IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- Mirzo Khayitov won a district title on Sunday and Ellsworth qualified 7 wrestlers for next month's NJCAA national championship meet. Khayitov, ranked 2nd in the nation, took the championship match at 165 pounds in the North Central District Championships hosted by ECC. He'll be joined in the national tourney field by teammates Kaden Karns, Diego Isiordia, Juan Isiordia, Brent Greenfield, Isaiah Laguna and Tegan Carson.
Khayitov was the runnerup to NIACC's Christian Minto in last year's district tournament and moved up one spot to the top of the podium this year after beating Cole Price of Iowa Western, 4-2, in the title bout at 165. Khayitov is Ellsworth's first district champ at his weight (165) since Sadarriss Patterson won in 2016. The sophomore is rated behind only Steele Starren of Clackamas (OR) in the latest national ratings.
In addition to Khayitov, Ellsworth had two other wrestlers reach the finals. Diego Isiordia, 5th nationally at 157 pounds, was pinned by Fabian Padilla of Iowa Western in his title match. Brent Greenfield faced off with Ein Carlos of NIACC in the championship bout at 184 and Greenfield was pinned in 1:21.
The Panthers' Juan Isiordia is also headed to nationals after his 3rd place finish at 174 pounds. The other 3 ECC wrestlers who qualified for the national tourney all finished 5th in their weight classes: Kaden Karns at 125, Isaiah Laguna at 197 at Tegan Carson at 285. Carson closed out his district meet appearance in style, pinning NIACC's Jacob Leohr in 6:36 in the 5th place match at 285. Carson avenged a 10-2 loss to Leohr in the 1st round.
Iowa Western crowned 6 champs and won the team title with 138 points. Iowa Central was 2nd.
For Khayitov, Karns, Diego Isiordia and Laguna, it will be their 2nd straight trip to the national championship, to be held in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Mar. 3-4.
ELLSWORTH RESULTS
125 - Kaden Karns (5th place): won 8-4 decision, lost 20-5 tech fall, pinned in 1:51, won 8-2 decision
133 - Austin Kaalekahi (6th place): pinned in 1:29, bye, pinned in 5:42, pinned in 1:56
157 - Diego Isiordia (2nd place): bye, won 8-6 decision in sudden victory, pinned in 8:51
165 - Mirzo Khayitov (1st place): bye, won 4-2 decision, won 4-2 decision
174 - Juan Isiordia (3rd place): won by pin in 1:59, won 6-4 decision, lost 9-5 decision, won 3-1 decision in sudden victory
184 - Brent Greenfield (2nd place): won 6-5 decision, won by injury default, pinned in 1:21, won by injury default
197 - Isaiah Laguna (5th place): won 3-1 decision in sudden victory, lost 8-3 decision, lost 3-1 decision in sudden victory, won 4-1 decision
285 - Tegan Carson (5th place): lost 10-2 major decision, bye, pinned in 2:48, won by pinn in 6:36