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LCC continues its quest for national title

By Justin Jarrett


Sports editor


It's hard to be certain how many national qualifiers it will take to bring home the hardware they covet, but just to be safe, the Labette Cardinals plan on pushing all 10 through.


The Cards continue their quest for the school's first National Junior College Athletic Association wrestling title at 9 a.m. today, when they take the mat for the West-Central Regional tournament in Colby.


"We plan to qualify 10," Labette coach Joe Renfro said. "I don't think we have to qualify all 10 to win it, but it would be awfully nice to take all 10."


With one exception, these Cardinals have not been there before. Defending national champion Earl Jones, at 133 pounds, is Labette's lone returning All-American, but the addition of several solid freshmen and the emergence of some talented sophomores leaves Renfro excited about the Cards' prospects. All 10 starters are healthy and ready for the two biggest


tournaments of their careers, thus far, Renfro said.


"They're as ready as you can possibly get, and I think they’ll come through," Renfro said. "I believe it, they believe, they’re teammates believe it. We're ready to rock and roll."


The Cards will see plenty of tough competition in Colby, with defending national champion Northwest Wyoming in the field, along with second-ranked North Idaho, No. 4 Colby and No. 7 Western Wyoming.


"Our region is loaded," Renfro said. "It's a good region, and that could hinder us a little bit as far as going into the national tournament. There are some great teams there, but I don't think anybody's as good as us."


In fact, the top-ranked Cards beat eight of the other nine teams currently ranked in the NJCAA top 10 en route to a perfect 18-0 dual season. But they realize how fine the line is between No. 1 and No. 10.


"We know at least the top five or six teams in the nation are all good enough to win it, so we have to do whatever we can do to hold everybody off and win it," Labette 157-pounder Adam Ingram said. "We know we have the guys to do it. We’ve got eight or nine guys that we feel can go out and be in the finals at the national tournament. If we push everyone through, we shouldn't have any problem."


Labette Cardinals' records entering West-Central Region tournament


125-Brandon Pigorsch (11-8)


133-Earl Jones (20-1)


141-Cory Allison (12-2)


149-Luke Elmore (19-11)


157-Adam Ingram (23-8)


165-Donnie McMillin (28-5)


174-Blake Hohensee (11-16)


184-Alex Saunders (20-2)


197-Jared Shelton (23-3)


285-Dustin Martin (6-3)

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ards win title, qualify 9 for nationals


COLBY - Almost everything on Joe Renfro's list is crossed off, but there's one more check mark he hopes to make.


Renfro's Labette Cardinal wrestling team won the West-Central Region qualifier tournament with 86 1/2 team points Saturday in Colby, qualifying nine of 10 wrestlers for the National Junior College Athletic Association championships Feb. 26 -27 in Rochester, Minn.


Freshman Alex Saunders, who was selected the tourney's Most Outstanding Wrestler, and defending national champion Earl Jones led four Cardinals who won individual titles. Adam Ingram won the 157-pound title, and Jared Shelton was the champion at 197 pounds.


The Cards narrowly edged Western Wyoming, which finished with 71 1/2 points and qualified eight for nationals, thanks in large part to two head-to-head victories in the championship finals.


Saunders claimed an impressive 18-7 victory against Western's Craig Mock, who had been ranked No. 1, in the 184-pound championship match, and Shelton beat Western's Colt Hamilton in the 197-pound final.


Heavyweight Dustin Martin was Labette's only second-place finisher, Cory Allison (141) and Luke Elmore (149) took third, and Donnie McMillin placed fourth at 165. At 125 pounds, Brandon Pigorsch received one of the region's two wild-card bids, a luxury not afforded to Labette 174-pounder Blake Hohensee.


"I'm happy that we're taking nine guys," Renfro said. "You never want to leave anybody at home, but the nine we have going are pretty solid."


Labette won't have the most wrestlers at the national tourney, though. No. 2 North Idaho and No. 6 Iowa Central each qualified all 10 wrestlers in their lineups at different regional qualifier tournaments.


"We'll have to wrestle better at nationals that we did at regionals, that's for sure," Renfro said. "It won't be easy, but we're going to start preparing, and we'll be ready to rock and roll."


Final team standings


1. Labette 86.5; 2. Western Wyoming 71.5; 3. Northwestern Wyoming 64.50; 4. Colby 57.5; 5. Neosho County 55.0; 6. Pima (Ariz.) 39.5; 7. Glendale (Ariz.) 0.


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