Posted: Mar 10, 2025

FHNW Wrestling Places 4th at NJCAA Wrestling Championships

Council Bluffs, IA – Fort Hays Tech Northwest Men's and Women's Wrestling return from the NJCAA Wrestling Championships over the weekend, with the men's team placing 4th overall (125.5 points) and the women's team placing 18th (11 points). Caroline Purcell made it the furthest for the women's team, falling just short of All-American honors in the blood round. For the men's team, FHNW totaled four All-Americans, with three National Champions at 157, 174, and 184 pounds, and one National Runner-up at 285 pounds. Furthermore, Otgonbayar Batsuuri (174 lbs) won his second National Championship and was presented with the Ernest B. Gould Most Outstanding Wrestler Award.

FHNW Wrestling's 4th-place finish is tied for their best team performance, with the last 4th-place finish coming during the 2018-19 season. Additionally, Tech's three National Champs was the most of any team at the tournament.

"What an amazing group of young men," commented Head Coach Chris Guillot. "They bought in completely, and the growth is beyond any of my teams since I started this journey as a college coach. I'm known for being blunt and challenging my wrestlers to look inside themselves—having been through the mental and physical wars inside my head trying to be the national champion and be the best I could be on that day. These guys were the best on this day! They didn't just trust their training; they trusted themselves. That's the difference. Their journey from trusting only in themselves to trusting in their training and themselves rendered what we saw this weekend in ultimate victory. Our younger wrestlers are following the same path, and we look forward to seeing them mirror these results if they continue on this journey."

Women's Match-by-Match Results

131 lbs- Caxton Smyth (1-2)

Champ. Round of 32 - Loss to #8 Eden Smith (Indian Hills) by VP01 (9-6)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Win over Isbel Jues (Iowa Lakes) by VSU1 (12-2, 4:08)
Cons. Round of 8 (1) - Loss to Carlaeona Hockert (Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa) by VFA (1:43)

138 lbs- Faith Torres (1-2)

Champ. Round of 32 - Loss to #1 Alexis Ross (Iowa Central) by VSU (10-0, 3:00)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Win over Yvette Vargas (Southeast) by VFA (1:01)
Cons. Round of 8 (1) - Loss to Valery Ethington (Snow) by VFA (1:10)

180 lbs- #5 Caroline Purcell (3-2) (Blood Round)

Champ. Round of 32 - Loss to Aaliyah Presley (Iowa Central) by VFA (2:49)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Win over Jessica Komolafe (Joliet) by VSU (12-0, 2:46)
Cons. Round of 8 (1) - Win over Brylie Schaub (Iowa Central) by VP01 (6-3)
Cons. Round of 8 (2) - Win over Abigail Acosta (Snow) by VIN
Cons. Round of 4 - Loss to Isabella Sosa (Umpqua) by VFA (3:41)

Men's Match-by-Match Results

125 lbs- Kaiden Ballinger (1-2)

Champ. Round of 64 - Bye
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over #12 Santana Ramon (Southwestern Michigan) by Fall (4:14)
Champ. Round of 16 - Loss to #5 Elijah Carter (North Idaho) by Tech Fall (17-2, 3:06)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Loss to Jacob Campbell (Henry Ford) by Fall (1:18)

133 lbs- John Kenney (3-2) (Blood Round)

Champ. Round of 64 - Win over #15 Kaden Lapaugh (Southwestern Michigan) by Decision (7-6)
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Zachary Covolo (Northwest) in Sudden Victory (5-3)
Champ. Round of 16 - Loss to #2 Gavin Bauder (Clackamas) by Tech Fall (17-2, 4:43)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Win over John Paul Lavarias (Umpqua) by Major Decision (12-1)
Cons. Round of 8 (1) - Loss to #10 Karim Allal (Northeastern Oklahoma) by Fall (6:58)

141lbs- Xavier Castillo (2-2) (Blood Round)

Champ. Round of 64 - Bye
Champ. Round of 32 - Loss to #7 Gabe Ferreira (Iowa Western) by Decision (5-1)
Cons. Round of 16 (1) - Win over Jaydn Friedrichs (Iowa Lakes) by Decision (13-7)
Cons. Round of 16 (2) - Win over #13 Ethan Horn (Northland) by Tech Fall (17-2, 7:00)
Cons. Round of 8 (1) - Loss to Matthew Roche (Iowa Central) by Fall (5:35)

157 lbs- #2 Job Lee (6-0) (National Champion)

Champ. Round of 64 - Win over Dawson Bond (Iowa Western) by Major Decision (17-5)
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Josiah Wickard (Snow) by Fall (5:30)
Champ. Round of 16 - Win over Alex Messing (Henry Ford) by Fall (1:51)
Quarterfinals - Win over Ayson Rice (Southeast Neb.) by Decision (8-3)
Semifinals - Win over #3 Hixon Canto (Western Wyoming) by Decision (7-3)
Finals - Win over #4 Henry Dillingham (Clackamas) by Decision (5-3)

165 lbs- #9 Dayton Bell (3-2) (Blood Round)

Champ. Round of 64 - Win over Jaden Lopez (Big Bend) by Fall (1:58)
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Josiah Taylor (Iowa Western) by Fall (0:44)
Champ. Round of 16 Win over #8 Kley Krause (Rochester) by Major Decision (17-4)
Quarterfinals - Loss to #1 Melton Powe (Pratt) by Tech Fall (19-3, 2:28)
Cons. Round of 8 (2) - Loss to #5 Caleb Marx (Snow) by Decision (8-6)

174 lbs- #1 Otgonbayar Batsuuri (5-0) (National Champion)

Champ. Round of 64 - Bye
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Manny Mejia (Harper) by Fall (2:16)
Champ. Round of 16 - Win over Ty Pfeufer by Tech Fall (20-4, 5:12)
Quarterfinals - Win over #9 Matteo Nikolov (Iowa Western) by Fall (1:52)
Semifinals - Win over #5 Lawrence Rosario (Iowa Central) by Major Decision (11-2)
Finals - Win over Mohamed Tarek Abdelhady (Indian Hills) by Major Decision (14-1)

184 lbs- #1 Lazaro Crespo (6-0) (National Champion)

Champ. Round of 64 - Win over William Chrysler (Camden County) by Tech Fall (21-5, 3:28)
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Jase Grundy (Mott) by Fall (4:05)
Champ. Round of 16 - Win over #16 Noah Foster (Nassau) by Tech Fall (21-6, 4:56)
Quarterfinals - Win over #8 Sam Libby (Iowa Central) by Tech Fall (22-7, 7:00)
Semifinals - Win over #5 Isaac White (Southeast Neb.) by Decision (7-2)
Finals - Win over #3 Jaquan East (Indian Hills) by Decision (8-2)

197 lbs- #10 Victor Samuel Lamar Montoya (2-2) (Blood Round)

Champ. Round of 64 - Bye
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Jake Navarro (Henry Ford) by Major Decision (19-10)
Champ. Round of 16 - Win over #7 Anthony Evangelista (Camden County) by Major Decision (16-6)
Quarterfinals - Loss to #2 Andew Marquez (Indian Hills) by Major Decision (11-3)
Cons. Round of 8 (2) - Loss to #9 Nate Ronan (Clackamas) by Fall (4:53)

285 lbs- #2 Jeisser Sampson Sánchez (4-1) (National Runner-up)

Champ. Round of 64 - Bye
Champ. Round of 32 - Win over Miguel Perez-Diaz (Southeast Neb.) by Fall (2:37)
Champ. Round of 16 - Win over Brian Moyer Jr. (Union) by Fall (0:53)
Quarterfinals - Win over #7 Naasir Edmonds (Indian Hills) by Decision (4-2)
Semifinals - Win over #6 Ryan Boersma (Triton) by Decision (4-2)
Finals - Loss to #1 Dmarian Lopez (Western Wyoming) in Sudden Victory (5-2)

The full results from the NJCAA Wrestling Championships can be viewed at the link below. You can also view the full event recap from the NJCAA here.

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