JC duo captures titles in Iowa

Michael Nord’s dominant season continued on Saturday.

The Jamestown College standout sophomore blitzed the 165-pound field at the Briar Cliff Open in Sioux City, Iowa.

Nord and teammate Sean Blumhardt both earned individual titles at the 17-team meet, helping the Jimmies to a seventh-place finish overall.

Nord, a sophomore from Enderlin, entered as the No. 7 seed at 165, but was easily the class of the field.

Of his five wins, four were by pin, including an 89-second beat down of J.C. Vercande of Grand View (Iowa) in the championship match. Only O.J. Stevens of Midland (Neb.) was able to stay off his back against Nord, and just barely as the former 4-time state champion for Lisbon High School steamrolled 15-0. In all, Nord accounted for 25.5 of the Jimmies’ 66.5 points.

Blumhardt was not far behind.

The senior from Ellendale had two major decisions and a pin on his way to the 125-pound final. It was a battle there, though, but Blumhardt prevailed in a narrow 1-0 win over Cassidy Oshiro of Air Force Prep. Blumhardt protected his No. 1 seed in the tournament and accounted for 20 points.

Jaykob Miller was the other JC wrestler to place.

Miller, who was unseeded, turned the bracket upside down early with an impressive 7-2 win over No.1-seeded Eric Albers in the opening match for both. The junior from Etiwanda, Calif., kept it going with a 5-1 win to reach the semifinals, but was derailed in a tight 7-3 affair. Miller had to face the top-seeded Albers in wrestlebacks and fell 6-0, but the JC wrestler finished on a high note with a pin over Ishmael Rempson of William Penn at the 5:29 mark.

Sam Brown had a solid 3-2 day at 149, but fell one match short of the placing round.

Johnny Gonzalez had a major decision at 165 for his lone win.

Coby Horner (133) also had one win on the day.

The Jimmies have one final tune-up in advance of the North Region qualifier Feb. 16.

They dual Dakota Wesleyan Wednesday in Mitchell, S.D.

Tags: college sports, sports, jimmies, wrestling