Ranked 15th in the nation, the Lakers will compete in the 2018 NJCAA Wrestling National Championships being held on Friday, February 23rd and Saturday, February 24th in Council Bluffs, IA.
The Lakers qualified seven guys, two of whom competed last year in the 2017 NJCAA Wrestling National Championships and placed. They are Isaiah Cox, who took sixth at 184lbs and Kaz Maia who took eighth at 149lbs. The Lakers have four men who are ranked that will compete this weekend. Those include: 5th ranked Bunmi Smith wrestling at 165lbs, 6th ranked Jordin James at 133lbs, 7th ranked Kaz Maia at 157lbs, and 8th ranked Isaiah Cox at 184lbs. Other members of the team competing are Kevin Saravia wrestling at 125lbs, Anthony Fisher wrestling at 141lbs and David Hollingsworth at 149lbs.
"We need to be ready to go to war. We have seven guys who are more than capable of being All-Americans. Our best wrestling will need to be this weekend. We are excited about the weekend and ready to step on the mat," said Cody Alesch, head wrestling coach at Iowa Lakes Community College.
Competition begins Friday at 9:30 a.m. at the Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, IA. The finals will be held on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. Fans can obtain tournament and team information, brackets and links to watch the event live by visiting the NJCAA Wrestling National Championships website at http://www.njcaawrestlingcb.com/tournament.asp. Fans can also view results of the competition by following Iowa Lakes Wrestling on Twitter.
Photo ID: Photo of Iowa Lakes wrestlers at Nationals attached.
MEDIA: For more information, please contact Ashley Martin at the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.