Sophomore Mitchell Zachman and freshmen Nathanael Holecek and Desmond Bradford each earned top-six finishes for the Northland Community and Technical College wrestlers during the Dragon Open Sunday at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Zachman, currently ranked sixth in the nation, led the way with a runner-up finish at 174. He fell 5-4 in the championship match to Teddy Erickson of St. John's.
“Mitch needed a tournament like this,” said Northland coach Scott DCamp. “He battled some injuries early in the year and up until this weekend he didn’t have an opportunity to string matches together. He wrestled better as the tournament went on, which is a good sign going forward.”
Holecek added a third place finish at 165 pounds and Bradford finished sixth at heavyweight after upsetting No. 2-ranked Chase Nottestad of Rochester.
“Nathanael had another strong showing for us,” noted DCamp. “He made one mistake early in the semifinal match against Noah  Landrus (Itasca) that gave Landrus a 7-2 lead. Holecek controlled the remainder of the match but fell short 11-9.”
DCamp also lauded Bradford’s efforts by saying, “Desmond had a breakout performance of sorts with the upset over Chase Nottestad (Rochester). He wrestled a smart match and took advantage of Nottestad’s aggression late in the match.”
Another solid showing, according to DCamp, came from Rashidi Kikopa. “Rashidi showed a lot of improvement since the Bison Open,” offered DCamp. “He was very aggressive and looked for scoring opportunities, and showed glimpses of the type of wrestler he will be once he puts it all together.” 
 
NCTC Results
n 141 – Rashidi Kikopa won by fall over Graham Evavold (St. John’s), 4:27; lost to David Flynn (NDSU) by fall, 2:10; lost to Keinnan Thacker (Ridgewater) by fall, 4:22.
n 165 – Nathanael Holecek dec. Jonathan Hoffner (MSUM), 7-3; lost to Noah Landrus (Itasca), 11-9; dec. Jack Barsody (St. John’s), 11-4; dec. Brayden Kuntz (MSUM), 10-4.
n 174 – Mitchell Zachman dec. Jacob Paul (Jamestown), 1-0; dec. Ryan Kottschade (Rochester), 13-7; won by fall over Dylan Huttunen (MSUM), 1:26; lost to Teddy Erickson (St. John’s), 5-4.
n 174 – Mike Lambert lost to Dylan Huttunen (MSUM), 12-9; lost to Ryan Kottschade (Rochester) by fall, 4:33.
n 184 – Ethan Bryan lost to Vincent Feola (NDSU) by major decision, 12-0; lost to Ryan Sanchez (Jamestown) by fall, 2:35.
n 197 – Anthony Wheeler lost to Ryan Jones (Rochester), 11-5; lost to Justin Cumberbatch (Ridgewater), 11-9.
n 285 – Tyshaun Brown lost to Luis Pinto (Rochester) by fall, 4:16; lost to Wyatt Fitterer (Itasca) by fall, 1:55.
n 285 – Desmond Bradford won by fall over Chase Nottestad (Rochester), 5:25;  lost to Nader Abdullatif (MSUM) by fall, 5:36; lost to Wyatt Fitterer (Itasca) by fall, 2:37; lost to Luis Pinto (Rochester) by fall, 3:18.
285 – Geovany Casco lost to Nader Abdullatif (MSUM) by fall,  0:46; lost to Wyatt Fitterer (Itasca) by fall, 1:49.