Rochester, MN-
Rochester Community & Technical College, one of the top non-scholarship NJCAA wrestling programs in the country, is a part of the NWCA Wrestling Duals held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on January 4-5. Rochester opened team dual meet action against Spartanburg Methodist College. RCTC was one of only 16 elite teams invited to the competition, which features several nationally prominent NJCAA teams. For more on the NJCAA two-year college division at the NWCA Duals, click here.
NJCAA
Teams from the National Junior College Athletic Association joined the National Duals fray in 2004. Clackamas Community College out of Oregon City, Oregon is going for a record fifth straight National Duals title in the division. In 2011, the Cougars played spoiler and claimed its first title, preventing Iowa Central from winning its fifth in a row. They'll have to avoid the same fate against a solid field that includes 12 ranked teams including two-time team runners-up Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.
Clackamas, which boasts a lineup of names wrestling fans may recognize from their high school and age-group successes, opens up with unranked Triton and the winner of the dual will advance to face either No. 13 Northwest Kansas Tech or No. 17 Lincoln. Clackamas hammers include returning NJCAA champion Dayton Racer, who competed at Iowa Central last season, and former Division I wrestlers Ralpy Tovar, Dylan Reel and Gage Harrah.
Northwest Kansas Tech brings in the top-ranked heavyweight as Odgerel Batkhishig, a native of Mongolia, comes in ranked No. 1. Down on the bottom half of the bracket, NEO will open with 23rd-ranked Colby Community College. The Golden Norsemen have finished second in two of the last three National Duals and are led by returning NJCAA champion Wyatt Jordan at 165 pounds. The winner of the NEO-Colby dual will face either 11th-ranked Southwestern Oregon or 15th-ranked Nassau Community College, which returns to the National Duals after a number of years competing at the Virginia Duals. Nassau won the first two NJCAA National Duals championships.
Fourth-ranked Iowa Lakes is the third seed and will face unranked Harper in the opening round. The winner will face either 14th-ranked Barton (Kan.) or Western Wyoming. Iowa Western comes in ranked fifth and is seeded fourth. The Reivers will open up with Labette, a two-time winner of the National Duals, with the winner of that dual facing the winner of the Rochester-Spartanburg Methodist dual.
Individually, 52 wrestlers are ranked nationally in the NJCAA portion of the National Duals.
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About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system. The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions. The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.