Council Bluffs, IA – Garrett College 165-pounder Cole Stuchal went 1-2 at the NJCAA national wrestling tournament, pinning Iowa Lakes Community College's Ulises Placido for the Lakers' only win at this year's nationals.
Stuchal – a freshman from Blairsville, PA – lost an opening-round technical fall to Orrin Jackson of Northwest (WY) College, who went on to finish fourth. Stuchal was eliminated in a tech fall by Bergen (NJ) Community College's Cole Pfeufer in the consolation round.
GC's other five national qualifiers – Matt Lombardo (133), EJ Guy (141), Linden Amtoung (157), Tyberius Clayton (174), and Drayk Bunn (184) – each went 0-2 at nationals.
"For the most part, we were pretty competitive," said first-year GC head coach David Wingate, noting the high-level competition the Lakers faced. "If you're an all-American at this tournament, there's a good chance you're going to get a Division I scholarship."
Wingate said Stuchal was "definitely ready to go" in the match against Placido.
"Cole came in for a blast double and secured the takedown," said Wingate. "He sat through on the armbar and was able to get the pin."
Stuchal said he was "happy all the hard work paid off."
"It was definitely an exciting experience," said Stuchal.
Wingate said he was pleased with his team's performance this year.
"I didn't have a full recruiting year," recalled Wingate. "I really had no idea what the team was going to look like. After our first tournament, I realized we were going to be able to be competitive.
"We had some goals we accomplished and others that we need to work on," added Wingate. "We wanted to have an individual district champ [which GC did, with Bunn] and we wanted to win the district team title [which GC just missed, finishing second]."
Wingate praised his team's work ethic.
"I told the guys in the beginning of the season we might not be the most athletic team, but we were going to win with determination, heart and conditioning," said Wingate. "I think we accomplished a lot of our goals."
PHOTO CUTLINE
Cole Stuchal, far left, claimed Garrett College's lone victory at the NJCAA national wrestling tournament, winning a consolation-round match at 165 pounds. GC's other five national qualifiers were, left to right, EJ Guy (141), Drayk Bunn (184), Tyberius Clayton (174), Linden Amtoung (157), and Matt Lombardo (133).
