Lights head west for a big weekend

The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team has one road trip left before Christmas break. And it’s a big one.

Thursday night, the No. 5 Lights will travel to Ashland, Oregon, for a huge showdown with arch rival Southern Oregon. Northern will face the seventh-ranked Raiders on their mat in what should be one of the biggest duals of the NAIA season.

The Lights, who have lost just one dual this season, will rely heavily on their upper weights, including top-ranked Ben Stroh at 184 pounds, Taylor Kornoely, ranked No. 2 at heavyweight, up-and-coming talent Steeler French at 174 and 10th-ranked Andrew Bartel at 165. Matt Weber is also ranked No. 2 at 141 and is returning to form after offseason surgery.

Of course, the Raiders have plenty of big guns, too, including second-0ranked Tyler Cowger at 149 pounds, third-ranked Hunter Hodges at 157 and seventh-ranked Tanner Fischer at 197, so, it should be an exciting dual no doubt.

Following Thursday night’s dual, the Lights will travel to Reno, Nevada, for the annual Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday. The T.O.C. is one of the most competitive events on the Lights’ tournament slate every season, and the field includes a host of NCAA Division I powerhouses, including the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Oklahoma State and Penn State. Stanford, Oregon State, Michigan State, Missouri, Arizona State and Boise State are more DI programs that will be in the field in Reno.

Following this week’s trip, the Lights will be off until Jan. 12 when they wrestle Dickinson State in their final home dual of the season.