Another year, another trophy for Lights

For the second straight season, the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team is bringing hardware back Havre from the NAIA national tournament.

Saturday night in Topeka, Kans., the Lights lifted a third-place trophy for the second consecutive year, crowned four NAIA All-Americans and saw two Northern stars compete in the finals.

Overall, the Lights scored 83.5 points and finished an agonizing one point behind arch rival Great Falls for second, while juniors Ethan Hinebauch and Jared Miller also lost heartbreaking matches in the championship round. Senior Cameron Neiss wound up third for the Lights and red-shirt freshman Garrett DeMers was fifth.

The finish was an exciting one for the Lights considering they qualified just eight grapplers for the tournament, which was won for the third straight year by Grand View, and considering MSU-N has endured a year of injuries and lineup changes that continued right up through the national tournament.

“I’m proud of each one of these guys,” MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “We have faced a lot of different adversity this season, and even in this tournament. Sometimes things don’t go your way and that’s the sport of wrestling. It was tough to lose to finish behind UGF by one point, but at the same time, all eight guys came here and scored points for us. Everybody won at least one match. They did a great job of putting themselves in position to get a trophy this weekend. We managed to finish ahead of some very good teams who brought more wrestlers than we did. So we’re happy and excited right now.”

It indeed was a weekend of ups and downs for the Lights. Hinebauch and Miller were brilliant right through their championship matches. At 165 pounds, Hinebauch lost a 7-5 decision to Grand View’s Chad Lowman in the final. Lowman moved up after winning a title at 157 a year ago, and did just enough to keep Hinebauch at bay down the stretch. The loss was a bitter pill for Hinebauch, who was ranked either No. 2 or No. 1 all season long and it was only his third loss all year. But he still walked out of the tournament as a now three-time All-American with one more year to chase down the national title.

Meanwhile, Miller made a spectacular run at 174 pounds. He red-shirted a year ago, but came back this season strong. Still, he came into nationals only finishing third at the Western Regional, and was part of what many consider the toughest bracket in the tournament. However, he earned a pair of tight decisions to reach the semifinals, then knocked off regional rival Brady Beamon of Simpson to reach the championship bout. Once there, Miller had to square off with now three-time champion Brock Gutches of Southern Oregon, and while he was a heavy underdog, as is everybody who faces Gutches, Miller wrestled a great match. He lost 3-2, with :29 of riding time for Gutches tipping the scale, but it was still an incredibly great performance by Miller, who wasn’t even at the national tourney a year ago.

“I’m so very proud of both Ethan and Jared,” Thivierge said. “They wrestled their hearts out. They gave it everything and that’s all you can ask. It’s very tough to get that close and not win, but again, that’s wrestling, that’s the way it goes sometimes. But they wrestled extremely well and they left it all out there.”

Senior Cameron Neiss did the same for the Lights. Neiss finished second at 133 pounds a year ago and came to Kansas City on a mission to win the 141-pound title. But Neiss lost to top-ranked Gustavo Martinez of Grand View in the quarterfinals, and his dream of a national title was gone. But instead of packing it in, Neiss won three straight consolation matches, all by bonus points to reach the consolation final. Once there, he beat UGF rival Kyle Wilson in a thriller, 8-7, and was able to leave his last national tournament a winner. He also finished his career as a three-time All-American for the Lights.

“Cam showed a lot of character and pride by what he did this weekend,” Thivierge said. “He could have easily said ‘this isn’t what I came here for’ after he lost, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned around and won and kept on winning. He scored 20 points for us. I’m so proud of Cam and what he did for this team and this program.”

DeMers also left Kansas City a winner. After having to beat top-ranked teammate Toby Cheff in the fourth round of the consolation bracket, he went on to reach the fifth-sixth place match in his first national tourney. Once there, he pinned Cumberland’s Samuel Johnson for a great victory and a great stepping stone for the rest of his Northern career.

The 197-pound bracket however, was supposed to belong to Cheff. Coming in with only three losses all season and ranked No. 1, he was a heavy favorite. But he wasn’t 100 percent this weekend, and was upset in the quarterfinals by Demers, again. The loss kept Cheff from even getting to the All-American round, and that was tough.

It was tough for Mickey Cheff and senior Kody Reed, too. At 157 pounds, Mickey Cheff came in as a regional champion, but was also upset in the quarterfinals and again in the fourth round of the consolation bracket. Reed, who has battled bas injuries all season, and was unseeded coming in, won two matches for the Lights this weekend, but fell one round short of getting to the All-American stage. Red-shirt freshman Jorrell Jones also scored a first-round victory for the Lights, than was eliminated from the heavyweight bracket two matches later.

“We just had some different things and different matches not go our way,” Thivierge said. “That’s not making excuses, because that’s how wrestling goes sometimes, and that’s how it goes at the national tournament.

“But I’m really proud of all our guys,” he continued. “I’m so proud of Kody Reed. He has had a bad back injury and then a bad knee injury right before regionals, but he still came down here and gave it everything, and he won two matches for us. Toby Cheff was sick and he still laid it all on the line for us. All of our guys did.”

In the team title race, Grand View destroyed the field, scoring 193 points. UGF was second with 84.5, while Northern finished three points ahead of another rival, Southern Oregon. Lindsey Wilson was a distant fifth.

And so ends another season of Northern wrestling. It was an exciting year for the Lights, filled with highs, lows, injuries and some extremely good wrestling. It ended with Northern bringing another trophy home from the national tournament, and Thivierge said his team will use it as a springboard for next season.

“After everything this team went through this season, they could have folded in January, our season could have been over right there,” he said. “Instead, this group just kept working hard and they came here and finished in the top three. They should be very proud of themselves for that. I know I’m very proud of them for it.”

Team Scores

Grand View 193, Great Falls 84.5, MSU-Northern 83.5, Southern Oregon 80.5; Lindsey Wilson 73.5; Cumberland University 59.5; Missouri Valley 59.5; Indiana Tech 56; Morningside 48.5; Campbellsville 41.5; Embry-Riddle 41.5; Dakota Wesleyn 35; Simpson 30.5; York 30.5; Dickinson State 29.5; Baker 26, Menlo 26, Midland 25.5; Cumberlands 25; Bethany 22; Hannibal-LaGrange 21, William Penn 20, Hastings 19.5; Benedictine 19, Life 19, Missouri Baptist 15.5; Oklahoma City 13.5; Calumet 11, Briar Cliff 6,

141 – Cameron Neiss (3rd Place, All-American)

1st rd – bye; 2nd rd – pinned Jeremiah Lutz, Brewton-Parker, 6:32; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Gustavo Martinez, Grand View, 7-3; Consolation 4th rd – tech. fall Travis Barquillo, Indiana Tech, Consolation 5th rd – pinned Wismit Moinius, Lindsey Wilson, 2:49; Consolation Semifinals – maj. dec. Blake Fruchti, Hastings, 14-4; Consolation Final – dec. Kyle Wilson, UGF, 8-7.

157 – Mickey Cheff

1st rd – bye; 2nd rd – dec. Ryan Roach, Dakota Wesleyan, 11-5; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Zach Skates, OKC, 7-3; Consolation 4th rd – lost dec. Shawn McGhee, Campbellsville, 12-7.

165 – Ethan Hinebauch (2nd Place, All-American)

1st rd – dec. Carlos Arana, 9-7; 2nd rd – pinned Trey Rhodes, Campblelsville, 2:18; Quarterfinals – pinned Sterling Terry, Midland, 1:57; Semifinals – inj. def. Bryce Alexander, Hannibal-LaGrange; Championship – lost dec. Chad Lowman, Grand View, 7-5.

174 – Jared Miller (2nd Place, All-American)

1st rd – bye; 2nd rd – dec. Derek Sivertsen, OKC, 7-2; Quarterfinals – dec. Eziekiel Hunt, Cumberland, 3-1; Semifinals – dec. Brady Beamon, Simpson, 3-2; Championship – lost dec. Brock Gutches, Southern Oregon, 3-2.

184 – Kody Reed

1st rd – 1st rd – pinned Ethan Jirak, Benedictine, 2:59; 2nd rd – lost dec. Trey Hicks, Life, 6-1; Consolation 2nd rd – dec. Tyler Sarringer, Dakota Wesleyn, 10-5; Consolation 3rd rd – lost dec. Brock Binversie, Waldorf, 2-1.

197 – Garrett DeMers (5th Place, All American)

1st rd – 1st rd – bye; 2nd rd – lost dec. Jahwon Akui, Lindsey Wilson, 3-1 in SV OT; Consolation 2nd rd – dec. Carl Lawrence, Missouri Valley, 3-0; Consolation 3rd rd – pinned Grant Harrell, Hastings, 2:18; Consolation 4th rd – dec. Toby Cheff, MSU-N, 6-4; Consolation 5th rd – dec. Eric Johnson, Calumet, 6-3; Consolation Semifinals – pinned by Josh Manu, Missouri Valley, 2:33; Fifth-Sixth – pinned Samuel Johnson, Cumberlands, 2:04.

197 – Toby Cheff

1st rd – bye; 2nd rd – pinned Dustin Bramon, Truett-McConnell, 5:31; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Stephen Loosbrock, Benedictine, 8-5; Consolation 4th rd – lost dec. Garrett DeMers, MSU-N, 6-4.

HWT – Jorrell Jones

1st rd – pinned Jake Schumpert, Brewton-Parker, 6:04; 2nd rd – pinned by Eric Thompson, Grand View, :46; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Brian Kelvis, Dickinson State, 6:59.