Cardinals in 3rd at NJCAA meet

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Eight of North Idaho College’s 10 wrestlers made it through the first day of competition Friday, and the Cardinals are well within contention for their 14th National Junior College Athletic Association championship.

NIC, the second-ranked team, sits in third place entering today’s championship semifinals and consolation quarterfinals with 75.5 points. Harper leads the competition with 85 points, followed by No. 1 Iowa Central with 82.5. Defending champion Labette sits in fourth with 63.5.

Top-seeded heavyweight Jake Kallestad was the most dominant of NIC’s three semifinalists, defeating Chris Miller of Itasca by technical fall and routing Willie Weber of Labette 16-2 in the quarterfinals.

He will face No. 3 seed Marino Eatman of Waubonsee in his semifinal.

Josh Erickson, the No. 3 seed at 165 pounds, defeated Derrick Pomranky of Minnesota West Comm & Tech 11-3 before pinning No. 8 Mike Virgo of Nassau in just 53 seconds. Erickson then defeated Angel Sanchez of Waubonsee 12-5 to earn a semifinal berth against Daron Cruickshank of Muskegon.

Medical Lake High graduate Josh Edmondson won three decisions in his 184 bracket, including a 10-5 victory over No. 4 seed Kyle Olson of Ellsworth. Edmondson, the No. 7 seed, will face No. 3 David Gleissner of Harper in his semifinal.

Still alive in their respective consolation brackets for NIC are Cody Nicholson (133), Heinrich Barnes (141), Coby Jones (149), Tyson Hurst (157) and Kyle Sand (197).