Ferris advances to NJCAA wrestling semis following 3-0 day on Friday

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - A perfect 3-0 day at the 2022 NJCAA Wrestling National Championships has put returning 197-pound National Champion Zach Ferris still in the hunt to defend his title to lead the Cloud County Community College wrestling team to a total of 24.5 team points on day one of action at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Friday.

Having six wrestlers compete on Friday, the T-Birds would record 11 victories on Friday as Ferris remains as the lone T-Bird still alive in the tournament after seeing three wrestlers have their season come to an end just one match shy of All-American status.

After starting his day with third-period fall of Isaiah Laguna of Ellsworth Community College, the Chapman, Kansas native would begin to look like his old self on his way to the 2021 National Title in his round of 16 match by getting a quick takedown and fall of Michael Nykoriak of St. Clair Community College in 43 seconds to advance to the quarterfinal round. Taking on fifth-ranked Ryker Blackburn of Northwest Wyoming Community College, Ferris would jump out to an early lead with a takedown in the opening minute and score another takedown following an escape and turn his opponent to his back for a total of six near-fall points to end the period. Ferris would then earn a reversal late in the second period to go up 12-1 heading to the third where he would score a takedown and four-point near fall to get a technical fall with just five seconds left on the clock.

Next up for Ferris is a National Championship rematch with second-ranked Jose Valdez of North Iowa Area Community College on Saturday morning in the semifinals as the two will look to follow up last year's all-time double-overtime classic that was won 3-2 by Ferris to become the first National Champion in program history. The winner of the semifinal matchup will then wrestle in Saturday night's 2022 National Title bout against the winner of top-ranked Massoma Endene (Iowa Lakes) and eighth-ranked Demarco Lee (Harper CC) as Ferris has wrestled against Endene twice this season and split the two matches.

Nearly battling back from an opening-round fall to fifth-ranked Cohle Feliciano of North Idaho College to make it to Saturday would be 285-pound freshman Ibrahim Ameer as the Florissant, Mo., native would rattle off a first-period fall over Armani Tucker of Rochester Tech and 9-5 decision over Alex Trim of Muskegon CC to sit one match away from All-American status. Needing a win against Kawaun Deboe of Indian Hills, Ameer would score a quick takedown before giving up an escape and having his opponent choose the bottom position to begin the second. Another escape by Deboe followed by a takedown after a takedown attempt from Ameer would put the freshman in a 4-2 deficit heading to the third as riding time would essentially make things a 5-2 deficit. Ameer would score a takedown halfway through the third but be unable to get any more points back as he would be forced to cut Deboe to go for another takedown and be held off to lose by a score of 9-4 as a takedown attempt would turn into a takedown for Deboe in the final seconds.

Cloud County would also see Michael Barfuss finish a win away from becoming an All-American as a 10-4 upset of seventh-ranked Joey Pillittieri of Jamestown Community College set up a match with Darnal Heard of Iowa Central where the Bancroft, Idaho native would drop a 9-1 major decision. Needing a win to advance to the evening session, Barfuss would take care of Chris Folkens from Middlesex County with a second-period fall and then manage to overcome a 4-0 deficit to score the final five points of his match with Trenton Grant of Cowley which included three points in the third period to stay alive in the tournament. Things would come to an end however in his third consolation match as Quentrevion Campbell of North Iowa Area Community College would earn an 11-2 major decision over Barfuss.

The remaining three wins for CCCC on Friday would come courtesy of Jonny Crome at 157 pounds and Joel Ostrom at 149 pounds as Crome would pick up two wins while Ostrom would earn one in their respective brackets. For Crome, a strong showing in his opening match against Julian Jimenez of Muskegon CC would lead to a 7-1 decision and move the Marysville, Kansas native into a second-round match with third-ranked Nolan Miller-Johnston of Iowa Central. Getting taken down in the opening 30 seconds, Crome would never be able to recover as Miller-Johnston would earn a fall at the 3:24 mark of the match to second Crome to the consolation rounds where he would defeat Jeremy Ingram of Bryant and Stratton with a second period fall at the 4:35 mark to make the evening session. Noah Korenoski of Garrett Community College would prove to be too much however for Crome as a 6-0 first period deficit would prove to be too much in a 9-3 decision defeat to end his season.

As for Ostrom, a heartbreaking 6-5 decision defeat to Drake Campbell of Triton College would take place in the first match of the day following a 6-3 deficit heading to the third period as Ostrom would get two stall calls on his opponent but fall a few seconds shy of a potential third stall that would have tied the match and sent things into sudden victory overtime. With his tournament life in the balance, Ostrom would bounce back with a big 12-3 major decision over Donate Johnson of Iowa Lakes Community College as the final nine points of the match would be scored by Ostrom to stay alive. Having to face off against eighth-ranked Brandon Bollinger of North Idaho, Ostrom would be unable to score and eventually take a defeat with 31 seconds left in the match.