Bonney Lake graduate Nick Bendon came in sixth place in the 157-pound weight class of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association tournament in Allen, Texas. The tournament finished Saturday.

Bendon, a junior attending Central Washington University, defeated Jamal Reynolds of Mercer University and Tyler Myers of Penn College to make it to the tournament quarterfinals.

He was defeated in the quarterfinal match by Mike Hooker of the United States Naval Academy, dropping him to the consolation bracket, where he defeated Chase Boontjer of Liberty University in a 3-2 match.

Returning Saturday, Bendon might have had the opportunity to re-match Hooker for third; however, he lost a 15-1 match to Ryan Madson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Nick is one of the best people and athletes I have coached,” wrestling coach Eric Idler said. “Our wrestling program does not give any money to the athletes, therefore Nick and our other wrestlers do so because they are driven by love of the sport and the desire to compete at a high level. Any coach would love to have a team of athletes such as Nick.”

The NWCA is an advocacy group and wrestling league for post secondary school teams and clubs, including those like Central’s that have lost NCAA scholarship funding.

Bendon qualified for the No. 5 seed in the national tournament after emerging as the 157-pound champion of the Northwest Regional Championships held at Central on March 3.