Lights go 4-0 to open the season

The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team is off and running. This past weekend, the nationally ranked Lights traveled to Concordia, Nebraska, where they opened their season with several duals.

In all, the 15th-ranked Lights got four matches in, and they went a perfect 4-0, for a great start to their season.

The Lights beat Morningside 26-18, with wins from Kaleb Frank at 125 pounds, Nick Kunz at 133, Dylan Veis at 149, Steeler French with a pin at 184, Isaac Bartel with a major at 197 and a big, 5-2 win by Rylan Moldenhauer at heavyweight.

Next, the Lights took on a big match against 13th-ranked Doane, and down to the wire, Northern won 22-21.

Frank and Kunz both got decisions for the Lights, while Brock Bushfield and Devin Crawford got pins at 157 and 165 pounds. The pins, combined with a major decision from Bartel at 197, proved to be huge in a key win for the Lights.

Northern then destroyed host Concordia 41-3. Frank won at 125, Clayton Currier and Connor Harris got pins at 141 and 149, Bushfield won at 157, Crawford got a pin at 165, Chase Short earned a technical fall at 174, Carl Hansen won at 184, Isaac Bartel got a fall at 197, and Travis Adams won a decision in his MSU-N debut.

Northern also dominated Oklahoma Wesleyen 47-6 with Currier, Dylan Veis, Short, Hansen, Bartel and Moldenhauer all victorious for the Lights.

The Lights are expected to return to competiton with several duals in January.

NAIA Coaches Poll

1 Grand View (Iowa) 215

2 Life (Ga.) 157

3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 147

4 Reinhardt (Ga.) 133

5 Indiana Tech 90

7 Cumberland (Tenn.) 83

7 Oklahoma City 83

7 Southeastern (Fla.) 83

10 Campbellsville (Ky.) 62

10 Graceland (Iowa) 62

12 Marian University (Ind.) 61

13 Cumberlands (Ky.) 60

13 Doane (Neb.) 60

15 Montana State-Northern 59

16 Eastern Oregon University 56

16 Missouri Valley 56

18 Ottawa University 50

19 Lourdes (Ohio) 47

20 York (Neb.) 44

Recieving Votes: Vangaurd (Calif.) 42, Saint Mary (Kan.) 40, Arizona Christian 30, Providence (Mont.) 26, Warner Pacific (Ore.) 26, Baker (Kan.) 25, Briar Cliff (Iowa) 24, Concordia (Neb.) 23, Southern Oregon 22, Bluefield (Ga.) 21, Hastings (Neb.) 21, Texas Wesleyan 20, Williams Baptist (Ark.) 20, William Penn (Iowa) 19. Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 17, Thomas Moore (Ky.) 16, Midway (Ky.) 15, Morningside (Iowa) 15, Dickinson State (N.D.) 14, Northwestern (Iowa) 13, Corban (Ore.) 12, Rochester (Mich.) 10, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 8, Simpson (Calif.) 7, Life Pacific (Calif.) 5, Lincoln (Ill.) 4, Midland (Neb.) 3, Truett-McConnell (Ga.) 3, Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) 2.