Lights move in NAIA Poll

The Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams are coming off blowout wins over Dickinson State University. But neither team received much favor in this week's NAIA Coaches Polls.

On the men's side, the 12-2 Lights dropped from No. 17 to No. 19 in this week's poll, despite a 30-point over the Blue Hawks last Thursday night in Havre. The Lights are on a six-game winning streak and don't play again until they host the AmericInn Classic Dec. 29-30. Westminster is the only other Frontier team to be in the Top 25. The Griffins moved up to No. 10 in this week's poll. UM-Western and UGF received votes this week.

Once again, the Skylights (10-1) were completely left out of this week's women's poll, inexplicably. Northern continued its roll this season by dismantling DSU by 24 points on Thursday night, yet the Skylights didn't even receive a vote this week. Lewis-Clark State moved up to No. 4 in the poll while Rocky Mountain College stayed at No. 24. Westminster and UM-Western received votes.

In wrestling, the MSU-Northern Lights moved back to No. 8 in this week's NAIA Coaches Poll. The Lights were in a tie at No. 9 last week. UGF was the big mover of the week. After defeating Northern last Tuesday in Great Falls, the Argos climbed all the way to No. 2 in the latest poll, which Southern Oregon is back on top of.

Northern's ranked wrestlers this week are: Evan Hinebauch at No. 1 at 184 pounds, Ethan Hinebauch at No. 3 at 165, Anthony Weerheim at No. 4 at 149, Cameron Neiss at No. 4 at 133, Jared Miller at No. 7 at 174 and Max Payne No. 10 at 174. The MSU-Northern wrestlers are back in action this weekend at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

In other Frontier Conference news, Montana Tech's Brian Cummings was named Men's Basketball Player of the Week, while LC State's Kirsi Voshell received the women's honor.

The Skylight basketball team is back at home this weekend hosting the annual Duck Inn Classic, though there are schedule changes. Northern was set to play three games in three days, but one team decided not to make the trip to Havre. So the Skylights will play Hope International at 8 p.m. on Thursday night and Minot State at 4 p.m. on Saturday. There will also be games at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Those games feature Carroll College, Hope, Minot and UGF.

NAIA Men's Top 25

Rec. Pts. Prv.

1. Concordia (Calif.) 9-0 309 1

2. Robert Morris 10-0 304 1

3. Oklahoma Baptist 9-0 293 3

4. Shorter (Ga.) 11-0 282 5

5. Rogers State 8-0 265 6

6. Georgetown (Ky.) 11-1 261 4

7. Texas Wesleyan 6-1 258 7

8. Martin Methodist 9-2 236 8

9. Azusa Pacific 7-2 233 10

10. Westminster 10-2 215 11

11. Mountain State (W. Va.) 9-4 212 9

12. Cumberlands (Ky.) 9-2 198 12

13. Southern Poly (Ga.) 8-2 192 18

14. Evangel (Mo.) 10-2 181 14

15. Biola 7-2 163 15

16. Southern Nazarene 6-2 161 13

17. Freed-Hardeman 9-3 155 19

18. Lindsey Wilson 7-3 136 16

19. MSU-Northern 12-2 130 17

20. John Brown 10-2 116 20

21. Xavier (La.) 6-2 112 NR

22. Saint Xavier 6-2 112 23

23. Our Lady of Lakes 7-3 70 24

24. Fresno Pacific 6-3 62 25

25. Campbelsville 8-3 61 NR

Others receiving votes: Tougaloo (Miss.) 58; SAGU (Texas) 50; Columbia (Mo.) 40; Montana Western 31; Cumberland (Tenn.) 19; Oklahoma Christian 17; Shawnee State (Ohio) 14; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 6; Baker (Kan.) 5; Westmont (Calif.) 5; Great Falls (Mont.) 1; Lee (Tenn.) 1; Hope International (Calif.) 1; Oklahoma City 1; Spring Hill (Ala.) 1; Voorhees (S.C.) 1; Pikeville (Ky.) 1.

NAIA Women's Top 25

Rec. Pts. Prv.

1. Oklahoma City 7-0 281 1

2. Union (Tenn.) 11-1 272 2

3. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 9-2 263 4

4. Lewis-Clark State 9-1 252 5

5. Westmont (Calif.) 10-1 243 6

6. Shawnee State 10-2 233 7

7. Langston (Okla.) 9-0 226 8

8. Vanguard (Calif.) 6-1 215 10

9. Lee (Tenn.) 9-1 207 9

10. Saint Xavier (Ill.) 9-2 195 13

11. Azusa Pacific 5-3 192 3

12. Campbelsville 9-3 188 14

13. Olivet Nazarene 10-2 170 11

14. Cumberlands (Ky.) 10-1 169 15

15. Southern Nazarene 6-3 156 16

16. Xavier (La.) 7-3 143 17

17. Lubbock Christian 6-3 136 19

18. Shorter (Ga.) 9-1 128 18

19. Bethel (Tenn.) 6-4 112 12

20. Georgetown (Ky.) 10-3 102 21

21. Robert Morris 9-1 100 22

22. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 8-3 89 25

23. Columbia (Mo.) 8-4 86 20

24. Rocky Mountain 10-2 68 24

25. Rogers State 9-3 52 NR

Others receiving votes: William Woods (Mo.) 46; Biola (Calif.) 39; Loyola (La.) 32; Avila (Mo.) 22; Belhaven (Miss.) 19; LSU Shreveport (La.) 12; Lyon (Ark.) 6; Park (Mo.) 5; Westminster (Utah) 4; Benedictine (Kan.) 3; St. Gregory's (Okla.) 3; Montana Western 1; The Master's (Calif.) 1; St. Francis (Ill.) 1; St. Catharine (Ky.) 1.

NAIA Top 25 Wrestling Poll

Pts. Prv.

1. Southern Oregon 101.5 1

2. Great Falls 95 7

3. Grand View 94.5 4

4. Campbelsville 88.5 1

5. Oklahoma City 79.5 7

6. Lindsey Wilson 79 5 6

7. Midland (Neb.) 68.5 9

8. MSU-Northern 67 9

9. Morningside 44.5 9

10. Baker (Kan.) 44 14

11. Missouri Valley 35.5 11

12. Missouri Baptist 30 12

13. Northwestern 26.5 15

14. Dakota Wesleyan 24 15

15. William Penn 20 15

16. Embry-Riddle 19.5 16

17. Shorter (Ga.) 19 NR

18. Cumberlands 16 19

19. Concordia (Neb.) 13.5 18

20. Menlo (Calif.) 10 20

20. Indiana Tech 10 22

Others receiving votes: Dickinson State (N.D.) 9; Waldorf (Iowa) 7; Jamestown (N.D.) 1.5; York (Neb.) 1.