Lights shine bright at Spokane Open

It's early, but the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team is shaping up to be a very strong tournament team.

The No. 12 Lights were in Spokane Sunday for the Spokane Open, in a field which include many of the top members of the Cascade Conference. And the Lights topped them all, scoring 115.5 points to finish second behind NCAA Division II Simon Fraser. The tournament included Northern rivals Providence, Eastern Oregon, Southern Oregon and Warner Pacific, as well as NJCAA powerhouse North Idaho College, which finished third with 107.5 points. Providence was fourth.

"We wrestled fairly well," MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge said. "This tournament may have been the toughest it's been in a while. Five schools from our region were here including Providence, SOU, EOU and Warner Pacific. We finished second overall with only 11 wrestlers entered."

The Lights also placed seven of their 11 wrestlers, led by top-ranked Brandon Weber at 157 pounds. Weber won his second straight tournament title by defeating former Light Drake Randall (EOU), 7-6 in the championship match. Weber also won last Sunday's Trapper Open.

True freshman Isaac Bartel also continued to impress, reaching the 197-pound championship match. There, Bartel was pinned by SFU's Morgan Smith, who is ranked second at 197 in NCAA DII.

Bartel's older brother, Andrew, has also been on a roll of late, and he wound up third Sunday at 165 pounds, beating EOU's K.J. Swanson in the consolation championship. True freshman Nick Kunz also got third at 125 pounds, as he defeated teammate Rob Pair in the consolation final.

Pair was one of three Lights to finish fourth in Spokane. Matt Weber finished fourth at 141 pounds, while Chris Nile reached the 174-pound consolation final, but didn't wrestle due to an injury.

The Lights will now get a bit of rest before resuming their season Dec. 1 at the Argo Duals in Great Falls. The Lights will also compete Dec. 2 at the Heritage Inn Open, also in Great Falls.

"Like I said, we wrestled well and are improving our confidence every weekend and every match," Thivierge said.

Spokane Open

125 - Rob Pair, 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Rob Pair (Montana State University-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Quarterfinal - Rob Pair (Montana State University-Northern) won by fall over Aaron Nakama (Highline) (Fall 5:22) Semifinal - Josh Johnson (Warner Pacific College) won by major decision over Rob Pair (Montana State University-Northern) (Maj 12-4) Cons. Semi - Rob Pair (Montana State University-Northern) won by decision over Jesse Torres (Grays Harbor) (Dec 9-6) 3rd Place Match - Nick Kunz (Montana State University-Northern) won by decision over Rob Pair (Montana State University-Northern) (Dec 7-4)

125 - Nick Kunz, 3rd Place

Champ. Round 1 - Nick Kunz (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Landon Obra-Nakata (Pacific University) (Fall 2:37) Quarterfinal - Nick Kunz (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Christian Hill (Grays Harbor) (Fall 4:53) Semifinal - Fransisco Barrera (Southwest Oregon Community College) won in sudden victory - 1 over Nick Kunz (Montana State University Northern) (SV-1 7-5) Cons. Semi - Nick Kunz (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Jason Holmes (North Idaho College) (Dec 9-7) 3rd Place Match - Nick Kunz (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Rob Pair (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 7-4)

133 - Landon Bailey

Champ. Round 2 - Blake McNall (Eastern Oregon University) won by decision over Landon Bailey (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 7-2) Cons. Round 2 - Landon Bailey (Montana State University Northern) won by major decision over Isaac Ramos (Montana State University Northern) (Maj 16-3) Cons. Round 3 - Landon Bailey (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Kaleb Raber (Warner Pacific College) (Fall 2:59) Cons. Round 4 - Landon Bailey (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Christian Balagso (Southwest Oregon Community College) (Dec 1-0) Cons. Round 5 - Josh Crager (Unattached) won by decision over Landon Bailey (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 5-0)

141 Matt Weber - 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Pavin Blas (Warner Pacific College) (Fall 0:53) Champ. Round 2 - Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Jacob Garrison (Unattached) (Fall 2:56) Quarterfinal - Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Blake Beard (North Idaho College) (Dec 5-3) Semifinal - Devin Poppen (Southern Oregon University) won by decision over Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 7-3) Cons. Semi - Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by major decision over Matthew Hofenbredl (Southwest Oregon Community College) (Maj 22-9) 3rd Place Match - Cruz Velasquez (Simon Fraser) won in overtime over Matt Weber (Montana State University Northern) (OT 2-1)

149 - Dylan Veis

Champ. Round 1 - Baylen Cooper (Warner Pacific College) won by decision over Dylan Veis (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 10-9) Cons. Round 1 - Dylan Veis (Montana State University Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 2 - Dylan Veis (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Timofey Tsukanov (Southern Oregon University) (Dec 8-5) Cons. Round 3 - Dylan Veis (Montana State University Northern) won by tech fall over Kaleb Ballard (Eastern Oregon University) (TF 17-2) Cons. Round 4 - Brent Evans (North Idaho College) won by major decision over Dylan Veis (Montana State University Northern) (Maj 12-3)

157 - Brandon Weber, 1st Place

Champ. Round 1 - Brandon Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Miles Kent (University of Alberta) (Fall 1:36) Champ. Round 2 - Brandon Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Kimani Johnson (Grays Harbor) (Fall 2:15) Quarterfinal - Brandon Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Mathew Baca (Pacific University) (Fall 1:31) Semifinal - Brandon Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Chandler Michael (Southern Oregon University) (Dec 3-0) 1st Place Match - Brandon Weber (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Drake Randall (Eastern Oregon University) (Dec 7-6)

165 - Andrew Bartel, 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by major decision over De`Andre Williams (University of the Fraser Valley) (Maj 12-2) Quarterfinal - Trey Meyer (North Idaho College) won by decision over Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 7-4) Cons. Round 4 - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by major decision over Cody Warner (North Idaho College) (Maj 10-0) Cons. Round 5 - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Kaleb Winebarger (Pacific University) (Fall 4:20) Cons. Semi - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Colton Beisley (Unattached) (Dec 7-3) 3rd Place Match - Andrew Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Kj Swanson (Eastern Oregon University) (Dec 5-2)

174 - Chase Short

Champ. Round 1 - Chase Short (Montana State University Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Shawn Daye-Finley (University of Alberta) won by decision over Chase Short (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 14-8) Cons. Round 2 - Chase Short (Montana State University Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 3 - Chase Short (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Dalton Varney (University of Washington) (Fall 2:33) Cons. Round 4 - Logan Nelson (Simon Fraser) won by decision over Chase Short (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 12-5)

174 - Chris Nile, 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Garrett Owen-Bisson (Grays Harbor) (Fall 1:06) Champ. Round 2 - Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Christian Perez (Umpqua Community College) (Fall 0:53) Quarterfinal - Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Logan Nelson (Simon Fraser) (Dec 4-3) Semifinal - Blake Cooper (Warner Pacific College) won by decision over Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) (Dec 8-3) Cons. Semi - Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Hudson Mauseth (North Idaho College) (Fall 0:43) 3rd Place Match - Shawn Daye-Finley (University of Alberta) won by injury default over Chris Nile (Montana State University Northern) (Inj. 1:41)

184 - Rylan Moldehauer

Champ. Round 1 - Justin Harbison (University of Providence ) won by tech fall over Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State University Northern) (TF 17-1) Cons. Round 1 - Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State University Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 2 - Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Hayden Juliano (Umpqua Community College) (Fall 1:41) Cons. Round 3 - Nicholas Goleniec (University of Alberta) won by fall over Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State University Northern) (Fall 2:19)

197 - Isaac Bartel, 2nd Place

Champ. Round 1 - Isaac Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by fall over Josh Hammers (Umpqua Community College) (Fall 4:01) Quarterfinal - Isaac Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over Amos Daigbe (Highline) (Dec 9-7) Semifinal - Isaac Bartel (Montana State University Northern) won by decision over John Hensley (University of Providence ) (Dec 5-3) 1st Place Match - Morgan Smith (Simon Fraser) won by fall over Isaac Bartel (Montana State University Northern) (Fall 1:28).