ROCK SPRINGS—The Western Wyoming Community College wrestling team finished a historic season on February 24, taking fourth at the 2017-18 NJCAA Wrestling Championship in Iowa, with two Mustangs bringing home national titles.

Sophomore Kenny Astle won the 149-weight class and was also named the Ernest B. Gould Award winner for Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Sophomore Mustang wrestler Wade French won the national title in the 197-weight class.

Eight Mustangs qualified for the National Tournament, which is tied for the most wrestlers ever sent to nationals in WWCC history. Five of the wrestlers were named All-Americans, which is the most in WWCC history.

“It was a great season from beginning to end,” WWCC head wrestling coach Art Castillo said. “The best thing about the season was working with young men who are great people first. They are such an honor to coach and a pleasure to be around.”

Kenny Astle

Kenny Astle became Coach Castillo’s first National Champion as head coach when he won the first-place match in the 149-weight class over Iowa Western’s Michael Zachary by fall in 3:55.

“It felt amazing to become a national champion. It was a mixture of emotions of accomplishment, excitement, and relief,” Astle said.

“I never once doubted that I was going to become a national champion, but it took all year, including a lot of ups and downs, to get me to where I needed to be to become a national champion.”

Coach Castillo said Astle has tremendous power, and as he has proven, can pin anyone in nation. Astle won by fall in five of his six bouts at nationals.

“Kenny is a young man who is all business,” Coach Castillo said. “He takes things very seriously and is very diligent and deliberate in life.”

Castillo said it is very special to him to have Astle be his first national champion as a head coach, and Astle shares this feeling.

“He and our amazing coaching staff dedicates so much of their time and efforts to make this program so great, and it was amazing to finally cash in and have a chance to celebrate all of that hard work,” Astle said.

Now that his time at WWCC is up, Astle plans to move on from Western Wyoming to a four-year school to continue his degree, and possibly continue his wrestling career.

Wade French

Wade French won the national title for the 197-weight class over Iowa Central’s Tyree Sutton by a sudden victory, 10-8, becoming Coach Castillo’s second national champion as a head coach.

“It was such an awesome match to be a part of,” Castillo said. “Wade just did what Wade does- grind.”

French went into the national championship as the No. 7 ranked 197-pound wrestler. He won his first national bout with a 16-1 technical fall. He then won his next match with a 5-4 decision, took the quarterfinals with a 8-2 technical fall, and won the semi-finals by a 11-8 decision.

“The guy just flat out never quits, and he believes he is going to win every match,” Castillo said.

“That is how he prepared his entire career. His plan was to work harder than anyone else every day and focus on getting better, which allowed him to have great confidence in his ability to bring home the gold.”

Jaxon Cole

Jaxon Cole took a third-place finish in the 125-weight class at the national tournament, earning an All-American honor.

“I feel really good with how I placed,” Cole said. “I’m really proud of myself because I came into the season unranked and ended up third in the nation.”

Cole won four out of five matches and had a first-round bye. He earned his third-place finish with a 3-0 decision over Northeast Oklahoma’s Boo Dayden.

Castillo explained that Cole is not a stranger to winning, as he is a four-time Utah state high school champion.

“Jaxon reminds me of a honey badger,” Castillo said. “He is the smallest guy on our team, but he is a tough kid and a fierce competitor.”

Cole is already looking forward to next season, setting clear goals to work towards.

“I hope to become a national champ next year and be on the dean’s list all year long,” Cole said.

Jake Thompson

Jake Thompson finished the national tournament in seventh-place in the 141-weight class, earning himself All-American status.

“Watching him perform at nationals was such an awesome thing,” Castillo said. “Jake is the epitome of Mustang wrestling. He is a smart, tough kid who has fully bought in and trusted the process. Now he is an All-American.”

Thompson felt very privileged to be a part of the Mustang wrestling team and to have the opportunity to go to nationals.

“I was so happy to become an All-American and place seventh. I wasn’t expected to do well or even place, but the hard work paid off, and things came together at the right time,” Thompson said.

Thompson won five of seven bouts at the national tournament. Next season, Thompson plans to work hard toward the goals he has set for himself.

“We train to be the best and beat the best. My goal is to be a national champion when it’s all said and done,” Thompson said.

Matt Hebel

Matt Hebel finished his career at WWCC with an eighth-place finish in the 174-weight class at nationals, becoming an All-American.

“He is an explosive athlete with an extremely high wrestling IQ,” Coach Castillo said.
Hebel was victorious in four out of seven matches at the national tournament. He won his first match with a 14-3 decision, his third match with a 22-7 technical fall, his fourth match with a fall in 4:02, and his fifth match with a 7-4 decision.

“He is a true student of wrestling and enjoys learning and teachning technique,” Castillo said.

Hebel will take his knowledge of wrestling to Chadron State next season, where he has signed on to wrestle.

Tucker Tomlinson

Freshman Tomlinson qualified for the national tournament in the 165-weight class. Though things didn’t pan out for Tomlinson like he had hoped, he is looking forward to next season.

“I feel like I didn’t have my best performance at the national tournament. I felt like I was prepared, but I didn’t achieve my goals and expectations, which sucks, but I’m ready to get back to the grind and start training for the 2018-19 season to be at the top of the podium and achieve my goals,” Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson dropped his first match in a 12-7 decision, had a bye for his second round, and dropped his third match in a 6-4 decision.

Tomlinson had a great freshman season, beating several All-Americans during the year. He also won a region title on his birthday, which he described as a good birthday present. However, he wasn’t satisfied, and was ready to get to nationals.

“Tucker is a tough kid who will undoubtedly find a way to reach his goals next season,” Coach Castillo said.

Tomlinson has high expectations for the 2018-19 season, as he working towards getting bigger and stronger, and is shooting for a national title.

Connor Kirkland

Connor Kirkland had a successful freshman season, qualifying for nationals in the 184-weight class. He went 3-2 at the tournament.

“He was one win away from All-American status,” Castillo said. “He had a very good season for us, leading the team in wins.”

Though Kirkland left nationals with a feeling of disappointment, he is determined to reach his goals next season.

“I honestly don’t feel good about my performance at nationals. I went in ranked third, but I didn’t show up to wrestle, so I didn’t place. Next year will be a very different story though,” Kirkland said.

Coach Castillo said Kirkland is a “tremendous worker” and is already preparing for the 2018-19 season.

“You may find him in the early hours of the morning at Anytime Fitness,” Castillo said.

Kirkland was a region champion this season and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the region tournament.

“Winning the region title felt super great,” Kirkland said. “It was tough and it was something that I had been working diligently towards.”

Kirkland is already focused on his goals for next season and is working hard to achieve them.

“Next season I will be a national champion, there’s no doubt in my mind about that. Me and Coach Castillo have already come up with a plan and we will be executing it with exactness over the next 365 days,” Kirkland said.

Ricky Navarrete

Sohomore Ricky Nnavarrete wrapped up his career at WWCC by qualifying for the national tournament and winning a region title in the 133-weight class.

“Ricky did a great job and has improved so much since he arrived here,” Coach Castillo said. “He is a region champ and has an exciting way of wrestling.”

Navarrete went 0-2 at the national tournament, just barely dropping both of his matches in 5-4 decisions.

“He wrestled extremely hard, and it just didn’t go his way in Iowa,” Castillo said.

Focus on Academia

Along with their success on the mat, WWCC has also shown great performances in the classroom, earning second place for Academic Team of the Year. The team has an overall 3.27 GPA.

“Any of my guys will tell you that I am all over them every day about their academics. I wear them out when it comes to their academics,” Castillo said. “They put the time in every day and it shows. It is a snapshot of the type of individuals they are and sheds light on how well rounded they are.”

Coach Castillo said that excelling in academics is an expectation he has for his team, and he pushes them just as hard in the classroom as he does on the mat.

The team had ten required hours of study hall each week along with their weekly academic meetings with Coach Castillo.

“The little things like dedicating ourselves to studying and working hard in class help us to be better wrestlers and better people,” Thompson said.

The Mustang wrestlers all put emphasis on their education, making it their top priority.

“Coach Art and the team take our academics very serious, and we strive to be at the top on the mat and in the classroom,” Tomlinson added.

Astle points out that having five All-American wrestlers, as well as having such success in the classroom is a rarity.

“It is almost unheard of to have a team as tough as ours to not only excel on the mats, but also in the classroom. But that is just the atmosphere that our athletic department and our coach has created here at Western Wyoming,” Astle said.

A Team of Brothers

The team’s success this season comes from a lot of hard work and dedication, but it also comes from the team pushing each other and supporting each other.

The wrestlers were grateful to be able to compete at nationals, but they were even more grateful to be able to go as a team and experience it together.

“What separates them from other groups I think is the genuine adoration they have for one another. They sincerely want their buddy to succeed and they don’t care who is in the spotlight,” Castillo said.

“They hold each other accountable and are there for each other. They truly see themselves and refer to themselves as family.”

Tomlinson said he and his teammates are “like brothers” and “would do anything for each other”.

Cole adds that his teammates are “like family” to him, and he appreciates how they push him to do his best in everything.

“It was super fun to travel with the team and to be able to experience so much success with them. We have a very strong brotherhood on the team,” Kirkland said.

Astle expressed his gratitude to his teammates for helping him train and for pushing him to be better.

“With such a tough team, I had the best practice partners who really pushed me and helped me prepare for the national tournament,” Astle said.

Thompson echoes Astle’s sentiments by saying he has been “privileged” to train with this team over the last six months.

“We are a family and I wouldn’t have wanted it with any other team,” Thompson said.