NIACC's Minto moves to finals

COUNCIL BLUFFS - NIACC's Christian Minto is one win away from a national title.

The top-ranked 165-pounder punched his ticket to Saturday night's finals with a 12-10 victory over RCTC's seventh-ranked Seth Brossard in the semifinals.

Minto (22-0) will face Iowa Western's Isaiah Crosby in the 165-pound title match. Crosby edged Iowa Central's Ashton Eyler 5-3 in his semifinal match Saturday morning.

Minto and Crosby did not face each other in the regular season or at the district tournament.

Minto kept his perfect season in order with a takedown of Brossard in the final seconds.

Minto advanced to the semifinals with a pair of victories on Friday. He topped Barton's Andrew Dearmond 10-4 in his first match of the day and then took a 15-3 major decision from Nassau's Paul Illicete in Friday night's quarterfinals.

Minto is the Trojans' eighth national finalist in the last seven years. Austin Anderly was the Trojans' last finalist when he claimed the 2018 141-pound national title.

Also Saturday morning, NIACC's Holton Truax moved to the 197-pound consolation semifinals with a 6 minute, 12 second pin of Iowa Central's Ja'quez Bostic. It was the third time this season Truax (18-5) has topped Bostic.

Depending on the outcome of his next match, Truax will wrestle for third or fifth place Saturday afternoon.