COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA- Several former Utah high school wrestling standouts have achieved All-American status at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) 2021 National Championships which were held this week at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) who is coached by Head Coach Art Castillo boasts a Utah-heavy lineup headlined by former Bingham High standout Mason Christiansen at 174 pounds who nabbed a 2nd place national finish at the tournament. Christiansen was seeded third and advanced to the finals after beating Northwest Kansas Tech’s Jacobi Deal in the semifinals by an 8-7 decision before running into Iowa’s Central’s #1 seeded Jose Rodriquez in the weight’s title bout where Rodriquez won by major decision.

Other Utahns competing for WWCC who achieved All-American status include Garrett Ricks (Box Elder H.S.) who finished 3rd place at 125 pounds, Anthony Herrera (Stansbury H.S.) 3rd place at 157 pounds, Collin Smith (Viewmont H.S.) 6th place at 165 pounds, and Tyler Scheurn (North Summit H.S.) 4th place at 197 pounds. As a team, WWCC finished 2nd in the team standings getting edged out by Oregon’s Clackamas 152.5 points to WWCC’s 147 points. Western Wyoming did make history along the way, however, by setting an all-time NJCAA Nationals tournament record of 10 All-Americans out of 10 weight classes. This is the first time since the inception of the NJCAA National Tournament in 1964 that this has ever been done by any NJCAA team.

Also claiming All-American status was Aiden Harris (Layton H.S.) who finished 4th at 125 pounds who wrestles for Iowa Central. 165-pounder Jake Richardson (Pleasant Grove H.S.) of Clackamas made it out to the quarterfinals before dropping two losses which gave him a 2-2 record at the tournament.

Complete results and replays can be viewed on flowrestling.org.