COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – In the inaugural year of the program, the Indian Hills men's wrestling squad is the 2021 North Central District Champion.
The No. 12-ranked Warriors turned the ICCAC wrestling world on its ear Sunday at Reiver Arena as the upstart wrestlers from IHCC did what may have been nearly unthinkable a few months ago in winning the district title as Coach Cole Spree's squad outdistanced a field that included all five teams carrying a national ranking of 13 or higher.
Indian Hills set itself up for the incredible finish by placing eight wrestlers into the ten final round bouts and then drove home the win by crowning three individual champions, five runners-up and a one third-place winner.
"I've told the guys a ton of times, if we take care of business, you'll like the results," Spree beamed after seeing his troops take the title that had went to Iowa Central nine of the last ten years. "Our kids have bought in and they believe in the process, and I've got great people around me that have helped build this."
A year ago the student-athletes that Spree was trying to convince to come be pioneers in Centerville without so much as a locker room to call their own, found something to hang their hat on with Spree and his vision for the program, and the dividends are paying off quicker than anyone could have imagined.
"I remember talking to (IHCC Athletic Director) Brett Monaghan the first time he contacted me about the job here," Spree said. "I knew right there and then that that's a guy that I had to work for. He told me that when we do it, we do it right at Indian Hills, and we're going to make sure that we win, and that's all I needed to hear."
The result, at least on Sunday, was that Spree heard Warrior wrestler after Warrior wrestler having their names announced in the finals.
The three grapplers that took home gold were 125-pounder Chris Busutil, 133-pounder Caleb Meekins and 184-pounder Deron Pulliam.
The trio came in as three of five IHCC wrestlers with top-seeds in the tournament, and all three took advantage of their opportunity.
No. 6-ranked Busutil steamrolled his way to a 17-1 technical fall over Iowa Western's Connor Attkisson in the semifinals before edging NIACC's Clarance Lee-Green in the finals, 5-2. Busutil, a transfer who followed his coach's migration south as Spree moved to IHCC from Ellsworth, continues to grow by leaps and bounds from where he was when he wore a Panthers' uniform.
"Chris was maybe no better than third or fourth string, depending on the week at Ellsworth," Spree explained. "He never even cracked into the starting lineup. Now he's undefeated. He's district champion, and he just knocked off the No.3 and No.4 kids in the country, and he'll probably be near the top of the rankings himself. He's doing a great job, and you know he believes in the process. And he shows up every day with a great attitude always wanting to do extra and get better and it pays off. If do those things, do the right things, you know good things will happen to you."
Meekins came in at No. 5 in the latest NJCAA rankings at 133 pounds, and the Michigan native pinned Iowa Lakes' Jeremiah Boykins before handling Iowa Central's Aidan Harris, 8-1 in the finals.
"Caleb wrestled Harris in the dual meet a week or so ago, and we were up, and then the next thing I know we only won like 13-11," Spree recalled. "This time he came out and wrestled a more complete match and just dominated from beginning to finish. We've been preaching to him to just wrestle a complete seven minutes and he's got the ability to put big points up there. Harris is ranked nationally, and Caleb was just one point away from getting a major decision."
Pulliam, who somehow has been snubbed by the powers that decide national rankings thus far, stated his case again emphatically, by topping the field at 184 pounds. Pulliam took a 5-2 decision over Iowa Western's Michael Aguirre before securing the top spot on the podium with a 3-2 decision over NIACC's Chase McCleish in the championship round.
"I say it after every match with Deron, if I get him to pull the trigger, he will win a National Title," Spree forecasted. "But we have to get him to do it. That defensive stuff that he does right now is great, and it's going to beat a lot of kids, but it's not going to beat the best kids. We see it every day in practice. He dominates. We just have to get it to translate out here and it'll come. It's just a matter of maturity."
The Warriors had five competitors take silver in the finals including Victor Guzman at 141 pounds, No. 8-rated Destin Jones at 149, Eli Loyd at 157, Neal Larsen at 165 and No. 6-ranked Khris Walton at 197. Walton's loss in the championships came by just a single point to No. 3-rated Jose Valdez of NIACC.
"You know Khris' wrestling knowledge isn't as huge as some others," Spree added. "He hasn't wrestled since he was a little little kid like some of these guys. He's going to get better every time out, I can guarantee you. Khris will be studying that match and he will make adjustments in two weeks when we wrestle Valdez again in the dual."
No. 8-ranked Justin Grant was the lone third-place finisher for the Warriors. After suffering a defeat in the semis, Grant battled back to win the third-place match, giving the Warriors a crucial 11.5 team points.
"Grant got upset in the semis, and he came back after battling some things," Spree said. "Winning those next two matches, that's a huge difference right there. Little things like that ended up being big for us today."
The Warriors won't have much time to savor this accomplishment as IHCC will be back in Council Bluffs again on Thursday as they face. No. 5-rated Iowa Western head-to-head in a dual for first place in the ICCAC regular season standings. The two schools are the only unbeaten squads remaining in the conference, both at 3-0.
First match begins at 7 p.m. Thursday from Reiver Arena.
NORTH CENTRAL DISTRICT
TEAM STANDINGS.
- Indian Hills 127
- Iowa Central 117.5
- Iowa Western 111.5
- NIACC 108.5
- Iowa Lakes 88
WARRIOR RESULTS BY WEIGHT
125 lbs.
Christopher Busutil (2-0) placed 1st and scored 15.5 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Christopher Busutil (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Christopher Busutil (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by tech fall over Connor Attkisson (Iowa Western Community College) 1-2 (TF-1.5 3:07 (17-1))
- 1st Place Match - Christopher Busutil (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by decision over Clarance Lee-Green (North Iowa Area Community College) 1-1 (Dec 5-2)
133 lbs.
Caleb Meekins (2-0) placed 1st and scored 16.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Caleb Meekins (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Caleb Meekins (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by fall over Jeremiah Boykins (Iowa Lakes Community College) 1-2 (Fall 3:28)
- 1st Place Match - Caleb Meekins (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by decision over Aidan Harris (Iowa Central Community College) 1-1 (Dec 8-1)
141 lbs.
Victor Guzman (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 13.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Victor Guzman (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Victor Guzman (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 won by major decision over Dillon Stewart (Iowa Western Community College) 1-2 (MD 19-9)
- 1st Place Match - Quentrevion Campbell (North Iowa Area Community College) 2-0 won by decision over Victor Guzman (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 (Dec 6-3)
149 lbs.
Destin Jones (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 13.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Destin Jones (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Destin Jones (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 won by major decision over Brody Hawtrey (North Iowa Area Community College) 1-2 (MD 18-7)
- 1st Place Match - Phil Smith Jr. (Iowa Central Community College) 2-0 won by major decision over Destin Jones (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 (MD 13-0)
157 lbs.
Eli Loyd (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 14.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Eli Loyd (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Eli Loyd (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 won by fall over Josh Barretta (North Iowa Area Community College) 0-2 (Fall 2:59)
- 1st Place Match - Andrew Gamble (Iowa Central Community College) 2-0 won by major decision over Eli Loyd (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 (MD 20-6)
165 lbs.
Neal Larsen (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 12.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Neal Larsen (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Neal Larsen (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 won by decision over Nolan Miller-Johnston (Iowa Central Community College) 1-2 (Dec 3-2)
- 1st Place Match - Christian Minto (North Iowa Area Community College) 2-0 won by tech fall over Neal Larsen (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 (TF-1.5 4:11 (21-2))
174 lbs.
Justin Grant (2-1) placed 3rd and scored 11.5 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Justin Grant (Indian Hills CC) 2-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Massoma Endene (Iowa Lakes Community College) 1-1 won by decision over Justin Grant (Indian Hills CC) 2-1 (Dec 7-2)
- Cons. Semi - Justin Grant (Indian Hills CC) 2-1 won by fall over Randry Mugisha (North Iowa Area Community College) 0-2 (Fall 2:41)
- 3rd Place Match - Justin Grant (Indian Hills CC) 2-1 won by decision over Michael Waggoner (Iowa Western Community College) 1-2 (Dec 4-2)
184 lbs.
Deron Pulliam (2-0) placed 1st and scored 14.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Deron Pulliam (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Deron Pulliam (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by decision over Michael Aguirre (Iowa Western Community College) 2-1 (Dec 5-2)
- 1st Place Match - Deron Pulliam (Indian Hills CC) 2-0 won by decision over Chase McCleish (North Iowa Area Community College) 1-1 (Dec 3-2)
197 lbs.
Khris Walton (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 12.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Khris Walton (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye)
- Semifinal - Khris Walton (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 won by decision over Hugo Harp (Iowa Central Community College) 1-2 (Dec 9-3)
- 1st Place Match - Jose Valdez (North Iowa Area Community College) 2-0 won by decision over Khris Walton (Indian Hills CC) 1-1 (Dec 3-2)
285 lbs.
Caleb Collins (0-2) placed 5th and scored 6.0 team points.
- Quarterfinal - Troy Monahan (North Iowa Area Community College) 1-2 won by decision over Caleb Collins (Indian Hills CC) 0-2 (Dec 3-1)
- Cons. Round 1 - Caleb Collins (Indian Hills CC) 0-2 received a bye () (Bye)
- Cons. Semi - Dillyn Miller (Iowa Western Community College) 2-1 won by decision over Caleb Collins (Indian Hills CC) 0-2 (Dec 5-0)
- 5th Place Match - Caleb Collins (Indian Hills CC) 0-2 received a bye () (Bye)