West coast collegiate wrestling is at its strongest representation in the NAIA & the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) is all the evidence one would need to verify that claim. Last season the Triple C as I like to call it, qualified 47 wrestlers to the NAIA national championships & 9 of them earned All American honors. 6 of those 9 All Americans are back this season.
*NOTE* - Not sure of the status of Martin Wilkie. Not in the rankings or any other info that I have found. Not sure if he's hurt or what's up. *
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| 125 lbs |
From my vantage point the hunt for an individual NAIA title at 125 lbs is a three man race & one of the men racing in it is Hunter Sparks of Eastern Oregon. A CCC champion last year & an NAIA runner-up, he took 3rd at the Grand View Open earlier this season. He is the heavy favorite to win another CCC crown this tournament, as we have quite the field looking to meet him in the finals. Allan Hendricks was recently a match shy of a top 8 showing at the Missouri Valley Invitational. Brayden Boyd of Corban was Sparks' opponent in the finals last season, and he has both a 3rd place finish at the Eastern Oregon Mountaineer Open as well as a 5th place finish at hte Missouri Valley Invitational. Lastly, Landon Smith a teammate of Hendrick at Embry Riddle, was 5th here this year. Like Hendricks a match shy of top 8 at Missouri Valley, he was a runner-up at the Mile High Open.
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| 133 lbs |
Remember how I said that some weight classes might qualify the entire bracket? Well, here's one of them that could. Not sure if the NAIA will agree with me or not, but my personal take is that all 8 of these guys are qualification material.
With NAIA champ Gulomjon Abdullaev currently redshirting, Jovan Garcia has done a tremendous job of stepping it up a notch for the Oaks this season. A CCC runner-up last season & 7th in the NAIA nation, he's the top contender for a CCC title this tournament.
4th in the CCC last season, the result of "one match shy" probably haunts Braden Carson of Eastern Oregon more than he would like it to. He was one match shy of placing at last year's NAIA championships & he was one match shy of placing at the Missouri Valley Invitational earlier this year. What a boost of confidence it's be for the Mountaineer to make the CCC finals this weekend. It won't be easy though...
The Lions of Vanguard have a couple of tough wrestlers here at 133 lbs. Only a freshman, Mario Sandoval has had himself quite the season. Earned an 8th place finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational & teammate Julian Leon was 5th here last season.
Although not ranked, Jeremiah Steele is ironically enough in a similar position to what Garcia was last year. As Abdullaev took up all of the spotlight, Garcia quietly had himself one heck of a season too. Now it's Garcia in the spotlight, with Steele lingering in background, again having himself quite a good season. Steele was most impressive at the Missouri Valley Invitational, taking a 5th place finish.
As we look at the rest of the bracket, you know Simon Graeber of Southern Oregon is going to be bringing his A game & Tristan Bremer of Providence was one match shy of placing at the Missouri Valley Invitational himself.
Lastly, I gotta talk about Jose Toascano of Evergreen State & how excited I am that in their first season competing on the mat, they have a real shot at qualifying a wrestler to the NAIA national tournament. Let's not sugarcoat the reality of the situation. The state of Washington is in dire, desperate need of collegiate wrestling & Evergreen State starting up a new program this season in the state's capital is a huge move for our sport. To say it was needed would be an understatement. Toascano won the Eastern Oregon Mountaineer Open earlier this season & I think it's a real possibility that he can give the Geoducks a qualifier.
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| 141 lbs |
When I first saw Evan Potter of Southern Oregon was moving up to 141 lbs from 133 lbs, I was taken aback. I wasn't expecting it, but the Raider has more than proven himself up 8 lbs. 3rd in the CCC & 3rd in the NAIA nation last season, Potter has more than earned his #1 ranking this season. Won the Patriot Open earlier this season, as he looks poised to go after a CCC title this weekend.
In the battle, we also have Michael Torres of Menlo who was one match shy of a top 8 showing at the Missouri Valley Invitational as well as Carson Coy of Embry Riddle. Coy won the CCC title last season, and thus far this year owns a Mile High Open Title as well as a 6th place finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational. His teammate Christian Lopez is pretty good in his own right, finishing one match shy of a medal at the Missouri Valley Invitational.
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| 149 lbs |
3rd in the CCC last season & a runner-up at the Mile High Open, our favorite to win a title this weekend at 149 lbs is Jonah Chew of Embry Riddle. Among his competition will be Dougie Swanson of Providence & A.J. Rockwell of Eastern Oregon, who both finished one match shy of a top 8 showing at the prestigious Missouri Valley Invitational. Also look to Rico Robles of Arizona Christian who finished 3rd at the Mile High Open, as well as another Missouri Valley Invitational R12'er, Jalen Vladic to compete hard.
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| 157 lbs |
Now here is a tough, competitive weight class. Granted, Kanaipono Tapia was an NJCAA All American for North Idaho last season. Therefore I can't exactly say that he came out of nowhere. However, what I can say is that I don't think anyone was expecting him to come into the Missouri Valley Invitational & dominate his way to a title the way he did. That's the nature of NAIA wrestling & what makes it such a unique level of collegiate wrestling. He'll compete for a title here at the CCC, but he's far from alone in the hunt.
We have TWO, yes TWO, returning CCC champs from last season & ironically enough neither was at 157 lbs! David Rubio of Corban won a title competing at 165 lbs & Aaron Gandara won a title competing at 149 lbs. Both will be duking it out with Tapia & on top of it all, Aden Graves of Providence, last year's CCC runner-up is in this bracket too! That's not all! We also have a very tough Sheldon Cole of Embry Riddle. Sit back, buckle up, and enjoy it.
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| 165 lbs |
There's an old saying that rings true when looking at 165 lbs here in the CCC. "Anything can happen" and I think we'll see that more than once this weekend regarding this particular weight class. Seth Borba of Menlo right now has the top ranking & he earned that in sticking #2 Keller Rock of Embry Riddle in the finals of the Mile High Open. I was really looking forward to seeing if that pin was legit or a case of "getting caught"in the dual between the Eagles and the Oaks, but it was unfortunately canceled. There's a chance we'll find out this weekend, although it is far from guaranteed. I will say that Rock getting injured last season & it ending on such a sour note for him has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I've been itching for him to really show what he's capable of & the CCC as loaded as it is, will be as every bit as good of a test as will be the NAIA championships itself.
Also in contention for a CCC title here is true freshman Hunter Hobbs of Providence. Straight outta high school and earns an extremely impressive 3rd place finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational with a victory over last year's NAIA champion, Rysan Leong of Menlo. It just goes to show you how incredibly tough NAIA wrestling truly is, doesn't it? Last year's NAIA champ, not even the best man at his own school. Ranked #6, behind three other guys in his own conference. Mind blowing. It truly is. With that said, don't look past Leong. He gets in the right frame of mind, he's tough to beat.
Also in this weight class we have Devin Crawford who was 6th in the CCC last year, as well as Bridger Hall who was 5th. Last but certainly not least, being what I believe will be his final CCC appearance, Carlo Castagnaro of Arizona Christian could have a good run. He wrestled his heart out to an 8th place finish at the Missouri Valley Invite earlier this season.
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| 174 lbs |
Here's another example of where the CCC might very well qualify the entire bracket or pretty close to it anyway. 174 lbs is loaded with talent & if the CCC were to give the MOW to whoever wins this bracket, I would be perfectly ok with that. At the head we have two time NAIA All American Nakoda Siegel who after finishing 2nd at last year's CCC championships, hopes to not only win a title this weekend but again at the NAIA championships. He won arguably the toughest bracket at the Grand View Open earlier this season.
In line to challenge Siegel will be Abel Nava of Providence, who won the Missouri Valley Invitational with a very impressive 8-0 major decision over Daniil Gorshkov of Embry-Riddle. Gorshkov, a native of Russia was also runner-up at the Mile High Open. As the list of talent goes on we have both Max Zamora of Menlo & Alex Hernandez of Southern Oregon. While Zamora currently takes a higher ranking, it was Hernandez who won their meeting in last year's CCC consolation finals. Hernandez as of this season, was 3rd at the Patriot Open.
The list of talent in this bracket continues, as Jordan Komac also of Providence was one match shy of placing at last year's NAIA championships. Tyson Stover of Corban was 5th at the Missouri Valley Invitational, as teammate Matt Bartlett won the Eastern Oregon Mountaineer Open. Lastly we also have Ledger Patracek, a standout for North Idaho the past two seasons with back to back 4th place finishes at the NJCAA national tournament. He was one match shy of a top 8 showing at the Missouri Valley Invitational earlier this year.
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| 184 lbs |
A CCC runner-up last season, Kyle Knudtson gives the Mountaineers another strong hope for crowning a champion while hosting the tournament. Thus far this year, he's taken bronze medals at both the Grand View Open & the Missouri Valley Invitational. With Knudtson a strong candidate for gold, we could very well have a battle for silver on our hands. Isaiah Morales was 3rd in the CCC last year & recently placed 6th at the Missouri Valley Invitational. He'll contend with two bright Lights in Austin Vanek & Rylin Burns of Montana State Northern. I think the darkhorse to watch here will be Adrian Chavez Morales of Southern Oregon. He not only won the CCCAA title last season for Sacramento City, he also won the Gorriaran award for the most amount of falls in the least amount of time. The guy gets hot at the right times & he's a pinner. Lastly, look for Kaden Martin to also contend. He was a match shy of a top 8 finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational.
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| 197 lbs |
A CCC champion at 184 lbs last year & 5th in the NAIA nation, the Argos' Sawyer Hobbs will look to win a title up at 197 this weekend. Among the competition will be Southern Oregon's Andrew Herrera who was 4th at last year's CCC championships & more recently 4th at the Patriot Open. Hunter James of Menlo recently took an impressive 7th place finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational, where he topped Providence's Liam Swanson for that 7th place medal. Both Jay Smith & Caleb Werner finished one match shy of placing at the Missouri Valley Invitational, as Carl Hanson of Montana State Northern was 3rd here a year ago. To make the bracket even tougher, Caleb Werner will be in competition as well.
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| HWT |
HWT will not disappoint at the CCC this weekend, as our 285 & < looks to be rather loaded. Last year's champion as well as 4th in the NAIA nation, K.C. Buday returns looking to give Providence another champ. He was runner-up earlier this year at the Grand View Open, taking Grand View's top ranked Greg Hagen into sudden victory. A contender for the NAIA national title, Buday will have some good competition here as he looks to first win another conference crown. Antonio DaCosta was runner-up to Buday last year & he was one match shy of earning All American honors at the NAIA championships. Although ranking looks to separate Simpson's (CA) Jacob Vincent by quite a distance to both Buday & DaCosta, the distance might not be as far on the mat this weekend. Vincent can put it together at the right time. 3rd at last year's CCC championships, he won the Mile High Open & he was 6th at the Missouri Valley Invitational earlier this season.
Even more impressive was Kenneth Copley of Embry Riddle who was 3rd at the Missouri Valley Invitational, topping Ethan DeRoche of Providence in the consolation final. DeRoche for the record was also 3rd at the Grand View Open. Lastly, we also have both Sven Lukner of Corban & Kaiden Cisneros of Arizona Christian who were both R12 at the Missouri Valley Invitational.
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