Joliet Junior College sent three wrestlers to the NCJJA Division III national wrestling tournament which was held on March 6-7 in Council Bluff, Iowa.
Freshman Adrian Hernandez competed at 141 pounds. He lost to Joshua Baeza of Union College. Hernandez received a bye for the first round of consolation round. He Hernandez would lose a high scoring match 16-11 to Camden Webb of Carl Albert State College.
At 165 pounds, sophomore Isaac Barba received a bye in the first round. Barba lost 18-3 in the second around against #11 seed Riley Brewer of Andrew College, where he would lose in a technical fall of 18-3, 1:56 into the third period. Barba moved to the consolation side of the bracket, where he would receive another bye before wrestling Cah’Mari Johnson of Colby College. Barba lost via pin, ending his season and his career at JJC.
“My mentality going into the national tournament was that I earned the right to be here so nobody is better than me, but nobody is an easy match here,” Barba said. “Everyone’s earned the right to be here, so I have to wrestle them at my best every second of the match.”
When asked about his plans for the offseason, Barba said, “I’m going to stay very disciplined, putting on some muscle working on technique, keeping my body healthy and my mind right all the way up until next season.”
On the women’s side, Mia Orozco competed at 124 pounds. She dropped her opening match against Archer McLain of Southeastern Community College and later lost in the consolation round to Lily Powell of North Iowa Area Community College.
Regional results
The JJC Wolves sent their final starting lineups to Muskegon Community College in Muskegon, Michigan, to compete at the NJCCA Great Lakes Regional Tournament on Feb. 21. Three Wolves won enough matches to quality for the national meet.
At 133 pounds, JJC was presented by freshman Aden Vargus. Vargus finished in 6th place with a 1-3 record. At 141 pounds, Hernandez finished in 3rd place, which cemented his place at nationals. He would begin the tournament with an unfortunate major decision loss to Ian Cook of Muskegon Community College 8-0. But then Hernandez would turn it up a notch, fighting all the way back to the third-place match on the backside of the bracket, including a major decision of 19-5 to beat Devan Biersack of Byrant and Stratton College.
Barba took 5th place at 165 pounds. Barba earned two pins during this run including a pin in 1:08 against Gavin O’Neal of Henry Ford Community College in a match that determined the final spot at nationals for the weigh class.
“I was extremely excited it was my biggest accomplishment in wrestling up until this point of my life,” Barba said. “I was super excited and happy.”
Sophomore Kael Morlock, who competed at 174 pounds, went 0-2 on the day.
