For Triton College wrestler
Damari Reed, the NJCAA Championships held March 6 and 7 in Council Bluffs, Iowa was both a physical and mental test. Reed knew he was one of the best wrestlers among the field in the 157lbs weight class and proved it by going 6-1 overall to finish third at nationals.
Reed becomes the 94th NJCAA All-American in Triton wrestling history and the 294th overall for the college in all sports. Reed's third place showing equals the highest placing for a Trojans wrestler since the programs last individual national champion Travis Hammons in 2007. Anthony Schickel (2024) and Tyree Johnson (2017) also were third respectively. Â
"Of course, I came to the tournament wanting to win the national title," said Reed who transferred to Triton this season. "But to finish third is something for me to be proud of. At the end of the (third-place) match I had nothing left and had to soak it all in. I've never made this far in college and got this opportunity at Triton."
Reed opened the tournament by winning a pair of rematches from earlier in the season. He defeated Monty Hall of Carl Albert State by a 9-2 decision and Maguire Hoeksema of Harper in a 6-1 decision.
Reed was the No. 9 seed at his weight, which meant he would pair in the same bracket with the top seed Keith Smith of Southeast Nebraska in the quarterfinals. Smith would win by decision en route to the national title.
With Reed now in the consolation side of the bracket, he had to win multiple bouts to finish third and had to wrestle again within 30 minutes of his quarterfinal loss. Some in that scenario could easily lose right away and be eliminated altogether from the tournament. However, the talk Reed had with head coach
Chris Butz got him in the right space mentally.
"Damari and I had a really cool moment in the tunnel," Butz said. "We both knew the goal of being national champ was gone, but asked him for just one, just give me one. The next match of the tournament is all that matters and let's make it into that. I was able to get him refocused and sure enough, the next match, he pinned the kid in 12 seconds."
Reed's quick work of John DeLaRosa of Nassau kept him alive for the second day of competition where he would go a perfect on the day capping with a 9-5 decision over Jacob Goodwin of Pratt Community College to take third. Â
With the proper tutelage from his head coach Reed, made the move to win the bout.
"At the end of second period coach (Butz) pointed to his head reminding to stay me to stay focused and went back out there and saw (Goodwin) for split second lose his focus and took advantage of that win the match."
Triton had six additional wrestlers qualify at the national tournament, with each winning at least a match.
Everett McClelland at 197 had the second most wins behind Reed going 3-2.
Keygan Jennings at 133 went 2-2.
Bennett Eichert (174),
Dylan Eimer (125),
Fabian Salazar (149) and
Jase Salin (165) each finished 1-2 at nationals for the Trojans.
Butz completes his first season at the helm with plenty to build on and a new of point of view on the year after getting a late start when he was hired last summer. In addition, the team will have the majority of this season's group back next fall including Reed.
"My assistant coaches had to give me a little bit of a prospective as I have a higher-standard in my head," Butz said. "I think we had a good end to the season which is a good place to start. But it's time to build It to bigger and better things."
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