Debut: Lights ready to rumble with NIC

The only opponents the Montana State University-Northern Lights have tangled with so far this fall were also wearing Northern singlets. However, that all changes Saturday night.

The Northern wrestling team, led by veteran head coach Tyson Thivierge and ranked fourth in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll, will make its season debut Saturday night when the Lights host junior college powerhouse North Idaho College inside the Armory Gymnasium.

The dual is an annual season-opening tradition for the Lights and Cardinals, and this season it shifts to Havre, where Thivierge has a strong team waiting for the Cardinals. Yet NIC is always a tough opponent, and Thivierge expects nothing less from the Cardinals Saturday night.

“They’re (Cardinals) always a tough challenge for us,” Thivierge said. “It’s always a good dual between us. They have a lot of new guys this year. Their roster has a lot of freshman and red-shirt freshman. But, I know they’ll be tough. I know they’ll come in here looking to give us all we can handle.”

NIC does have a new look this season, so much so that the Cardinals don’t boast a single returning NJCAA All-American from last year’s squad. So, their lineup Saturday night will feature a plethora of new wrestlers, including former Polson star Carlos Quinones at 141 pounds. NIC will start just three sophomores, with Garrett White going at 125, Alex Aguilar at 174 and Cooper Thomas at 285.

On the other side of the mat, Northern will be rolling a few new faces onto the mat as well, including star senior Ben Stroh. Stroh, who competes at 184 pounds, is new to the Lights’ lineup this season after transferring from the University of Wyoming. But the former four-time state champion from Chinook certainly isn’t new to Lights’ fans. The dual will also feature a pair of true freshman in Cole Lockwood at 133 and Dylan Veis at 141.

Stroh is also one of five grapplers ranked for Northern. Heavyweight Taylor Kornoely is ranked No. 2, Matt Weber is ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds, Andrew Bartel is ranked 6th at 165 and Drake Randall is ranked 10th at 149. Weber is currently banged up, but Northern will send out veteran Tommy Cooper at 157, while Bartel and another veteran, Drew Randall will either wrestle at 165 our 174. Stroh could also move up to 197 against NIC, opening the door for the debut of another exciting true freshman, Steeler French.

While Northern has veterans and some newcomers in the lineup for the season-opening dual, Thivierge knows a couple of things. First, his Lights will be amped up and ready to wrestle in front of their home crowd for the first time since last February’s thrilling dual against the Iowa Hawkeyes. And, secondly, the Cardinals will make the dual a tough one yet again.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s exciting,” Thivierge said. “It’s really real now. They (Cardinals) have horses and we have horses. So it should be a good battle.”

Saturday night’s dual between the Lights and Cardinals will start at 7 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern is back home Nov. 9 to host UGF and again Nov. 11 to battle Eastern Oregon.