DES MOINES, Iowa - Two members of the Jamestown Community College Jayhawks wrestling team made the trip to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament to battle against some the nation's top talent.
Sophomore Ryan Guynup, who is from Cadyville, had moved up to the 149-pound weight class and improved on last year's performance, posting a 3-2 record, his final defeat coming just prior to the All-American round.
Guynup downed Skylar Procasky from Rend Lake CC, via a 14-3 major decision, but in the round of 16 he fell to Colby Cloetzer from North West CC, who scored a pin in 1:19. Cloetzer moved on and finished in third place in the All-American round. Guynup was a winner in the wrestlebacks via a medical forfeit over Colby Carson from Ellsworth CC. He then pinned Sha-Keno Jenkins from North Iowa Area CC in 5:32, but lost his final match to Dylan Karjanis from Western Wyoming CC, 11-6.
Silver Creek's Frank Sterlace, also a sophomore, posted a 1-2 record at 165 pounds.
Sterlace lost to Darnell Thomas from Lincoln CC, 11-6, then bounced back to defeat Samuel Kolkow from Wentworth Military Academy, 3-2, before losing to Nate Woodard from Ellsworth CC, 6-4.
"We were so close with Ryan at 149 and there were 10 returning All-Americans in Frank's weight class, said JCC coach Robbie Waddington. "I'm looking forward to building this program through recruiting and would like nothing better than to take our whole team to Seattle next year, which is the site for the nationals."
Waddington also is starting a wrestling club as part of the New York Super 6 called "Team Mongoose." Signups will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 4 at the JCC Physical Education Complex.
Labett CC from Kansas and North Idaho CC tied at 120 points for first place in team scores while Clackamas CC from Oregon was third with 97 points, Nassau CC racked up 95 points for fourth place and Iowa Central CC took fifth with 75 points.