A Night of Northern National Champions

There’s a long and storied list of individual national championship wrestlers in the annals of Montana State University-Northern history. Now, there’s two more.

Saturday night in Topeka, Kansas, Northern’s Ben Stroh and Brandon Weber became the newest Lights to win individual national titles for the Lights, while as a team, the short-handed Lights finished eighth at the 2017 NAIA national tournament. MSU-N scored 53.5 points, while Grand View ran away with its sixth straight national championship, scoring a whopping 234.5 points.

And while the Lights weren’t able to stay in the trophy hunt, Northern still made final’s night in Topeka a very special one.

Stroh, the former Chinook Sugarbeeter, wrestling in his last competitive tournament of an incredible career, dominated his first three matches, winning two Friday, then beating Grand View’s Michael Pixley 6-4 in the semifinals Saturday morning.

That win sent Stroh into the championship match where he met top-ranked Chuck Sharon of Campbellsville for the title. And, in perhaps one of his toughest matches of his career, Stroh prevailed. He erased a second-period deficit, got a lead on a take down and held on for a spectacular 6-5 decision. The win gave Stroh not only a national championship, to go with the four state titles he won at Chinook, but also capped an incredible senior season for the Lights. Stroh finished with a 45-2 record and was named NAIA Wrestler of the Year.

“I was a little nervous and it was my last match, and there is pressure there,” Stroh said. “But I always felt like I was in control and there is something that I can do about it. I would have liked to have wrestled a little bit better but at the same time, a W is a W.

“It was more overwhelming. There was so much joy, but so much joy that it’s almost hard to find a way to express it,” Stroh added. “A bunch can run around the mat, and more power to them, but as soon as that buzzer rang, it was like ‘Holy Cow, I did it.’ It’s just something that sunk into me instead of came out of me.

“I was a little nervous there with Ben and as a coach you are always nervous, but with him I wasn’t,” Thivierge said. “I knew that he was going to do what he needed to do. The score said it was 6-4, and it was a close match, but it really wasn’t. He was able to hold him off and use great technique, and that’s a testament to the kind of wrestler that he is. But I am very proud of him. He deserves it.”

Stroh’s victory was actually the second national title for the Lights Saturday night. First came sophomore Brandon Weber, who rolled into the national tourney fresh off a win at the NAIA West Regional. However, Weber had a tough 157-pound bracket, one that included a dominant performance in a 5-1 win over arch rival Hunter Hodges of Southern Oregon in Saturday morning’s semifinal. The bout with Hodges pushed Weber into the championship match where he would face top-seeded Cam Tessari of Lindsey Wilson. And in an epic battle, one in which Weber fell behind 2-0 in the first period, the Northern and former Forsyth state champion scored one of the most dramatic wins of the entire tournament when he stormed back to tie the match in regulation, then got the 4-2 decision in sudden victory overtime.

The victory gave Weber an amazing finish to a spectacular 27-5 season, one in which he didn’t lose a single match in February or March. He was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

"It’s just a dream come true, that’s really all that I can say about it," Weber said. “I just know that I was really tired. And it went into overtime, and I knew I had to try to strike. It just was a great feeling once it was over.

"It’s just nice to know that all your hard work pays off," Weber continued. "Like I said, it’s like a dream come true."

“He came in ranked second in his bracket, so he was expected to get to the final, but he showed great improvement from last year to this year,” Thivierge said. “Last year, he was in the round to make All-American and lost out and to go from there to winning a national championship, doesn’t happen often. It does happen, but it’s rare.”

Stroh and Weber became the first Northern teammates to win individual titles in the same season since a trio of Lights accomplished the feat back in 2005. They were also Northern’s first individual champions since Evan Hinebauch’s championship in 2011.

“It’s a great feeling for both of those guys,” Thivierge said. “I am very proud of them. It’s a great accomplishment for each of them, and they both deserved it. They each sacrificed and worked really hard and came out here and took care of business.”

While final’s night was a special one for Northern, the tournament overall, was an up-and-down one.

Senior Taylor Kornoely, one of the top seeds at heavyweight, and a 2016 All-American, was upset by William Baptist’s Demetrius Thomas in the quarterfinals, and came up one win shy of placing. Sophomore Matt Weber, another returning All-American, who battled injuries all season long, was knocked off in the second round, before winning one match in the consolation bracket at 141 pounds, while fellow sophomore Drake Randall lost in the first round, won a match in the consolation bracket and then was eliminated in the second round of the wrestlebacks by UGF’s Khaldoon Rashid at 165 pounds.

And even with the ups and downs, it was still an incredible finish for the Lights, with their two national champions, and they made it a night Northern fans won’t soon forget.

NAIA National Championships

Team Scores

1. Grand View (Iowa) 234.5; 2. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 74.5; 3. Campbellsville (Ky.) 64.5; 4. Williams Baptist (Ark.) 61.5; 5. Southern Oregon 60.5; 6. Indiana Tech 59.5; 7. Midland (Neb.) 54.5; 8. Montana State-Northern 53.5; 9. Life (Ga.) 52.5; 10. Cumberlands (Ky.) 49.0; 11. Cumberland (Tenn.) 48.0; 12. Missouri Valley 43.0; 13. Menlo (Calif.) 38.0; 14. Great Falls (Mont.) 36.0; 15. Concordia (Neb.) 33.0; 16. Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 31.5;17. Warner Pacific (Ore.) 30.5; 18. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 30.0; 19. Briar Cliff (Iowa) 27.5; 19. Jamestown 27.5; 21. Oklahoma City 26.5; 22. Morningside (Iowa) 26.0; 23.Benedictine (Kan.) 25.5; 24. Eastern Oregon 20.5; 25. Simpson (Calif.) 18.5; 26. Baker (Kan.) 17.0; 26. Hastings (Neb.) 17.0; 28. Lyon (Ark.) 16.0; 29. York (Neb.) ; 15.5; 30. Northwestern (Iowa) 14.0; 31. Doane (Neb.) 13.5; 32. Dickinson State 13.0; 33. Wayland Baptist (Texas) 12.5; 34. Southeastern (Fla.) 9.5; 35. Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 9.0; 36. Bacone (Okla.) 5.5; 37. Missouri Baptist 4.0; 38. Graceland (Iowa) 3.5; 39. Waldorf (Iowa) 2.5; 39. William Penn (Iowa) 2.5; 41. Truett McConnell (Ga.) 2.0; 42. Calumet (Ind.) 1.0; 42. Reinhardt (Ga.) 1.0; 44. Bethany (Kan.) 0.5; 44. Central Christian (Kan.) 0.5.

141 – Matt Weber

Champ. Round 1 - 7 Matt Weber (Montana State-Northern) 20-10 received a bye (Bye); Champ. Round 2 - 10 Jayce Carr (Campbellsville (Ky.) 25-8 won by decision over 7 Matt Weber (Montana State-Northern) 20-10 (Dec 11-6); Cons. Round 2 - 7 Matt Weber (Montana State-Northern) 20-10 won by tech fall over 9 Matt Landgraff (Oklahoma City) 19-9 (TF-1.5 5:00 (17-1); Cons. Round 3 - Kevin Kelly (Benedictine (Kan.) 13-6 won by decision over 7 Matt Weber (Montana State-Northern) 20-10 (Dec 8-7)

157 - Brandon Weber (National Champion)

Champ. Round 1 - 2 Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 27-5 received a bye (Bye); Champ. Round 2 - 2 Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 27-5 won by fall over Tucker Russo (Reinhardt (Ga.) 25-16 (Fall 4:34); Quarterfinal - 2 Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 27-5 won by fall over 10 Chandler Michael (Southern Oregon) 19-15 (Fall 3:49; Semifinal - 2 Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 27-5 won by decision over 3 Hunter Hodges (Southern Oregon) 27-10 (Dec 5-1; 1st Place Match - 2 Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 27-5 won in sudden victory - 1 over 1 Cam Tessari (Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 39-3 (SV-1 4-2)

165 - Drake Randall

Champ. Round 1 - Ryan Whittle (Williams Baptist (Ark.) 16-12 won by fall over Drake Randall (Montana State-Northern) 13-12 (Fall 2:15); Cons. Round 1 - Drake Randall (Montana State-Northern) 13-12 won by decision over Brok Williams (Oklahoma City) 21-13 (Dec 6-3; Cons. Round 2 - Khaldoon Rashid (Great Falls (Mont.) 24-11 won by decision over Drake Randall (Montana State-Northern) 13-12 (Dec 12-7)

184 - Ben Stroh (National Champion)

Champ. Round 1 - 1 Ben Stroh (Montana State-Northern) 45-2 received a bye (Bye); Champ. Round 2 - 1 Ben Stroh (Montana State-Northern) 45-2 won by fall over Kyle Delaune (Cumberland (Tenn.) 22-13 (Fall 1:29); Quarterfinal - 1 Ben Stroh (Montana State-Northern) 45-2 won by fall over 9 Joshua Chiles (Williams Baptist (Ark.) 26-11 (Fall 0:58;  Semifinal - 1 Ben Stroh (Montana State-Northern) 45-2 won by decision over 4 Michael Pixley (Grand View (Iowa) 27-3 (Dec 6-4); 1st Place Match - 1 Ben Stroh (Montana State-Northern) 45-2 won by decision over 3 Chuck Sharon (Campbellsville (Ky.) 27-2 (Dec 6-5)

285 - 4 Taylor Kornoely

Champ. Round 1 - 4 Taylor Kornoely (Montana State-Northern) 24-6 received a bye (Bye);  Champ. Round 2 - 4 Taylor Kornoely (Montana State-Northern) 24-6 won by major decision over Brian Ervin (Briar Cliff (Iowa) 16-14 (MD 12-4); Quarterfinal - 5 Demetrius Thomas (Williams Baptist (Ark.) 36-4 won by major decision over 4 Taylor Kornoely (Montana State-Northern) 24-6 (MD 10-1); Cons. Round 4 - 10 Justin Smith (Missouri Valley) 29-16 won by decision over 4 Taylor Kornoely (Montana State-Northern) 24-6 (Dec 10-3).