Lights dominate in Dickinson

The Montana State University-Northern Lights have two big duals left in the 2016-17 wrestling season. But before the Lights get to those, they had one last tournament to take care of.

On Saturday, the No. 3 Lights took part in the Tyler Plummer Classic at Dickinson State University, and while no team scores were kept, and the Lights rested some of their big guns, the day proved to be a successful one.

The Lights had four individual champions, with Ben Stroh winning at 184 pounds, Brandon Weber at 157 and Andrew Bartel at 165. Northern true freshman Steeler French also notched his first tournament title of his career, winning at 174 pounds.

In all, the Lights placed 11 grapplers at the tournament, with Drake Randall finishing second at 165 pounds. His brother Drew Randall finished sixth at 165, as Northern dominated that particular weight. Rob Pair (125) and Brennan Veis (133) also brought home third-place finishes, while Clayton Carter finished fourth at 141, and Dylan Veis was fifth at the same weight. Alex Lee added a fourth-place finish for the Lights at 125.

Matt Weber, Tommy Cooper and Taylor Kornoely didn’t compete at the tournament.

“Not a bad day for our guys,” MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “The tournament wasn’t very stacked, but they all wrestled well. Ben probably had the toughest weight, with a few nationally ranked guys in there.”

The Lights will now head south for a dual with Embry-Riddle Thursday night, before coming back to Montana to wrap up the regular season with the second installment of their annual series with UGF. That dual takes place Feb. 8 in Great Falls.