Pratt Community College picked up its best finish ever — third place — at the NJCAA West Central Regional Wrestling Tournament last weekend in Colby, and seven Beavers qualified for the national tournament.
Sophomore Ralph Major became Pratt’s first regional champion, winning the title at 184 pounds.
Major won his first-round match by forfeit, then took an 11-5 decision from Neosho County’s Ralph Manous to reach the championship.
Major won the title as Labette’s Derek Thompson defaulted due to injury.
Pratt freshman Ramon Willis took second at 141 pounds with a 2-1 record. He defeated Luis Camacho of Colby 13-5 in the first round and Cameron Jesseph of Labette 8-4 in the second round before falling to Northwest Wyoming’s McCade Ford 4-0 in the championship.
Freshman Jesse Barber had a first-round bye, but lost to Neosho County’s Derek Steeley 6-3 in the semifinals.
In the consolation bracket, Barber pinned Cody Wark of Colby and then won by injury default in the third place match.
PCC’s Alex Feldkamp got a first-round bye at 174 pounds, then lost his semifinal 4-3 to Northwest Wyoming’s Nick Peterson.
Once in the consolation bracket, Feldkamp got a win by forfeit to send him home with third place.
Sophomore Travis Budke was one of three fourth-place finishers for PCC.
He opened with an 8-2 win over Northwest Wyoming’s Zach Oppenheimer, then lost to No. 1 ranked Bekzod Abdurakhmanov of Colby in the semifinals.
Budke bounced back by pinning Western Wyoming’s Jerad Hammond in the consolation semifinals to secure his spot in the national tournament.
PCC sophomore Tyler Downs pinned Neosho County’s Kris Powell in the first round, then lost to eventual second-place finisher Mak Jones of Northwest Wyoming in the semifinals.
Still, that was enough for Downs to finish fourth and qualify for the national tournament.
Chris Wright took fifth as he went 1-2 at the tournament, getting a win by 8-7 decision over Neosho County’s Zach Simpson, who had beaten Wright 5-4 in the first round.
“I am extremely proud of all these young men and I am truly honored to be their coach,” PCC coach Brook Medrano said. “We wrestled fantastic this weekend. Hopefully this good wrestling carries over to the national tournament.”
Pratt was also represented by freshmen Devin Bingham and Austin Hamm and redshirt freshman Scott Wise.
The national tournament will be held Feb. 26 and 27 in Des Moines, Iowa.
NJCAA West Central Regional at Colby
Pratt Results
125 — Jesse Barber, 2-1, 3rd place.
133 — Devin Bingham, 0-2.
141 — Ramon Willis 2-1, 2nd place.
149 — Chris Wright, 1-2, 5th place.
157 — Scott Wise, 0-2.
165 — Travis Budke, 2-1, 4th place.
174 — Alex Feldkamp, 1-2, 3rd place.
184 — Ralph Major, 3-0, 1st place.
197 — Tyler Downs, 4th place.
285 — Austin Hamm, 0-2.
