Lights aim high at West Regional

Every mile ran, every day inside the scorching hot wrestling room inside the Armory Gymnasium, every match, it’s all preparation for what comes next for the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team. The postseason.

And the postseason for the No. 5 Lights starts Saturday when they travel to Redding, California, for the 2017 NAIA West Regional Qualifier. There, the Lights are gunning for a repeat regional championship, but more importantly, they’re looking to qualify as many wrestlers for the upcoming NAIA national tournament as they possibly can.

The Lights are taking 12 grapplers to the regional, a region which includes some of the top teams in the country. Northern is ranked fifth, but the region includes four teams in the Top 10 and five in the Top 20. Menlo is ranked No. 3, UGF is ranked No. 8, Southern Oregon is ranked No. 10 and Embry-Riddle is ranked No. 20.

Individually, the tourney is loaded as well.

At 125, Northern freshman Rob Pair has contenders in Eastern Oregon’s Matt Nuygen and Menlo’s Troy Lakin, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. In all, there are five wrestlers in Pair’s bracket ranked in the NAIA currently. At 133, freshman Brennon Veis will go for the Lights. Menlo has a pair of 133-pounders ranked, but Veis has a strong chance to get through his draw and on to nationals.

At 141 pounds, a healthy Matt Weber should be the favorite. Weber is ranked No. 8, and Menlo’s Steel Escobedo is a top rival, while SOU’s Justin Acuff is also ranked. Freshman Dylan Veis will also compete at 141, while another freshman, Dylan Lockwood will got at 149.

Northern should also get big points at 157 pounds. SOU’s Hunter Hodges is ranked No. 3 in the NAIA, but perhaps no one is wrestling better right now than MSU-N’s Brandon Weber. And Lights’ senior Tommy Cooper is also at 157, giving MSU-N a chance to really make some hay in that weight class.

The Lights are also doubled up at 165 with Andrew Bartel and Drake Randall. Both made it to nationals a year ago, and both have been ranked for much of this season, with Randall moving up in weight. The bracket will be tough with Warner Pacific’s Blake Cooper and UGF’s Khaldoon Rashid, but, Bartel and Randall are now veterans and should do well this week.

At 174, Northern will send out freshman Steeler French. French is ranked No. 12, and is looking to punch his ticket to nationals in his first try. UGF’s Randy Keeseler is probably the favorite in the draw, but, French is wrestling well, and the bracket is pretty wide open.

Of course, MSU-N is expected to do very well in the upper weights, though the Lights won’t enter a 197-pounder. Ben Stroh is the heavy favorite at 184 pounds, while Taylor Kornoely is likewise at heavyweight.

And at the end of the day, Northern, while competing for a regional title, in the toughest region in the NAIA, is most focused on getting all of its grapplers to nationals. The top four in each weight automatically qualify, while others will look for wildcard entries as well.

“I think we have a solid young group that is ready to compete,” MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “This is a new season and what happens this weekend will decide the rest of their season. Each of them have an opportunity to punch their ticket to nationals. We are ready and eager to get there.”

The regional tournament will take place Saturday. The Lights then move on to the national tournament March 3-5 in Topeka, Kansas.