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After pinning the Eagles, MSU-N now focused on UGF rematch
Montana State University-Northern's Andrew Bartel, right, locks up with Embry-Riddle's Taylor Damico during a 149-pound match in Friday night's NAIA dual at the Armory Gymnasium. The Lights dominated the Eagles, 37-3, and Bartel won his match 4-2.
Northern's Brandon Weber, left, goes to take down an Embry-Riddle opponent during Friday night's dual in Havre.
MSU-N's Jim Malone, top, takes an Embry-Riddle rival down to the mat during a 174-pound match Friday night in Havre.
MSU-Northern heavyweight Taylor Kornoely, top, holds down his Embry-Riddle opponent on his way to winning the match Friday night at the Havre High gymnasium.
The Montana State University-Northern Lights hadn’t wrestled in Havre in almost three months, and, the Lights varsity dual lineup hadn’t really been competing together in nearly a month. So, the Lights’ return to Havre Friday night at the Havre High gymnasium one may not have been a smooth one.
But, in typical Lights’ fashion, they dominated anyway.
In front of a big crowd at Havre High, made up of many high school teams here for divisional tournaments in Havre and Chinook, the No. 2 Lights dominated West Region rival Embry-Riddle University, 37-3 in what was the start of three straight home duals for the Lights.
And those two duals coming up, a rivalry match against UGF Wednesday, and a visit from the Iowa Hawkeyes Friday, could have had the Lights looking past the Eagles. However, senior Willie Miller, who moved up and scored a technical fall at 184 pounds, said he thought his team was focused on the task at hand.
“We always take it one dual at a time,” Miller, the former Chinook star said. “Embry-Riddle is a regional opponent, and regional opponents are always going to come out and wrestle us tough. So we knew all week, we couldn’t take them for granted. And now that this one’s over, now we can look ahead to UGF.”
The Lights may have been focused, and they may have steamrolled the Eagles on the mat, but head coach Tyson Thivierge still saw plenty he said his team needs to work on before Wednesday night’s rematch with the Argos.
“The scoreboard said one thing tonight, and wins are always what we’re after,” Thivierge said. “But our guys on the bench know we have to wrestle better. I thought we just didn’t wrestle clean tonight. We were very sloppy at times, and there’s plenty of little things we need to clean up before our next dual.”
The Lights may not have been at their absolute best, but the Eagles were still powerless to do much about it.
Starting with Brandon Weber’s 12-8 decision over 11th-ranked Ben Scheiss, the Lights owned the first eight matches of the dual. Andrew Bartel followed Weber’s win with a 4-2 decision at 165 pounds, before Jim Malone and Miller really got the Lights rolling.
With Miller moving up to 184 for the dual, Malone, a former Lewistown standout, stepped in at 174 and took apart Dylan Passalaqua, racking up two four-point near falls in the first period on his way to a 17-2 technical fall.
After Miller shut out Colby Mays, the Lights kept going with top-ranked Garrett DeMers quickly pinning Brett Prezkop at 197 pounds. After that, Northern won two hard-fought decisions, with Taylor Kornoely earning an 8-4 win at heavyweight, and Quintel Fuchs putting together a 4-2 decision over Chandler Strand at 125 pounds. Blake Ivie then kept the streak going with a quick dispatching of 15th-ranked Jacob Gardiner at 133 pounds.
Drake Randall would also finish the dual off with an 11-6 decision at 149 pounds, while Northern’s lone loss of the night came in upset fashion as fifth-ranked Matt Weber was beaten 12-6 by ninth-ranked Andrew Burr.
“We had some good performances, we got some bonus points, and it was a fun atmosphere here tonight,” Thivierge said of the dual as a whole. “But, we have plenty to work on too. Even our veteran guys, they got some big wins, but they are also being too one dimensional right now. We work on different things for a reason, and those guys need to use those things we work on, they need to learn to adapt a little better when things aren’t going their way, instead of going to the same move all the time. They know they need to be more versatile and dangerous. So, that’s another area we’ve got to get better in, and something to take away from this dual.”
And getting better will be the Lights’ focus, because next up us the rival Argos. And, despite the historic meeting with the Hawkeyes coming just two days later, Thivierge says the only team on the Lights’ minds now is UGF, which Northern edged by one point back in November in Great Falls.
“We got the win tonight, and we know it’s not going to be pretty all the time,” he said. “So now we’ll move forward, and get things cleaned up for UGF. That’s the next dual for us and the only one we’re focused on.”
The Lights’ huge home week does start Wednesday night with the Argos coming to the Armory Gymnasium. Next Friday, the Hawkeyes will be in the Armory for the much-anticipated dual with MSU-N. Both of those matches are set to start at 7 p.m.
Lights 37, Embry-Riddle 3
(Dual started at 157 pounds)
125 – Quintel Fuchs, MSU-N dec. Chandler Strand, ERAU, 4-2; 133 – Blake Ivie, MSU-N pinned Jacob Gardiner, ERAU, 2:31; 141 – Andrew Burr, ERAU dec. Matt Weber, MSU-N, 12-5; 149 – Drake Randall, MSU-N dec. Anton King, ERAU, 11-6; 157 – Brandon Weber, MSU-N dec. Brenn Scheiss, ERAU, 12-8; 165 – Andrew Bartel, MSU-N dec. Taylor Damico, ERAU, 4-2; 174 – Jim Malone, MSU-N tech. fall Dylan Passalaqua, ERAU, 17-2; 184 – Willie Miller, MSU-N tech. fall Colby Mays, ERAU, 15-0; 197 – Garrett Demers, MSU-N pinned Brett Prezekop, ERAU, 1:28; HWT – Taylor Kornoely, MSU-N dec. David Rupp, ERAU, 8-4.
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