Yellowjackets Place 2nd at NJCAA National Tournament
March 2, 2009
While high school section tournaments were being wrestled across the state, Rochester Community and Technical College
hosted the NJCAA National Wrestling Tournament. This was the eleventh
year for RCTC to host the National Tournament and is the last year
before the tournament will be moved to Des Moines, IA.
The Yellowjackets took full advantage of wrestling at home and were the
National Runner-Ups among Division-III (non-scholarship) schools. “It’s
a difficult situation for D-III schools. There are only eight
All-American spots in each weight and we are wrestling against NJCAA
D-I wrestlers. These are guys that are being paid to wrestle. Our kids
for the most part are local and wrestling for the love the sport,” said
Head Coach Randy Rager.
RCTC had two wrestlers earn All-American honors. Devin Clark (Sioux
Falls, SD) was a National Champion at 184 pounds, while Parker Brand
(Rushford, MN) placed 2nd at 197 pounds. Ethan Hackbarth (Utica, MN)
narrowly missed the All-American round, and lost a match that he was
winning on an illegal hold call. “In all my years of being involved
with wrestling, I have never seen such a controversial call,” noted
Rager.
Devin Clark came into the tournament ranked 8th according to the most
recent NJCAA poll. Clark put together four solid wins before reaching
the finals of the tournament. In the finals Clark faced undefeated
George Hargrove of Springfield Tech. The match was a battle of defense
with the exchange of escapes being the only points scored until the
final seconds of the third period. In the closing seconds of the match,
Clark went to shoot Hargrove off the mat on the edge. He found himself
in a position to score and was able to peek out and get around Hargrove
for two and win the NJCAA National Championship. Clark was the only
National Champion who had all of his opponents throughout the
tournament reach All-American status.
