Lights finish fourth at tough Missouri Valley Invite

The Montana State University-Northern Lights moved up to No. 7 in the most recent NAIA Coaches Poll. And Northern proved what a powerhouse it is right now with a strong showing at the prestigious Missouri Valley Invitational this past weekend.

The Lights finished forth in the team competiton, while putting their grapplers the podium. The tournament is one of the single toughest NAIA fields in the regular season with 38 teams entered. Northern scored 96 points, while Grand View was first with 156.5, followed by Life and Cumberlands.

Indivudally, the Lights were led by top-ranked Isaac Bartel, who won the 197-pound bracket. Bartel pinned Cumberland’s Gabe Jacobs in the first period of his championship match.

Joining Bartel on the podium was a pair of third-place finishers for Northern. Senior Nick Kunz took third at 133 pounds. In the consolation final, Kunz beat Southern Oregon rival Josh Coon, 4-0. Chase Short also finished third at 165 pounds. Short reached the semifinals, before ending up third with a win over Menlo’s Ryan Leong in the consolation final. NaKoda Siegel added a fourth-place finish for the Lights.

MSU-N is right back in tournament action this weekend with the Tyler Plummer Classic at Dickinson State.

133 - Nick Kunz's place is 3rd and has scored 20.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye Champ. Round 2 - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Jonathan Halk (York (Neb.)) (Fall 0:45) Champ. Round 3 - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Jesse Gaytan (Menlo (Calif.)) (Fall 0:00) Quarterfinal - Keegan Slyter (Life University) won by decision over Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 7-4) Cons. Round 6 - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Xavier Williamson (Southeastern) (Fall 5:47) Cons. Round 7 - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Gabriel Howard (Briar Cliff (Iowa)) (Dec 3-1) Cons. Semi - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Evan Potter (Southern Oregon) (Dec 8-5) 3rd Place Match - Nick Kunz (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Justin Coon (Southern Oregon) (Dec 4-0)

149 - Colin Silverthorn's place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Colin Silverthorn (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - John Diener (Morningside (Iowa)) won by fall over Colin Silverthorn (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 0:00) Cons. Round 2 - Colin Silverthorn (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 3 - Jesus Murillo (Jamestown (N.D.)) won by decision over Colin Silverthorn (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 11-6)

149 - Georgino Moraga's place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Georgino Moraga (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Levi Green (Baker (Kan.)) won by decision over Georgino Moraga (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 6-2) Cons. Round 2 - Conrado Lopez (Simpson (Calif.)) won by fall over Georgino Moraga (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 2:10)

157 - Connor Harris' place is unknown and has scored 7.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Connor Harris (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye)Champ. Round 2 - Connor Harris (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Turner Black (Cumberlands (Ky.)) (Fall 0:00) Champ. Round 3 - Connor Harris (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Edward Punzalan (Northwestern (Iowa)) (Fall 0:00) Quarterfinal - Israel Casarez (Grand View (Iowa)) won by major decision over Connor Harris (Montana State-Northern) (Maj 14-5) Cons. Round 6 - Carlo Castagnaro (Arizona Christian University) won by decision over Connor Harris (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 6-1)

165 - Devin Crawford's place is unknown and has scored 4.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Weston Milnes (Cumberlands (Ky.)) won by fall over Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 1:29) Cons. Round 2 - Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 3 - Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 4 - Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) won by tech fall over Joel Anguiano (Williams Baptist) (TF 22-7) Cons. Round 5 - Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Tyler Norton (Midway University ) (Maj 14-4) Cons. Round 6 - Keller Rock (Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)) won by decision over Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 5-3)

165 - Chase Short's place is 3rd and has scored 17.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Blake Pomajzl (Northwestern (Iowa)) (Maj 12-0) Champ. Round 3 - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Keegan Miller-Page (York (Neb.)) (Dec 8-1) Quarterfinal - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Taygen Smith (Hastings (Neb.)) (Dec 3-1) Semifinal - Marty Margolis (Grand View (Iowa)) won by decision over Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 6-1) Cons. Semi - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) won by medical forfeit over Miguel Angel Hernandez (Life University) (MFF) 3rd Place Match - Chase Short (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Rysan Leong (Menlo (Calif.)) (Dec 7-6)

174 - Rylin Burns' place is unknown and has scored 4.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Jabril Williams (Midway University ) (Fall 0:00) Champ. Round 3 - Alex Reynolds (Grand View (Iowa)) won by tech fall over Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) (TF 16-1) Cons. Round 4 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Jakob Francksen-Small (Northwestern (Iowa)) (Dec 10-4) Cons. Round 5 - Stone Aguirre (Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)) won by medical forfeit over Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) (MFF)

174 - NaKoda Siegel's place is 4th and has scored 15.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Andrew Taylor (Thomas More) (Dec 6-3) Champ. Round 3 - Kj Swanson (Providence (Mont.)) won by decision over NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 3-1) Cons. Round 4 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Tommy StJohn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) (Dec 11-9) Cons. Round 5 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by tech fall over Ben Watson (Graceland University) (TF 17-0) ns. Round 6 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won in overtime over Dracius McKee (Texas Wesleyan) (OT 6-5 Cons. Round 7 - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won in overtime over Gerardo Hernandez (Vanguard University) (OT 3-1) Cons. Semi - NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Armon Fayyazi (Vanguard University) (Dec 6-4)NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 8-6).

184 - Jett Jones' place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Jett Jones (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Sam Osho (Marian University (IN)) won by fall over Jett Jones (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 0:00) Cons. Round 2 - Jett Jones (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 3 - Baron Gaunt (Vanguard University) won by decision over Jett Jones (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 8-2)

197 - Isaac Bartel's place is 1st and has scored 27.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Liam Swanson (Providence (Mont.)) (Dec 8-1) Champ. Round 3 - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Jacob Spiess (Cleary University ) (Fall 0:00) Quarterfinal - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Jacob Brandt (Indiana Tech) (Fall 6:45) Semifinal - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Hunter DeJong (Morningside (Iowa)) (Dec 6-0) 1st Place Match - Isaac Bartel (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over Gabe Jacobs (Cumberlands (Ky.)) (Fall 2:56)

285 - Rylan Moldenhauer's place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Champ. Round 2 - Kc Buday (Providence (Mont.)) won by decision over Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 5-3) Cons. Round 2 - Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye) Cons. Round 3 - Henry Jones (Hastings (Neb.)) won by fall over Rylan Moldenhauer (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 0:00).