Lights set to host Dickinson State for senior night dual

With just over a month before the Cascade Collegiate Championship, the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team hope to be wrestling at their best heading into that weekend. The Lights will hope to begin that upward trajectory tonight when they host Dickinson State University for a dual at Armory Gymnasium to begin the second half of their season.

"We're in the sprint part of our season now. It's no longer a marathon." MSU-N head coach Tyson Thivierge said. "I want to see us clean up mistakes that we're making in the first semester, have a high pace, look for bonus points in every aspect of the match and just have fun with it."

The dual will also be senior night for the MSU-N wrestling team. The No. 11 Lights will honor their seniors, Caleb Frank, Nick Kunz, Chase Short, Isaac Bartel and Rylan Moldenhauer for their contributions to the program over the years.

All five wrestlers are currently ranked in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Frank wrestles in the 125-pound weight class and is ranked eighth in his weight class. In the 133-pound weight class, Kunz is ranked fourth in the conference and is ranked eighth nationally. At 165 pounds, Short is ranked third in the conference and seventh in the nation. At 197 pounds, Bartel is the No. 1 ranked wrestler both in the conference and nationally. Moldenahuer is the eighth-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the conference. Bartel and Kunz are former NAIA national champions, while Short was also an All-American last season. All of the Lights being honored tonight have also been a big part of what Thivierge has built in his time at Northern, which is a top-notch NAIA program.

Tonight's dual will be the first time the Lights will wrestle in 2022. Thivierge believes the winter break was good for his team and they will be better for it the rest of their season.

"I think everybody's rejuvenated," Thivierge said. "We had a great week of practice last week. We did two a day for four of the five days, and we got back at it this week and the guys look fresh."

Dickinson State just started its season last month. In their little wrestling time, the Blue Hawks have gone 1-3 in their duals. During that time, they have wrestled and lost to teams such as Southern Oregon University and University of Providence, two teams that the Lights have already defeated in duals this season.

The Blue Hawks have some wrestlers who are ranked in the Heart of America Conference. Tayt Wolding is ranked sixth at 149 pounds and Jackson King is ranked sixth as he wrestles at 165 pounds. While they do not have many ranked wrestlers, Thivierge expects a tough battle tonight.

"They always come ready. It's always a battle," Thivierge said. "They're hard-nosed and it'll be a good kickoff to this half of the season."

While the Blue Hawks will put up a fight in Northern's final home dual of the season, one of the Lights' greatest challenges this season will come Sunday when they travel to Belgrade to face NCAA Division I Iowa State University. The Cyclones are ranked 11th in the nation and are 4-1 in duals to start the season.

The dual against a top program in the nation was set up with the help of Terry Degen of Belgrade. His son, Jarrett, currently wrestles for the Cyclones and was a four-time state champion in high school so Terry Degen helped set up this weekend's dual. The Lights were supposed to wrestle against the Cyclones last year but it was canceled because of COVID-19.

The Cyclones have many strong wrestlers on their team, but several of their starters will not wrestle against the Lights Sunday. Since he will be returning to his home state, Degen will wrestle against the Lights. Charlie Klepps will also wrestle Sunday since he is a Billings native. Thivierge expects it to still be a tough dual and hopes to see his wrestlers compete against a top-tier program, just as the Lights did when they hosted NCAA powerhouse Iowa Hawkeyes in the Armory Gymnasium several years ago.

"(I just want the) guys to go out there and not worry about the singlet across from them. Fear is a factor when it comes to wrestling a Division I opponent, especially one with a storied program like Iowa State," Thivierge said. "I'm looking for my guys to go out there and compete. Doesn't matter the logo on the singlet. The kids' rank in Division I doesn't matter. Just go out there and compete and have confidence in their abilities."

The Lights will dual Dickinson State tonight at 7 at Armory Gymnasium. The Lights will then head to Belgrade to dual Iowa State Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cyclones will also wrestle Providence Sunday as well.