COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA -- Mirzo Khayitov was 3rd at 165 pounds and Nathan Lendt finished 5th at 149, giving Ellsworth CC a pair of All-Americans at the NJCAA National Championships. The Panthers were 10th in the team standings that were dominated by ICCAC squads. Five conference schools wound up in the top 10.
It was the 2nd year in a row that Lendt earned All-American status, having come in 8th in the 2021 tourney.
ECC qualified 7 wrestlers for the national meet and they combined for 23 wins and 7 falls.
In addition to Khayitov and Lendt, who won 6 matches each, Kaden Karns, Ryan Graves and Diego Isiordia all won three times and Isaiah Laguna got two wins for the Panthers. Ethan Miller was the other ECC qualifier.
Khayitov, in his first season at ECC, sparkled in the 165 pound weight class. His only loss came to NIACC's Christian Minto by a 4-2 score in overtime in the quarterfinals. Minto went on to capture his 2nd consecutive national title. Khayitov overcame the disappointment of being knocked into the consolation bracket by reeling off four straight wins. They came by an 11-4 decision, a 4-3 decision, a medical forfeit, and a pin in 1:38 in the 3rd place match. His first two victories to open the tourney were a 14-5 major decision and a forfeit.
Lendt got the first of his 6 wins in the preliminary bout at 149, pinning his opponent in 2:47. Both of his losses were to top-seeded Victor Jacinto of Clackamas (OR). The first of those defeats was by an 8-3 score. Lendt followed that up with 4 consecutive wins -- 12-6 and 8-3 decisions, a pin in 25 seconds, and a 6-1 win. After losing again to Jacinto, 9-7, Lendt was credited with a medical forfeit victory for his 5th-place finish.
After he was pinned by the eventual champion in his first match at 125, ECC's Kaden Karns rattled off three pins in a row -- in a total time of 7:33. Karns lost a technical fall in his last bout.
ECC 141-pounder Ryan Graves received a forfeit win to open the tourney, then lost by fall. He produced a pair of narrow decisions by scores of 6-5 and 7-5 before Graves was pinned to end his tournament.
Diego Isiordia got an impressive 13-5 major decision at 157 before he was pinned in the 2nd round. Isiordia rebounded for 13-4 and 3-1 victories before losing 6-3.
Isaiah Laguna's two wins for ECC were both solid performances -- a 10-0 win and a pin. The 197-pounder was pinned in his 1st-round match and then lost 5-1 in his finale.
The other Panther to wrestle at nationals, Ethan Miller, lost a couple of decisions -- 11-4 and 16-9.
