COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A Glenwood teenager is the heavyweight, junior college wrestling champ.Council Bluffs hosted the tournament at the Mid-America Center this weekend, so C.J. Carter won the title on his home turf with his family in attendance.
- Carter was raised in Glenwood where he played multiple sports. Twice, he was the state runner-up as a wrestler. He says that meant he had something to prove in college.
- Carter: “I just had faith that I could become the best that I could be here. I think it’s working out pretty good.”
- Video shows...Iowa Western's video of CJ Carter competing in the National Junior College Wrestling Tournament
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Iowa Western wrestling program is only about 13 years old but it produces champions.
I’m your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
A young man from my hometown, Glenwood, won his weight class this weekend at the national junior college wrestling tournament and he did it in front of a hometown crowd.
What’s next for this wrestler?
Eighteen-year-old CJ Carter said he started Iowa Western with a big goal: a national championship. The heavyweight got there his first year on the mat for Iowa Western at the MId-America Center.
Carter: “My main goal was to be coachable ... and I didn’t take anything for granted. I just was easy to coach.”
Wrestling program director Josh Watts agreed: “High quality, high character, very coachable.”
A multi-sport athlete in Glenwood, he started wrestling at about three years old. Carter was a two-time runner-up in the state high school wrestling tournament. Narrowly missing a championship title gave him something to prove in college.
Carter: “I just had faith that I could become the best that I could be here. I think it’s working out pretty good.”
Watts: “...It’s very emotional from a coaching standpoint just watching them grow throughout the year and to get to that moment is very satisfying.”
Marketing major, Carter, also has a side hustle; he owns a food truck. A work ethic, perhaps, learned as a wrestler.
Carter: “Wrestling’s probably the hardest sport you can do, to be honest. If you can get through wrestling, it makes life so much easier.”
CJ has another year here at Iowa Western and then he’ll be looking to move on to a four-year program. I’m your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
