Lights dominate the mats against Northwest College

Last week's season opening dual was a disappointing start for the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team as it resulted in a 21-20 loss to North Idaho College. Heading into the home opening dual Tuesday night at Armory Gymnasium, the Lights were looking for a stronger performance. With their 25-0 win over Northwest College Tuesday, MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge was excited to see his wrestlers bounce back.

"We did something we didn't do against North Idaho, we went out there and were on the attack," Thivierge said. "We weren't waiting for stuff. We were the ones pursuing points and it was good to see us rebound like that. Another stepping stone to our next dual."

The dual started with a match between MSU-N wrestler Rylan Moldenhauer and NWC wrestler Traycee Norman who wrestled in the 285-pound weight class. Moldenhauer emerged from the match with an 8-4 victory to give the Lights a 3-0 lead in the dual.

MSU-N's Kaleb Frank then wrestled Ivan Lee at 125 pounds. Frank got after it early as he took a 16-0 lead to win by technical decision in the first period to give MSU-N an 8-0 lead. After last week's loss to North Idaho, Frank got after it in practice leading up to Tuesday night.

"Just good preparation all week," Frank said. "We had a rough go last week so we just fixed our mistakes from last Friday and carried it over tonight and came out on top."

Wrestling at 133 pounds, MSU-N wrestler Nick Kunz defeated Avery McSpadden in a win by pin in the first period to extend the team's lead to 14-0. At 141 pounds, MSU-N wrestler Martin Wilkie defeated Kendall Cummings but it was far from easy. Cummings took a 6-0 lead in the first period but Wilkie recorded some takedowns and escapes to tie the match, 6-6, in the second period. He then won by a pin to complete the comeback.

"Just wrestled with my head screwed on straight," Wilkie said about coming back from the 6-0 deficit. "Just kind of slowed down the pace and got to my shots and the match went in my favor after that."

In the final match of the dual, MSU-N wrestler Isaac Bartel and Rylan Blackburn wrestled at 197 pounds. Bartel got off to a hot start as he took a 13-2 lead in the second period. He went on to build his lead to 18-3 before winning by a technical decision in the third period. The night ended with an exhibition match at 285 pounds that saw MSU-N's Mathias Holen win by pin in the second period over Norman.

There were several matches that were left open on the night. MSU-N wrestlers Connor Harris, Devin Crawford, Nakoda Siegel and Carl Hansen did not have an opponent to face while Georgino Moraga's scheduled match against Gus Harrison did not go through.

With the win, Thivierge believes the Lights are putting things together and showing improvement. He believes this will prove beneficial as the Lights will next wrestle against the University of Providence next Wednesday night.

"Just another opportunity to sharpen our skills before we see Providence next week. We shift our focus right now as this dual's over, our focus shifts to Providence," Thivierge said. "Our guys are getting better every time they step on the mat, so we just got to keep building and getting better."

The Lights will next hit the mats next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium against UP.