As I sit across the window of my hotel room this morning, I can’t help but reflect on the last two days of the 2021 NJCAA Wrestling Championships. The Mid-America Center, the site of this year’s championships, combined with this overcast sky has a stillness that has given me flashbacks of some incredible moments over the past 48 hours.
I witnessed the Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) wrestling team make history. History. Western is the only team to ever place 10 wrestlers at the championship since it was established in 1964. Think of how many teams over the last 57 years have come and gone. This team will go down in the history books and it was an honor to cover them here in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
But I not only witnessed history by these young men. I witnessed greatness.
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If there’s one lesson I took away this year, the Mustangs taught me that nice guys actually don’t finish last. Instead, they finish honorably.
Two memories stand out. Let me share them with you.
In the second round of the championship bracket, WWCC’s Garrett Ricks (125) fought a tough battle against North Idaho’s Izzy Tubera. Ricks, who went until the final whistle, was the recipient of Tubera’s retaliation. Tubera threw a clear and obvious punch at Ricks after the whistle, which should’ve been an automatic disqualification. The referee failed to make the call. A challenge by Head Coach Art Castillo sent the call up to the review table. After a lengthy conversation, Tubera was disqualified and Ricks moved into the quarterfinals round of the championship bracket.
Ricks could’ve easily retaliated to the Tubera strike, but he didn’t. After all, Ricks was the one who had lost the match. Out of the two, shouldn’t he have been the one to throw a punch out of frustration?
Personally I know Ricks and the type of person he is. He’s a man of honor. But his reaction to the situation was a testimony of WWCC’s wrestling program. The Mustangs are the “nice guys”. They make men who are respectable, honorable and go about their business professionally. You’ll never catch one of these wrestlers doing anything that would disgrace their character or team.
Clackamas, who won the team title on a pin in the championship round, might enjoy their third consecutive title. However, that title is tainted. I don’t know much about their wrestlers or coaches, but I do know they received a team point deduction on Thursday for unsportsmanlike conduct. That title is tainted.
The Mustangs are great because they choose to be great. It’s harder to be respectful, honorable and professional than it is to throw a cheap shot at your opponent. Being men of character means more to this program than winning a team title.
Nice guys don’t finish last.
And that’s something to celebrate on a cloudy day.
