Miami, OK – No. 5 Indian Hills Wrestling is set to take on its biggest regular season challenge in program history this weekend as the Warriors travel to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Coaches Association Duals. Hosted by Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, the two-day event features 24 teams.

DETAILS: Friday, Jan. 14 – Saturday, Jan. 15 | Miami, OK | NEO Multi-Purpose Building

Video: NEO Athletics ($)

Live Results: Trackwrestling

MATCH NOTES

The Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the latest NJCAA rankings, enter the weekend event as the No. 5 seed and earned a bye in the opening round of the Team Advancement Tournament. Indian Hills will square off with the winner of Neosho Community College (KS) and Triton College (IL) in the second round.

Wester Wyoming Community College, the top-ranked program in the nation, received the No. 1 overall seed followed by Clackamas Community College (OR), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and North Idaho College. Iowa Central Community College, Iowa Western Community College and Cloud County Community College (KS) rounded out the top-8 seeds.

WARRIORS JOIN ELITE COMPANY

The premiere regular season event for junior college wrestling, the Warriors are set to compete at the duals for the first time in program history. This year's event features the top eight teams in the NJCAA national rankings and 16 of the top 20 programs.

2022 marks the third year of the event, with the 2021 competition cancelled. The 2019 and 2020 duals featured the eventual back-to-back NJCAA National Champion in Clackamas Community College (OR). The top three teams to finish at the NJCAA National Championships in both 2019 and 2020 were also participants at the national duals.

WRESTLERS TO WATCH

The Warriors enter the national duals with a loaded lineup that features five returning All-Americans and two district champions. Indian Hills currently claims six nationally ranked individuals, including the top-ranked 133lb weight individual in Caleb Meekins (Livonia, MI/John Glenn) and the No. 1 ranked 184lb individual in Deron Pulliam (Columbus, OH/Dublin Scioto).

Additional ranked Warriors competing this weekend include Chris Busutil (Homestead, FL/South Ridge), ranked No. 5 in the 125lb weight class, Victor Guzman (Rock Island, IL/Rock Island), ranked No. 7 in the 141lb weight class, Cameron Nesbitt (Champaign, IL/Centennial), ranked No. 7 in the 165lb weight class, and Khris Walton (Merrillville, IN/Merrillville), ranked No. 6 in the 197lb weight class.

SPREE'S NOTES

Head coach Cole Spree has the Warriors at the top of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) in just the second-year of existence for the program. An NJCAA North Central District Championship in its first year, along with an eighth-place finish at the 2021 national championship has quickly put the Warrior program in the national limelight and will be on center stage this weekend in Oklahoma.  

"This is a great opportunity to see the top junior college programs in the country. Competing at the national duals should allow us to see where we currently are as a program and what we need to do to get to where we want to be in March."

WARRIORS' LINEUP