Lights edge Trappers in Laurel

The Montana State University-Northern Lights are getting a lot of mat time right now. Northern wrestled a special dual in Laurel Wednesday night, and now the Lights are headed west for a pair of meets over the weekend.

On the national level, the Lights dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 in the first NAIA Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday. Northern started the year ranked No. 4 in the Preseason Coaches Poll.

Individually, the Lights still have five wrestlers holding national rankings, including sophomore Matt Weber, who is No. 1 at 141 pounds, despite missing the opening three weeks of the season while recovering from an injury.

Senior heavyweight Taylor Kornoely is ranked No. 2 for the Lights, while senior Ben Stroh remained ranked third at 184 pounds and sophomore Drake Randall stayed at No. 10 at 149 pounds. Sophomore Andrew Bartel is also ranked No. 10 at 165.

As for Wednesday night’s dual in Laurel, the Lights were without key grapplers in their lineup due to injuries, including senior 157-pounder Tommy Cooper. The Laurel native was beyond excited to wrestle in front of his hometown fans, but, he suffered an injury in practice on Tuesday and was unable to go. The Lights were also without Bartel at 165 and Weber at 141, so, the dual turned out to be a dogfight, and one that ended in a 21-21 tie.

The Lights were declared the winner of the dual on criteria, but just to get there, they needed a pin from Kornoely in the heavyweight match, which he obliged.

Rob Pair also won at 125 pounds, while Randall was victorious at 149 and Stroh won his match at 184. The Lights were open at 157 and the Trappers forfeited the 133-pound match to Northern’s Dylan Lockwood.

“They (Trappers) were tough in the weights where we were just OK tonight,” Northern head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “We’re still figuring out that we’ve got to wrestle for seven minutes. When we do that, we’re fine, when we don’t we struggle.”

Despite the struggles against the Trappers, Thivierge said the dual in Laurel, a key recruiting area for the Lights, was an exciting one.

“It was great, the crowd and the support we got, it was awesome,” he said.”

The Lights will now head to the Cardinal Duals at North Idaho College on Saturday and then take part in the Spokane Open Sunday.

NAIA Coaches Poll

Rn.Prv. Pts.

1 1 Grand View (Iowa) 165.5

2 2 Indiana Tech 98

3 T5 Williams Baptist (Ark.) 75.5

4 3 Oklahoma City 65.5

5 12 Menlo (Calif.) 64.5

6 7 Southern Oregon 64

7 4 Montana State-Northern 61.5

8 9 Life (Ga.) 49.5

T9 8 Concordia (Neb.) 48

T9 14 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 48

11 10 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 42.5

12 15 Baker (Kan.) 41

13 13 Missouri Valley 40

14 19 York (Neb.) 33

T15 RV Warner Pacific (Ore.) 32

T15 RV Cumberlands (Ky.) 32

17 17 Cumberland (Tenn.) 30.5

18 16 Campbellsville (Ky.) 29.5

19 RV Morningside (Iowa) 27

20 20 Simpson (Calif.) 23

Others receiving votes: Lyon (Ark.) 22.5; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 21.5; Northwestern (Iowa) 21.5; Midland (Neb.) 20; Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 18; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 14.5; Southeastern (Fla.) 13.5; Great Falls (Mont.) 13.5; Doane (Neb.) 10.5; Hastings (Neb.) 9; Benedictine (Kan.) 6; Eastern Oregon 4.5; Bethany (Kan.) 3; Marian (Ind.) 2.5; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 2.5; Truett-McConnell (Ga.) 2.5; William Penn (Iowa) 2; Bacone (Okla.) 1; Graceland (Iowa) 1.