Northern grapplers head to Cowboy Open

The Montana State University-Northern Lights got their 2016-17 season off on the right foot with last Saturday’s season-opening win over North Idaho College.

Now the fourth-ranked Lights will get their first taste of tournament action.

On Saturday, Northern will be in Laramie, Wyoming, for the annual Cowboy Open, a tournament hosted by the NCAA Division I University of Wyoming Cowboys. The tourney will feature a host of DI teams, as well as plenty of other wrestling programs from around the western region. And the Lights will be a big part of that.

Head coach Tyson Thivierge’s team showed plenty of promise in the 25-16 win over North Idaho, including some good matches by true freshman Dylan Veis, Cole Lockwood and Steeler French. Veterans like Tommy Cooper, Andrew Bartel, Drake Randall, Ben Stroh and Taylor Kornoely, also provided the Lights with victories, and all of those grapplers, as well as the likes of Brandon Weber and others, should do well Saturday in Wyoming. The tournament will also be a return of sorts for Stroh, who wrestled for three varsity seasons at UW and won two Cowboy Open titles while he was there.

Of course, results are only part of Northern’s focus this weekend. Thivierge wants to see progression, too, especially considering what’s next on Northern’s schedule — a home dual against heated rival UGF on Wednesday night.

“We know better now what we need to work on going forward,” Thivierge said after the NIC dual. “We have plenty to clean up, and we just want to keep getting better, and every time we step on the mat, we have an opportunity to do that.”

The Lights will be at the Cowboy Open all day Saturday, then come home to face UGF Wednesday night, followed by a dual against first-year program Eastern Oregon next Friday night.