Ridgewater College Warriors

NWCA Announces the 2023 NJCAA Men’s Scholar All-America Awards

Manheim, PA – The NWCA has announced the 2022-23 Scholar All-America Team and Individual Honorees for the NJCAA Men’s Division, with 48 individuals from 17 institutions receiving awards.

“It is an absolute honor to recognize these outstanding student-athletes for their incredible accomplishments,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “These wrestlers have demonstrated an unwavering dedication to both their academic and athletic pursuits, and we are proud to celebrate their achievements.”

Itasca Community College secured the top spot in the team race with a 3.75 GPA, followed by Pratt with a 3.585 and Iowa Western with a 3.35.

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Two Warriors earn All-American honors at Nationals

WILLMAR and HUTCHINSON, MN – Ridgewater Wrestling Warriors Cole Holien and Wil Yasseri earned All-American honors last weekend when they each placed seventh at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national championships in Iowa.

Yaseri, a sophomore from Rogers competing at 165 pounds, finished the tournament 5-2 with opponents from Iowa, Illinois, Idaho, and New York. Holien, a freshman from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, competed in the 141-pound weight class and tallied a 4-2 record event record. His competitors came from Kansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wyoming, and Michigan. Freshman Austin Schlangen, a 285-pounder from Eden Valley-Watkins, competed on both days of the tourney, putting up a 3-2 win-loss performance.

With fellow Warriors Brady Holien, Taedon Nichols, and Rick Jones, Ridgewater finished 17th place with 39.5 points among a field of 51 teams scoring points there.

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Six Ridgewater Warriors Qualify for NJCAA Wrestling Nationals

WILLMAR and HUTCHINSON, MN — Six Ridgewater Warrior wrestlers are headed to nationals this week for the March 3-4 wrestling championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They qualified at the February 19 Division III Region 13 Tournament at Northland College, Thief River Falls.

Freshman Cole Holien, from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City High School, became the 141-pound regional champion and the Warrior qualifier with the best individual record this season at 26-7, including 15 pins and eight straight wins. One of his regional pins came at just 2:14 into the first period.

Five teammates who took second at regions will join Holien at nationals, including his twin brother Brady Holien (at 149 pounds), freshman Taedon Nichols (157) from Siren, WI (Siren High School), sophomore Wil Yasseri (165) of Otsego (Rogers High School), sophomore Rick Jones (197) of DeGraff (Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg High School), and freshman Austin Schlangen (285) of Watkins (Eden Valley-Watkins High School).

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NJCAA North Plains District Qualifiers

Rochester qualified all ten wrestlers to the NJCAA National Championships. The Yellowjackets were followed by Itasca and Ridgewater – both with six qualifiers, and Northland with two. Minnesota West did not get anyone through to the national tournament.

The NJCAA National Championships are set to take place on March 3rd and 4th in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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