North Central District Preview (Sunday February 16th)

 

Featuring Regions 2 & 16, I have (as do many others) referred to the North Central District affectionately as the "Iowa Jucos" for quite some time.  Watching it grow over the years has been a real treat.  Growing up, I never thought we'd see wrestling at Indian Hills again, and here we are today, and they're the #2 team in the country.  Also featured this weekend will be #4 Iowa Central, #11 NIACC, #20 Iowa Western (host) & #25 Iowa Lakes.  Hawkeye CC will be appearing in their first qualifier & Ellsworth will also be in action. 

125

You want a tough road to a title, you have one.  This three man race to determine our 125 lbs North Central District champion is going to be fierce.  Jaydale Whitlock finished one match shy of being an NJCAA All American last season, and he's been wrestling this season like he not only wants to make the award stand, but like he wants to stand at the very top of it.  Challenging him will be Cyrus Bucsit, an Hawaiian native who competed for the same High School as two time NCAA DI champ Travis Lee. Then of course, also in the hunt will be last year's North Central District champ, Isaac Gibbs, who was also 7th in the NJCAA nation. 

133

When Riley Bettich took 7th place honors in the NJCAA nation back in 2023, he surprised a lot of people by coming out of "no-where" in order to do so.  This year, he's not sneaking up on anyone.  The expectations for the Warrior are quite high.  He'll have a good challenge from Drew Cooper, a transfer from Nebraska, who has been having a great season thus far competing for Iowa Central. 

141

Our final here at 141 lbs in the North Central District looks to be between Gavyn Whitehead, a two time state place-winner out of Indiana & Zavian Geronimo of Iowa Central. 

149

A North Central District runner-up last year & 3rd in the NJCAA nation, our favorite here to win this weekend's North Central District title is Floridan Cordell White of NIACC.  In the hunt, is also Yaveion Freeman, who was one match shy of NJCAA All American status last year & William Penn of Iowa Lakes. 

157

Ironically enough, Chance Davis was a South Central District champion last season, eventually placing 5th in the NJCAA nation, competing for Cowley.  Now he's at Iowa Central, looking to win a North Central District title this weekend.  He'll be challenged by Indian Hills' Brice Coleman. 

#6
Kaden King
Iowa Central 
165

A tough wrestler out of Ohio, Kaden King looks to win a North Central District title for the Titans this Sunday. 

174

It's not often we have wrestlers from Egypt in collegiate wrestling.  Matter of fact, I'd wager that if Mohamed Tarek Abdelhady wins the North Central District title this Sunday, he'll be the first from Egypt to ever do so.  He'll be challenged this weekend by Matteo Nikolov, a talented Reiver out of Texas. 

184

Another very competitive bracket to determine a North Central District champion.  We have two runner-ups from last season, including Jessey Colas & Jaquan East (who was 2nd at 174 last year) who also placed 6th in the NJCAA nation.   Also in this bracket, will be a tough Sam Libby of Iowa Central. 

197

Each weight class is going to be a battle for a North Central District title this weekend, but perhaps none will be more fierce than what we have going on here at 197 lbs.  Andrew Marquez was an Illinois high school state champ last year for Rock Island.  He's in line to win a North Central District title, and a favorite to win the NJCAA title, but it'll be anything other than a shoe-in.  Coen Grimm is hot on his trail, and although he'd have to beat both Marquez & Grimm, don't care count out McCray Klohs of NIACC.  A Battle for the Helmet champ, he was 2nd at the Coe Invitational.  He took Marquez into sudden victory & lost by a takedown against Grimm. 

HWT

I am very excited to see how Hawkeye CC ends up doing this tournament.  What a thrill it'd be if the Redtails were to crown a North Central District Champ on Sunday.  In my opinion their best shot is HWT Josh Vis, but it'll be one heck of a challenge to get past two time Virginia high school state place-winner Naasir Edmonds, who himself wants to win that title.