Northern grapplers set for back-to-back home duals

The Montana State University-Northern Lights are a relatively young wrestling team this season. So, when they celebrate senior night against Northwest College Friday night, it will be a pretty quick ceremony.

Never the less, Northern seniors Landon Bailey (133) and Rob Pair (125) will certainly enjoy their last time on the mat in front the MSU-N wrestling faithful.

First, though, the No. 17 Lights are inside the Armory tonight for a big Cascade Conference dual against No. 9 Embry-Riddle University. The dual was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was moved to tonight and will start at 7.

And it is a key matchup for the Lights, who are into the final stretch of the regular season. ERAU is currently the top-ranked team in the Cascade Conference, and the Eagles bring five ranked wrestlers to tonight's bout, led by second-ranked Daniel Butler at 174 pounds and fourth-ranked Tyler Hall at 184. Josh Nira is ranked No. 9 at 125, Collin Anderson is 16th at 133 and Beau Blackham is 15th at 165.

Meanwhile, Northern will have either Pair or Nick Kunz at 125 tonight. Kunz has spent much of the season ranked at 133, but has moved back down to 125, where he was a national qualifier a year ago. Bailey will man the 133-pound slot for the Lights. He has missed a good chunk of his senior season to injury, but is pumped to battle two more times in the Armory. Clayton Currier, ranked No. 20, returns from injury to wrestle at 141, while true freshman Lane Paulson continues to show a ton of promise at 149 pounds.

And the middle of Northern's lineup is where the Lights are so young. True freshman Caden Hilliard gets the nod at 157 pounds, while freshman Nakoda Siegel will wrestle at 167. Then it will be veteran Chase Short, ranked 16th, at 174, followed by either Cody Goulding or Carl Hansen at 184. Isaac Bartel, ranked No. 2, is back at 197 after missing most of January with an injury, while sophomore Rylan Moldenhauer holds down the spot at at heavyweight.

Tonight's dual with Embry-Riddle will be a big one, but, the Lights won't look past Northwest College on Friday night, either.

It will be an emoitonal senior night for Pair and Bailey, but, the Lights will quickly focus on the Trappers, who are ranked eighth in the NJCAA and boast six nationally-ranked wrestlers, including Majid Muratov, who is ranked No. 1 at 197 and will be a good match for Bartel.

Of course, the final two home duals of the season for the Lights are just part of a huge month. Northern will take on the University of Providence next Thursday in Billings, and then get ready for the Cascade Conference Championships, which run Feb. 21-22 at Menlo College. The Providence dual, which will be the night before the All-Class State Tournament, will count as MSU-N's home dual.