Lights survive the Raiders on the mat

It had been nearly a month since the last time the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team had competed at home at Armory Gymnasium. During that time, the Lights had traveled to Colorado and Washington for competition. Thursday night, the Lights finally returned home and defeated Southern Oregon University, 26-21, in a dual. However, MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge was not satisfied with his team's performance.

"I don't think we performed to our best," Thivierge said. "We had some tough matches, not moving our feet well, getting taken down and giving up big points. Gave up a pin, attack and a major. We can't do that if we're going to continue to build and get better."

The Raiders got the better of the Lights in four of the first five matches of the night. In the opening match of the night, MSU-N's Kaleb Frank wrestled Francisco Barrera in the 125-pound weight class. Barrera got the jump on Frank early on and won the match, 12-1, to give SOU a 4-0 lead in the dual.

The second match did not go much better for the Lights when MSU-N's Nick Kunz faced off with Evan Potter at 133 pounds. Potter took an 8-2 lead before winning by pin in the third period to extend the SOU lead to 10-0.

Martin Wilkie finally got the Lights on the scoreboard when he wrestled Nick Peterson at 141 pounds. Wilkie dominated early to take a 12-2 lead into the third period. He then won by pin to cut the Lights' deficit to 10-6 in the dual.

But the next two matches did not go the Lights' way. Wrestling at 149 pounds, Travis Thorpe defeated MSU-N's Georgino Moraga, 5-2, to extend SOU's lead to 13-6. At 157 pounds, Aaron Gandara then won by technical fall in the third period over MSU-N's Connor Harris to make the SOU lead, 18-6, in the dual.

In the second half of the dual, the Lights went on to win four of the five remaining matches. Wrestling at 165 pounds, MSU-N's Chase Short dominated Max Miller to win by a technical fall in the second period to cut the Lights' deficit to 18-11. MSU-N's Nakoda Siegel followed up that match by defeating Noah Talavera, 17-6, at 174 pounds to cut the SOU lead to 18-15.

Wrestling at 184 pounds, Carl Hansen had another dominant match for the Lights as he won by technical fall in the second period over Ayden Wolgamott to give MSU-N a 20-18 lead in the dual.

"I've been working those armbars for a while," Hansen said about his strong performance. "I just know my stuff and my coach has taught me the way and I just kept grinding."

MSU-N's Isaac Bartel made even quicker work of his opponent as he won by pin in the first period over John White. Bartel credited his preparation for his win that extended the Lights' lead to 26-18.

"Just the mental preparation for the match," Bartel said. "Just going out there and just doing what I'm good at, getting into my shots and getting into my stuff."

In the last match of the night, MSU-N's Rylan Moldenhauer wrestled Jacob Bernstein at 285 pounds. While Bernstein defeated Moldenhauer, 2-1, the Lights won the dual, 26-21. With the win, the Lights improved to 3-1 in duals this season. While he was not happy with how the team performed against the Raiders, Thivierge did like that his upperweights were able to perform well to win the dual for the Lights.

"We were able to rebound. That's a positive thing," Thivierge said. "We got to get back to practice and think some things over and get better."

The Lights will next wrestle this Saturday at the Battle of the Rockies in Great Falls.

MSU-N 26, Southern Oregon University 21

125 - Francisco Barrera, SOU, dec. Kaleb Frank, MSU-N, 12-1; 133 - Evan Potter, SOU, pinned Nick Kunz, MSU-N; 141- Martin Wilkie, MSU-N, pinned Nick Peterson, SOU; 149 - Travis Thorpe, SOU, dec. Georgino Moraga, MSU-N, 5-2; 157 - Aaron Gandara, SOU, tech. fall Connor Harris, MSU-N, 15-0; 165 - Chase Short, MSU-N, tech. fall Max Miller, SOU, 17-2; 174 - Nakoda Siegel, MSU-N, dec. Noah Talavera, SOU, 17-6; 184 - Carl Hansen, MSU-N, tech. fall Ayden Wolgamott, SOU, 18-0; 197 - Isaac Bartel, MSU-N, pinned John White, SOU; 285 - Jacob Bernstein, SOU, dec. Rylan Moldenhauer, MSU-N, 2-1.