Campus News
March 8, 2022
Korenoski just misses all-American mat team
GC 157-pounder goes 3-2; Pelesky, Ighani each win 1 national match
Council Bluffs, IA – Garrett College 157-pounder Noah Korenoski went 3-2 at the NJCAA national wrestling championships last Friday, just missing qualifying for the all-American squad.
Ellsworth (IA) Community College’s Diego Isiordia defeated the eighth-seeded Korenoski, 13-5, in their opening-round match, but Korenoski reeled off 3 straight wins in the consolation bracket. He topped Southwestern Oregon Community College’s Jett Nelson, 8-4; pinned Ridgewater(MN) College’s Wilhelm Yasseri, and then raced to a 6-0, first-period lead on the way to a 9-3 victory over Cloud County (KS) Community College’s Jonathan Crome.
Northern Idaho College’s 13th-seeded Alfonso Martinez ended Korenoski’s all-American bid with a 19-6 major decision in Korensoki’s fifth match.
“I thought Noah wrestled really well,” said GC head coach John Chambers. “He’s had a great career at Garrett College, and Noah’s going to move on and wrestle at the four-year level.”
GC 125-pounder Nathan Pelesky was the only Laker to notch a win in the championship bracket, defeating Harper (IL) College’s Brian Rea, 7-0. Nick Aguilar of Clackamas (OR) Community College – a transfer from Division I Rutgers University – pinned Pelesky in the second round, and Indian Hills (IA) Community College’s Chris Busutil defeated Pelesky, 14-2, in the consolation round.
Navid Ighani was the third Laker wrestler to win at least a match at nationals, defeating Itasca (MN) Community College’s Parker Voss, 11-4, in the consolation round after losing his opening 165-pound match to Iowa Central Community College’s Josh Ramirez, 18-2. Northeastern (CO) Junior College’s Cael Smith eliminated Ighani, 8-3, in his second consolation-round match.
GC’s 6 other national qualifiers – Brandon Myers (133), Caleb Everhart (141), Trey Weinell (149), Paxton Wertz (171), Elijah Hunter (197), and Connor Saladin (285) – each went 0-2.
“The biggest difference we’re seeing is in the strength of the wrestlers,” Chambers said of the caliber of wrestling at nationals. “We’re going to start our strength and conditioning earlier this offseason. We’re going to continue to grow to the point that we can compete on the national level.”
While Chambers would have liked for the Lakers to experience more success at nationals, he said a season that included a Gulf Atlantic District team co-championship was “a great year.”
“We accomplished our No. 1 team goal by winning the district championship,” said Chambers. “With a young team like we had this year, we’re hoping to build off this season and keep the momentum going.”
