Men's wrestling: Four All-Americans lead IHCC to ninth-place national finish

Mar. 6—COUNCIL BLUFFS — Riley Bettich could not hold back the tears.

Even with one more day left in his season, Bettich could not hold back his emotions after rallying to earn a 5-2 win in his fifth match on Friday, avenging a regional tournament loss to Iowa Central's Lane Cowell in the 'blood round' of the NJCAA National Wrestling Tournament. Bettich's fourth win on Friday clinched All-American honors for the Indian Hills freshman, the first of four Warrior wrestlers to earn a national medal this season.

For Bettich, who ultimately placed seventh at 125 pounds, the road to the podium has been one that has been much longer than the four wins in five matches earned in one day at the Mid-America Center.

"Two years ago, I wasn't even wrestling. I was off the mat," Bettich said. "I just started getting back into wrestling last year. I'm so grateful for the program at Indian Hills. Without Coach (Cole) Spree, Coach (Adam) Fahs, Coach (Darren) Wynn and all my teammates, I wouldn't be where I'm at. They gave me the chance to be a part of something special and I'm so grateful."

Bettich is the latest wrestlers to take advantage of a second chance to get back into wrestling through the opportunity provided by the IHCC wrestling program. Kawaun Deboe, who like Bettich was able to get back into the sport by joining the Warriors' third-year program, earned All-American honors for the second straight year becoming the second member of the Indian Hills men's wrestling team to compete for a national title advancing to the heavyweight championship match scoring three consecutive falls on Friday before edging second-seeded Camden County sophomore Shane Whitney, 4-2, in Saturday's semifinal round.

"It left a bad taste in my mouth last year because I felt I could have done better," said Deboe after placing seventh last year at the national tournament. "I was just happy to be here last year. I took what I got. This year, I set out to get what's mine."

That goal of winning a national championship, however, ended with three seconds left in the first period on Saturday in the national championship match. Northeast Oklahoma A&M sophomore Kale Schrader scored the fall in the heavyweight final, preventing Deboe from becoming IHCC's first-ever national championship-winning wrestler.

"I felt like I belonged here after last year. I didn't know how it was going to go having just got back into the sport," Deboe said. "I came into this season with different goals and different expectations."

Matthew Lewis earned All-American honors for Indian Hills, shaking off a tough 4-2 loss to North Idaho's Brant Porter in the quarterfinals on Friday night to win his final four matches of the season placing third at 141 pounds. Centerville's former four-time state champion earned a 9-1 major decision over Itasca's Charlie Black, scored a pair of first-period falls over Jager Kwiatkowski and Boburjon Birdiyorov before finishing his season winning 4-1 over Western Wyoming's Joseph Mecham in the third-place match helping IHCC recover from early struggles on Friday to score a ninth-place finish as a team with 79 points.

"There were some unfortunate things that happened to us on Friday morning, some calls that went against us and some unfortunate injuries," Spree said. "For the guys to come back and finish like we did is pretty solid. For the guys that didn't place, it will hurt a little bit, but they all had great seasons."

Weston Milnes became IHCC's fourth All-American of the national tournament, avenging a regional tournament loss of his own by pinning sixth-seeded Ellsworth sophomore Diego Isioridia in the match to decide a placewinner at 157 pounds. After suffering a close overtime loss in Iowa Falls two weeks earlier, Milnes employed a different approach to his 'blood round' rematch.

"I knew how he was going to wrestle. I knew he was not going to take a shot. He was going to back off and defend the whole time," Milnes said. "I told my coach if I wrestled him again, I was going to go down to a knee. I'm explosive enough that I can shoot off a knee. I can get there fast enough to score a takedown. I used that to my advantage."

Milnes finished off his season with a dominant 13-5 major decision over fifth-seeded Connor Svantner of Triton in the 157-pound seventh-place match. Bettich, meanwhile, earned a thrilling 10-5 win over eighth-seeded Luqman Masud of Joliet scoring a nearfall in the first of two 30-second tiebreaker periods after rallying from a 5-1 deficit in the third period to force overtime.

"Coach Spree stressed to me to finish the season finishing with a win. It's a step up on the podium and sure feels a lot better than finishing with a loss," Bettich said. "I just had to push the pace. That's something that worked to my advantage. I knew, once we got into overtime, my cardio is good and I was in a good spot."

Bettich admits that he is in a much better spot overall on and off the mat from where he was almost two years ago coming out of high school as a former Michigan state champion. The opportunity to get back on to the mat and continue his education at Indian Hills helped Bettich get his life back on track.

"I wasn't making good lifestyle choices and I was in a very dark place," Bettich said. "One day, I just decided to go on a journey. I decided if I was going to do this, I was going to go all in. So far, that decision is paying off."

Spree shared an emotional hug with Bettich after his win over Cowell on Friday night. The head coach that has opened the door to second chances and new opportunities for so many wrestlers as IHCC head coach can relate to the journey that his 125-pound freshman has been on.

"I was that kid that needed a second opportunity. I ended going to a junior college, became an All-American and it changed my life forever," Spree said. "Maybe that's why I like to get those kids that might have had a hiccup academically or socially and needed someone to believe in them that they could get it right. We've got a lot of kids like that. They needed someone to give them that opportunity and believe in them. They're all going to go on to do amazing things with those opportunities."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.