Northern wrestling wins duals on Arizona road trip

As the regular season soon comes to an end, the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team looks to be performing at its best before the postseason. This past weekend, the Lights went on a road trip to Arizona where they competed in several duals.

The Lights won all three of their Cascade Conference duals as they won, 47-0, against Arizona Christian University, 28-19, against Embry-Riddle University and, 33-11, against Vanguard University.

The No. 8 Lights started their Arizona trip Friday night with their dual at ACU. The dual started with a match between MSU-N wrestler Riley DeVries and ACU wrestler James Mehara who wrestled in the 125-pound weight class. It was a tight match, but DeVries won, 10-6, for a decision over Maheras. The win gave the Lights a 3-0 lead to start the dual.

At 133 pounds, MSU-N's Nick Kunz pinned Isaiah Marquez 4:40 into the match to give the Lights a 9-0 lead. MSU-N wrestler Martin Wilkie won, 6-0, against Trevor Downey in their match at 141 pounds. At 149 pounds, Colin Silverthorn pinned Grant Anderson 2:20 into the match to extend the lead to 18-0.

The Lights continued to take care of business. At 157 pounds, Connor Harris won by forfeit and Chase Short won, 18-1, for a technical fall against Josiah Opp at 165 pounds. Wrestling at 174 pounds, NaKoda Siegel won, 7-3, against Jacob Viera to extend the Lights' lead to 32-0.

At 184 pounds, Carl Hansen won by forfeit and Isaac Bartel pinned Michael Moreno 4:11 into their match at 197 pounds. In the final match, Rylan Moldenhauer won, 6-2, against Alejandro Mosqueda to give the Lights a 47-0 victory in the dual.

The Lights then competed in another dual Saturday which they won against No. 19 Embry-Riddle. The dual started with a match at 125 pounds between DeVries and Joshua Nira. Nira won the match with a pin 23 seconds in to give Embry-Riddle a 6-0 lead to start the dual.

At 133 pounds, Kunz pinned Jarett Jorgensen 4:55 into the match to tie the dual 6-6. At 141 pounds, Wilkie won, 12-1, for a major decision over Jonah Crew to give MSU-N a 10-6 lead in the dual. In a match at 149 pounds, Berit Sturgeon won by pin 1:41 into the match against Silverthorn to give Embry-Riddle a 12-10 lead.

The Lights took back the lead in the dual when Harris pinned James Williams 1:25 into their match at 157 pounds. But at 165 pounds, Keller Rock won, 9-3, against MSU-N wrestler Devin Crawford.

Over the next few matches, the Lights created some distance on the scoreboard. At 174 pounds, Siegel won, 4-1, against Stone Aguirre to give MSU-N a 19-15 lead in the dual. Hansen wrestled at 184 pounds and won, 6-3, against Destin Schroder. At 197 pounds, Bartel pinned Michael Densmore 1:15 into the match to give MSU-N a 28-15 lead. In the last match at 285 pounds, Garrette Branson won, 12-4, for a major decision over Rylan Moldenhauer.

The Lights competed in another dual Saturday against Vanguard University. The dual opened with DeVries winning by forfeit to give the Lights a 6-0 lead. Kunz then won by pin 3:35 into his match against Sunny Luna. Wilkie then pinned Steven Kroesen 1:42 in to give the Lights an 18-0 lead in the dual.

The next few matches did not go the Lights' way. Gabriel Cortez won, 3-2, against Silverthorn. Adam Valdez then won, 9-7, against Harris to cut the deficit to 18-6. Short picked up a win for the Lights when he won, 4-3, against Frederick Padilla. But Gerardo Hernandez won, 7-6, against MSU-N wrestler Rylin Burns to cut the Lights' lead to 21-9.

The Lights won the next two matches to put themselves in position to win the dual. Hansen won by pin 4:28 into his match against Baron Gaunt. Bartel then pinned Isaiah Hernandez 1:12 in to give the Lights a 33-9 lead in the dual. Michael Ruiz won, 5-3, against Moldenhauer to end the dual. An unsportsmanlike penalty took away a point from Vanguard, giving the Lights a 33-11 win in the dual.

The Lights will end the regular season with a dual against rival University of Providence in Billings this Thursday night.

MSU-N 47, ACU 0

125 - Riley DeVries, MSU-N, dec. James Maheras, 10-6; 133 - Nick Kunz, MSU-N, pinned Isaiah Marquez, 4:40; 141 - Martin Wilkie, MSU-N, dec. Trevor Downey, 6-0; 149 - Colin Silverthorn, MSU-N, pinned Grant Anderson, 2:20; 157 - Connor Harris, MSU-N, wins by FFT; 165 - Chase Short, MSU-N, tech. fall Josiah Opp, 18-1; 174 - NaKoda Siegel, MSU-N, dec. Jacob Viera, 7-3; 184 - Carl Hansen, MSU-N, wins by FFT; 197 - Isaac Bartel, MSU-N, pinned Michael Moreno, 4:11; 285 - Rylan Moldenhauer, MSU-N, dec. Alejandro Mosqueda, 6-2.

MSU-N 28, Embry-Riddle 19

125 - Joshua Nira, ER, pinned Riley DeVries, 0:23; 133 - Nick Kunz, MSU-N, pinned Jarrett Jorgensen, 4:55; 141 - Martin Wilkie, MSU-N, major dec. Jonah Chew, 12-1; 149 - Berit Sturgeon, ER, pinned Colin Silverthorn, 1:41; 157 - Connor Harris, MSU-N, pinned James Williams, 1:25; 165 - Keller Rock, ER< dec. Devin Crawford, 9-3; 174 - NaKoda Siegel, MSU-N, dec. Stone Aguirre, 4-1; 184 - Carl Hansen, MSU-N, dec. Destin Schroder, 6-3; 197 - Isaac Bartel, MSU-N, pinned Michael Densmore, 1:15; 285 - Garrette Branson, ER, major dec. Rylan Moldenhauer, 12-4.

MSU-N 33, Van 11

125 - Riley DeVries, MSU-N, wins by FFT; 133 - Nick Kunz, MSU-N, pinned Sunny Luna, 3:35; 141 - Martin Wilkie, MSU-N, pinned Steven Kroesen, 1:41; 149 - Gabriel Cortez, Van, dec. Colin Silverthorn, 3-2; 157 - Adam Valdez, Van, dec. Connor Harris, 9-7; 165 - Chase Short, MSU-N, dec. Frederick Padilla, 4-3; 174 - Gerardo Hernandez, Van, dec. Rylin Burns, 7-6; 184 - Carl Hansen, MSU-N, pinned Baron Gaunt, 4:28; 197 - Isaac Bartel, MSU-N, pinned Isaiah Hernandez, 1:12; 285 - Michael Ruiz, Van, dec. Rylan Moldenhauer, 5-3.