WSU club wrestlers qualified Sunday for a national wrestling tournament and their coach won Coach of the Year.

On Sunday, 18 WSU wrestlers traveled to Aberdeen, Washington, to compete in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Northwest Conference Championship. All wrestlers placed in the top six and 12 qualified for the national tournament.

Two wrestlers took first place: freshman James Cox in the 149-pound weight class and junior Cameron Dubos in the 157-pound weight class.

The wrestling team finished with 177.5 points, taking second place at the tournament. The team finished 11 points short of first place out of 10 teams, with Grays Harbor College taking first with 188.5 points.

“We’re super proud of what we did,” head coach Phil Burnett said.

Burnett was voted the Northwest Conference Men’s Coach of the Year by conference coaches at the tournament. The Northwest Conference is made up of 15 wrestling clubs from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.

“It’s a testimony of what the guys have done here. This is about them,” Burnett said.

The 12 qualifiers will be competing in the 2020 NCWA National Championships March 11-14 in Allen, Texas at the Allen Event Center. Brackets will consist of 64 people in each weight class.

The 12 wrestlers will include Cox, Dubos, sophomore Cade Stevenson, senior Cameron Bennett, junior Dalton Varney, junior David Woo, senior Demetrious Koures, junior Joseph Lewis, freshman Koa Ostos, junior Nic Carbone, sophomore Ryan Harris and senior Tucker Hanson.

“This is the best team we’ve taken to nationals since my involvement here,” Burnett said.

Big Bend Community College took third place with 132 points. Treasure Valley Community College took fourth with 67.5 points. Western Washington University took fifth with 49 points. Pacific Luther University sixth place with 30 points.

Central Washington University took seventh place with 27.5 points. Eastern Washington University took eighth place with 10.5 points. University of Oregon took ninth place with four points. University of Washington finished in 10th place.

The Cougars competing in the following weight classes:

125 – Woo

133 – Koures

141 – Lewis

141 – Harris

149 – Bennett and Cox

157 – Dubos

174 – Stevenson

184 – Hanson

197 – Varney

235 – Ostos

285 – Carbone