Council Bluffs, IA:   Wrestlers from the five Minnesota College Athletic Conference wrestling programs converged on Council Bluffs, Iowa this past weekend to compete in the NJCAA Wrestling National Championships.   The two-day event was a showcase for the top MCAC wrestlers, with over 21 conference athletes from all five wrestling programs and across 10 weight classes taking part.

The Yellowjackets of RCTC earned 9th place overall in the team standings, and were crowned the non-scholarship program National Champion,  with a point total of 61.5 and landing 3 wrestlers in the top 8 of their respective weight divisions.  Fellow MCAC squad Minnesota West finished in 26th place with 9.5 points and conference runner-up Northland finished 30th, accumulating 5.5 points in the event.  Ridgewater College finished tied with two other institutions for the 32nd  spot, while Itasca Community College was tied for the 36th with one other team.

Individually, Minnesota West athlete Lamont Cannon earned a 7th place finish in the 141 Lbs Division, allowing him to gain the distinction of being a two-time NJCAA All-American, having also reached the final 8 at nationals in 2016.   RCTC head coach, Randy Rager, was named the 2017 National Non-Scholarship Coach of the Year in the NJCAA, which will match nicely with his MCAC Coach-of-the-year Award earned two weeks prior at the MCAC / North District Wrestling Meet.  

RCTC's Brett Bradford made the strongest run of any MCAC athlete at the tournament, wrestling his way to a 2nd Place overall finish at 157 lbs, falling to Iowa Central's Dayton Racer in the final.  Rochester's Coltan Langaniere (149lbs) and Alfred Daniel (165 lbs) as well as Northland's Nathanael Holecek (184 lbs) also wrestled their way into the final eight of their divisions.  Bradford had previously earned the 2017 MCAC Wrestler-of-the-Year award, based on his dominating performance  over the MCAC dual meet season and his unbeaten mark at the MCAC-North Division Championships held at NCTC on Sunday, February 12th.