Northern matmen storm back to beat Southern Oregon

The Montana State University-Northern Lights scored an exciting win over the Southern Oregon Raiders late Wednesday night in Ashland, Oregon.

In a dual that went down to the final match, the No. 20 Lights defeated the Raiders 20-19 in a Cascade Conference match.

Northern opened the dual with a major decision from Tanner Cook, as he won 19-6 at 125 pounds. Southern Oregon took the lead with a pin from second-ranked Evan Potter at 133 pounds, and the Raiders went ahead 9-4 when Derek Ramos beat Collin Silverthorn at 141 pounds. SOU added to its lead with a 12-4 decision from Aaron Gandara in a Top 10 match against Northern’s Martin Wilkie, while Dylan Stanley defeated Conner Harris at 157 pounds to give the Raiders a 16-4 edge.

Then the MSU-N comeback started.

At 165 pounds, Devin Crawford got a 7-0 decision, while NaKoda Siegel scored a big, 5-3 win over 10th-ranked Alex Hernandez at 174 to make the score 16-10. Austin Vanek then tied the dual for the Lights with a pin at 184 pounds and Carl Hansen followed that up with a 5-2 win at 197 to give Northern a 19-16 lead. SOU won a decision at 285 pounds to tie the dual at 19-19. The results of the dual ended up going to criteria where the Lights won on most points scored in the match.

In the exciting comeback, Northern also ended SOU’s unbeaten streak while the Lights improved to 4-1 in duals this season.

MSU-N returns to action today at the Reno NAIA Duals, where they face seventh-ranked Eastern Oregon and St. Ambrose. Northern will also compete in the Reno T.O.C. on Sunday.

Lights 20, Southern Oregon 19

125 – Tanner Cook, MSUN, major dec. Mitch Warren, 19-6. (0-4)

133 – No. 2 Evan Potter, SOU, p. Cooper Cook, 6:07. (6-4)

141 – Derek Ramos, SOU, dec. Colin Silverthorn, 8-2. (9-4)

149 – No. 7 Aaron Gandara, SOU, dec. No. 6 Martin Wilkie, 5-3. (12-4)

157 – Dylan Straley, SOU, major dec. No. 22 Connor Harris, 8-0. (16-4)

165 – No. 21 Devin Crawford, MSUN, dec. Ayden Wolgamott, 7-0. (16-7)

174 – No. 3 NaKoda Siegel, MSUN, dec. No. 10 Alex Hernandez, 5-3. (16-10)

184 – Austin Vanek, MSUN, p. Kabb Christensen, 6:26. (16-16)

197 – No. 22 Carl Hansen, MSUN, dec. Andrew Herrera, 5-2. (16-19)

285 – Antonio Garcia, SOU, dec. Ryan Moldenhauer, 7-2. (19-19)