NIACC's Aguilar, Carlos place 3rd at nationals
COUNCIL BLUFFS - Add two more all-Americans to the NIACC men's wrestling all-American list.
Cruz Aguilar (125) and Ein Carlos (184) became NIACC's 82nd and 83rd all-Americans with their third-place finishes Saturday at the NJCAA national wrestling tournament at the Mid-America Center.
Aguilar and Carlos are NIACC's first wrestlers to earn third-place finishes since Paul Mascarenas placed third at 125 pounds in 2016.
Carlos became NIACC's 16th two-time all-American. Carlos placed fifth at 174 pounds in 2022.
NIACC placed 19th in the final team standings with 38.5 points.
Both Aguilar and Carlos beat foes in their third-place matches that they had knocked off earlier in the tournament.
Aguilar (19-6) stopped Western Wyoming's Bridger Ricks 13-10 in his third-place match. Aguilar, who finished with a career record of 26-12, topped Ricks 7-4 in his first round match on Friday.
Aguilar outscored Nassau's Kevin Lopez 15-10 in his consolation semifinal match. Aguilar was pinned by Northwest Kansas Tech's Jett Strickenberger in 5:22 in the 125-pound semifinal contest.
Carlos (11-4) downed RCTC's Anthony Tuttle 6-2 in the 184-pound third-place match. Carlos blanked Tuttle 6-0 in the quarterfinal round on Friday night.
Carlos, who had a career mark of 19-9, took a 11-3 major decision from Northeast Oklahoma's Jackson White in the consolation semifinals.
Western Wyoming's Darion Johnson edged Carlos 8-6 in the 184-pound semifinals.
