The MCC wrestling team cracked into the Top 10 with its 9th place finish at the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Championships which concluded Saturday, March 1, at the Spokane (WA) Convention Center.
Northeastern Oklahoma A&M won the overall team championship with 169 points, followed by Northwest College 149, Clackamas CC 139, Colby CC 84.5, Nesosha County CC 83, North Idaho 72, Iowa Central CC 66, Ellsworth CC 65.5, Muskegon CC 62, and North Iowa Area CC 60.
Freshman Zachary Cooper (Big Rapids, MI/Whitehall) at 133 pounds led the way for the Jayhawks. He wrestled back to finish third after suffering an upset in the quarterfinals to earn All-American honors.
“Zachary has been so impressive all year,” said MCC Coach Mark Brunger. “You see a lot of kids fold when their dreams of a championship are dashed. Zack just got more focused and challenged himself to take come back and finish third.”
Freshmen Donavan Fouchey (Oscoda, MI/Oscoda) at 197 pounds and Tyler Stenberg (Twin Lake, MI/Reeths-Puffer) at 149 pounds also garnered All-American honors, finishing 4th and 6th respectively.
“I’m very proud of this team,” said Brunger. “They are young, hard-working and tenacious. Great things are on the horizon for Muskegon Jayhawk wrestling.”
MCC also had four other wrestlers finish just one match away from becoming All-Americans: freshman Cody Stenberg (Twin Lake, MI/Reeths-Puffer) at 141 pounds; freshman Lukas Gilmore (Greensville, MI/Greenville) at 165 pounds; freshman Joe Sika (Whitehall, MI/Whitehall) at 174 pounds; and sophomore Shawn Chamberlain (Dexter, MI/Dexter) at 285 pounds.