with Nathan Clements placing 2nd at 184 pounds, and Ethan Hackbarth placing 8th in the 174 pound weight class.

Nathan Clements (West Salem, WI) entered the tournament as a returning All-American who had placed 7th at 184 in the 2007 Championship. He was currently ranked 4th and knew he would have to battle to earn All-American honors once again. After a first round BYE, Clements started the tournament with a fall in 0:37 over Stephen Earwood of Spartansburg Methodist, SC. In the quarters, Clements won an impressive 8-1 decision over Corey Moore of Muskegon, MI. In the semis, Clements was set to face #3 ranked Shea Gerardot of Harper, IL. Nathan controlled the entire match and won a 6-0 decision. In the finals Nathan met Deron Winn of Meramec. Winn controlled the match and became the 184 pound National Champion and Outstanding Wrestler honors.

Ethan Hackbarth (Utica, MN) qualified the tournament as a Wild Card from the North Central Region. He took full advantage of his opportunity and wrestled his way to All-American honors. In his opening match, Ethan defeated Jeremy Honushefsky of Thaedeus Stevens, PA by a fall in 3:38. In the second round Ethan won by a 19-1 technical fall over Josh Bue of Itasca CC, MN. In the quarters, Hackbarth lost a 7-0 decision to National Runner-Up Jason Green of Neosho, KS. In order be an All-American Hackbarth had to win his next match in the wrestlebacks. He won by fall in 6:32 over David Laird of SW Oregon. Ethan lost his next two matches and placed 8th.

The North Central Region, which includes Rochester, Ridgewater, Itasca, MN-West, Iowa Central, Ellsworth, NIACC, and Iowa Lakes, produced the most All-Americans with 21. They also produced the most NJCAA Finalists with 7.

Division III Team Scores Top 10
Nassau Community College 84.50
William Rainy Harper College 67.50
Rochester Community & Tech. College 32.50
Gloucester Community College 30.00
Ridgewater Community College 22.00
Middlesex County College 17.00
Jamestown Community College 16.00
Itasca Community College 12.00
Alfred State College 12.00
Triton College 8.00

Yellowjacket Compete in the Augie Open

The RCTC Yellowjackets had a strong showing at the Augsburg Open on Saturday November 17th. Chris Herrmann (Belle Plain, MN) lead the jackets winning three matches and the championship at 174 S. Herrmann started the day with a 4-2 decision over Pat Priggen of La Crosse. He then beat Bradon Reyerson 11-5. In the finals Chris won 7-5 over Jordy Ammons of Simpson. Shawn Saxe (Forest Lake, MN) placed 3rd in the 141 B bracket. Shawn started the day with an 8-1 win over Derrick Miller of Simpson. He then lost a close 7-5 decision to Zach Mullins of Briar Cliff. Shawn bounced back to win by fall over Jacob Sathe of Dakota Weslyn in 4:21.

The Yellowjackets next competition is a dual against Saint Olaf on 11/28 at 7:00pm. The dual will be held in the UCR Performance Court and admission is free. They then compete in the Dragon Open on 12/1 in Moorhead, MN.

RCTC Yellowjackets Open at the Pointer Open Steven's Point, WI

On November 10th, the RCTC Yellowjackets competed in the Pointer Open. This tournament was a great test for the young team and had several of the top teams from DII, DIII, and JUCO institutions. Placing for the Yellowjackets was Luke Evjen 165 (Hayfield, MN) and RJ Delacruz HWT (Madelia, MN). Evjen started the day with a close 5-3 OT win over Cade Sarbacker of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He then won a 4-0 decision over Grant Goettl of La Crosse. In the quarter finals Evjen defeated Jermiah Dorn of Witewater 7-3. Luke then lost a close 9-4 decision to David Close of Indianapolis. Evjen then wrestled Sarbaker once again, but this time lost 8-5 in OT.

RJ Delacruz (Madelia, MN) started his day with a pin in 3:16 over Austin Brunet of Wisconsin-Parkside. He then lost two close matches and Wrestled Brunet again for 5th place and won a 6-5 decision.

Also picking up wins on the day were Shawn Saxe 141 (Forest Lake, MN), Peter McPhail 157 (Pine Island, MN), Matt Baier 165 (Springfield, MN), Collin Radke 165 (West Salem, WI), Seth Redalen 165 (Edgerton, WI), and Dan Leckel 197 (Dover, MN).

The Yellowjackets open their dual season against returning National Champions Iowa Central on 11/14 and then wrestle in the Augsburg Open on 11/17.

Coach: Randy Rager
Asst. Coaches: Klaus Alberts, Eric Hauan

Contact Information:
507-280-3558
randy.rager@roch.edu

^ Back to Top
« Previous Page