After successful high school careers, three former Martin County Red Bull wrestlers are doing well on the collegiate level.
A pair of Martin County West graduates, Jaxson Rohman and Miles Fitzgerald, wrestling at Augustana University, earned spots in the NCAA Division II tournament on Saturday.
Before that, Fairmont grad Jacob Rahn of Iowa Lakes Community College, advanced to the NJCAA tournament.
Augustana
Fitzgerald, a redshirt freshman, placed second at 165 pounds at Saturday’s Super Region V tournament in Moorhead.
After a bye, he won two major decisions as he defeated Braydon Ortloff (MSU Moorhead) 14-5 and Jared Head (St. Cloud State) 15-7.
In the finals, Fitzgerald lost 10-2 to Shane Gantz (UW-Parkside). Fitzgerald will take a 20-5 record to the national tournament March 11-12 at Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University in St. Louis.
Rohman, who is a freshman 125-pounder, won his first two matches before losing in the semifinals. He would post two more wins to earn a berth in the national tourney.
Rohman won 10-3 over Trenton McManus (Minnesota State) and 5-3 over Oscar Nellis (Minot State) before dropping a 6-0 decision to eventual champion Paxton Creese (St. Cloud State.) in the semifinals.
In the consolation bracket, Rohman was a 6-3 winner over Landen Fischer (Northern State) and 6-4 over Jackson Stauffacher (Southwest Minnesota State) in the third-place match.
Here’s the end of his third-place match, thanks to University of Mary Videographer Mitch Keeran:
Rohman heads to St. Louis with a 16-5 record.
Jackson County Central graduate Cooper Moore is a graduate assistant coach at Augustana.
ILCC
Rahn, a freshman heavyweight, placed fourth at the North Central District tournament recently in Centerville, Iowa.
Following a bye, he lost 8-0 to Kawaun Deboe (Indian Hills) in the semifinals. Rahn would win a consolation match 2-0 over Jaylin Smith (NIACC) and then lost 9-0 to Trent Strong (Iowa Western) in the third-place match.
Rahn will compete in the NJCAA Wrestling Championships at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs Friday and Saturday. His opponent in the first round will be Randy Wildrik (Thaddeus Stevens).