Lights shine bright at Cowboy Open

It was only the second weekend of the 2015-16 season, but it was a big one competition-wise for the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team.

Northern was in Laramie, Wyoming, Saturday for the prestigious Cowboy Open, hosted by the University of Wyoming, and while the competition was fierce, with a number of NCAA Division I teams in attendance, head coach Tyson Thivierge's team had some impressive results.

A handful of Lights competed in the Elite Division, which was comprised mostly of top Division I wrestlers, as well as grapplers from UGF. And, against the best of the best, the Lights placed two grapplers in the Elite tourney.

Northern heavyweight Taylor Kornoely finished an outstanding third. He lost his first-round match but rebounded to win three straight, including beating Marcus Malacek of Air Force in the consolation final. Top-ranked Garrett DeMers also placed fourth for the Lights at 197 pounds. He reached the semifinals before losing, then was beaten by Parker Haynes of Air Force in the consolation final.

Also wrestling in the Elite tourney for the Lights was, Willie Miller, who went 1-2 at 174 pounds, a bracket that was won by former Chinook star Ben Stroh. At 165 pounds, Jim Malone, wrestling unattached, went 1-2, while Logan Foster went 0-2. And at 157 pounds, junior Tommy Cooper was 0-2.

There was also the Amateur Division at the tournament, but, the competition was still extremely tough, and the fifth-ranked Lights of the NAIA, had some outstanding results.

Blake Ivie reached the championship match at 133 pounds before losing to Chadron State's Luke Zieger. And at 149 pounds, Drake Randall and Brandon Weber were both stellar. Randall went 4-1, losing to Utah Valley's Kristian Oliveras in the championship bout. Weber went 5-1 to finish third, with his only loss coming to Oliveras in the semifinals.

At 165 pounds, Andrew Bartel made it to the title match before losing to Air Force's Rick Padilla, while freshman Qunitel Fuchs continued his excellent start to the season at 125 pounds. Fuchs went 4-2 overall, reaching the semifinals. Also at 125, Robert Pair went 2-2, while Mhar Caballa went 0-2.

At 141 pounds, Matt Weber got the quarterfinals, while going 2-2 on the day, while Zach Haviland went 3-2 at 174 pounds, with his first loss coming in the semifinals.

Brandon Gilham went 0-2 at 157 pounds, Dace Fisher went 1-2 at 184 pounds, while Jake French went 2-2 at 184. And at heavyweight, Casey Schaub went 1-2, while Steven Hyatt and William Ollinger each went 0-2.

Following Northern's impressive start to the tournament portion of their schedule, the Lights will now turn their attention to the start of the dual season. And first up is a showdown with the Argos Thursday night in Great Falls. Northern will also pay a visit to North Idaho College Saturday.