Iowa Central (6-1 overall) outscored their opponents 113-16 on the weekend, dropping only four matches. The top-ranked and No. 1-seeded Tritons began their romp with an impressive 50-0 win over No. 20 Rend Lake on Friday and followed that with a 32-6 win over No. 7 Northwest in the semifinals and a 31-10 win over No. 3 Labette in the finals on Sunday.
The Tritons dominant run was fueled by several impressive individual performances. Brandon Wright (No. 1, 133), Edwin Cooper (No. 1, 149), Jahwon Akui (No. 4, 174), Christian Mays (184) and Kolten Kersten (No. 3, 197) each posted 3-0 weekends. Lonnie Brown (2-0) and Logan Johnson (1-0) combined to go undefeated at 285.
Iowa Central was the beneficiary of four forfeits by Rend Lake and an injury in Saturday's opener. Terell Wilbourn (No. 2, 141) and Michael Perez (No. 3, 157) each recorded major decision victories and Akui pinned his man in 6:09 to help Iowa Central advance with a 50-0 win.
Sunday saw Iowa Central avoid the upset bug that was rampant at the duals. The Tritons faced No. 7 Northwest Wyoming in the semifinals after the Trappers upset No. 4 Lincoln 35-9 on Saturday.
It wasn't a very promising start for the Tritons as sixth-ranked Jacob Colon began the match by getting pinned at 125 and put Iowa Central in an immediate 6-0 hole. However, any hope of another Trapper upset was quickly erased as Wright and Wilbourn picked up consecutive major decision wins at 133 and 141 and Cooper recorded a pin in 1:38 at 149 to erase the deficit and start Iowa Central on a 32-0 run to end that match. The Tritons did have a scare as they had to scratch out three consecutive wins as Colin Hewitt won 5-4 at 165, Akui won 3-1 in overtime, and May held on to tin 3-2 at 174.
The win advanced Iowa Central to the finals, but it was not granted a rematch with No. 2 Clackamas, the team that ended Iowa Central's run of four consecutive dual titles and 66-match winning streak against NJCAA programs at the same meet last season. Clackamas was dramatically upset 19-18 by No. 3 Labette earlier in the day.
Labette's prize for the upset was an Iowa Central squad that was rolling. Colon this time started Iowa Central out on top with a pin of his own at 2:39 over fifth-ranked Garrett Jones at 125. Wright then followed with his second major decision of the day at 133. Labette recorded an upset at 141 as No. 3 Jordan Basks beat No. 2 Wilbourn 14-5 for a major decision. Edwin Cooper got Iowa Central back on track with a major decision win of his own at 149.
Labette cut the lead to 18-10 with a consecutive wins at 157 and 165, but Iowa Central closed the match out with bonus point wins in three of the final four weights. Akui won 16-8 at 174, Kersten recorded a pin a 197 and Johnson won 10-2 at 285.
Iowa Central is back in action again this week when it travels to Estherville to face No. 16 Iowa Lakes at 7:00 p.m.
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