Third-ranked Lights head to Missouri

The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team is trending in the right direction for sure. Northern’s dominant win over Dickinson State last week, coupled with a new No. 3 NAIA ranking are definite signs of that.

But the Lights are also about to get their biggest and best test of the new year, and perhaps, the regular season thus far when they travel to this weekend’s Missouri Valley Invitational.

The Lights, who moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the new NAIA Coaches Poll, will be competing in Missouri against a national-tournament caliber field that includes 16 of the Top 20 teams in the new coaches poll. Northern, which is the defending champion of the tournament, will have to battle it out with grapplers from the likes of No. 1 Grand View, No. 2 Indiana Tech, No. 4 Campblesville, No. 6 Menlo, No. 7 Lindsey Wilson, No. 8 Oklahoma City, No. 19 William Baptist, as well as more ranked teams like Concordia (Neb.), Life (Ga.), Cumberlands, Midland (Neb.), Southeastern Florida, Morningside, Cumberland University, host Missouri Valley and Northwestern Iowa.

So no doubt, the field will be loaded with quality grapplers, but that’s also exactly what the Lights are looking for as they hit the stretch run of their 2016-17 season.

Northern will also be bringing five ranked wrestlers to Missouri, including seniors Ben Stroh and Taylor Kornoely. Stroh is ranked No. 2 at 184 pounds and could end up facing top-ranked Charles Sharon of Campbellsville this weekend. Kornoely is the No. 2-ranked heavyweight, and he is likely headed for a showdown with Grand View’s Dean Broghammer, the top-ranked 285-pounder who beat Kornoely in the NAIA championship last season.

Northern’s Brandon Weber also moved up one spot to No. 5 at 157 pounds in the coaches poll, while Matt Weber remained at No. 6 at 141. Andrew Bartel is also ranked No. 8 at 165 pounds for the Lights, who will head to Missouri today to compete in the two-day tournament that features a total of 45 teams.

The Missouri Valley Invite, which runs Friday and Saturday, is the start of a busy stretch for the Lights, who also wrestle at the Tyler Plummer Classic in Dickinson, North Dakota, next Saturday, before heading south to take on Embry-Riddle Feb. 2, then coming back to Montana for a rematch with UGF Feb. 8 in Great Falls.

NAIA Wrestling Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Pts.

1 1 Grand View (Iowa) 188

2 2 Indiana Tech 71

3 5 MSU-Northern 65

4 13 Campbellsville (Ky.) 61

5 9 Great Falls (Mont.) 56

6 4 Menlo (Calif.) 54

7 14 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 53

8 6 Oklahoma City 49

T9 3 Williams Baptist (Ark.) 46

T9 7 Southern Oregon 46

T11 11 Concordia (Neb.) 45.5

T11 16 Life (Ga.) 45.5

13 11 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 43

14 15 Cumberlands (Ky.) 40

15 9 Midland (Neb.) 38

16 19 Southeastern (Fla.) 33.5

17 18 Morningside (Iowa) 31.5

18 17 Cumberland (Tenn.) 28.5

19 8 Missouri Valley 26.5

20 RV Northwestern (Iowa) 26

Others receiving votes: Baker (Kan.) 25.5; Warner Pacific (Ore.) 24.5; Dickinson State (N.D.) 23; York (Neb.) 22.5; Eastern Oregon 18.5; Brewton –Parker (Ga.) 18; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 18; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 18; Benedictine (Kan.) 11.5; Hastings (Neb.) 9.5; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 7; Bacone (Okla.) 4; Doane (Neb.) 4; Simpson (Calif.) 3; Calumet (Ind.) 2.5; Lyon (Ark.) 2; Bethany (Kan.) 1.5.