By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
Sometimes it seems as if the words: "NCAA Division I" can be a little intimidating for NAIA schools and athletes going up against schools with that affiliation.
It's tough to forget about that little moniker, no matter how hard you try. And it even affects dominant NAIA programs like the MSU-Northern wrestling team.
The Lights were beaten by a pair of NCAA Division I schools on Sunday in Boise, Idaho.
In the first dual against Cal-State Fullerton, Northern had its opportunities to beat the Titans, but ended up falling 23-17.
The Lights lost two very tough matches at 165 pounds and 184 that hurt their chances of getting a win.
At 165 pounds, Northern's Dale Seley lost a hardfought 11-9 decision Shawn Reilly in overtime.
At 184 pounds, Jesse Juarez led 3-0 in his match against Jesse Taylor. However, Juarez got caught in a bad some bad situations and ended up losing 8-3. The Lights were also put in a bad situation when Chris Smith was forced to medically default at 141 pounds with a knee injury.
"I really thought we would bounce back after a lackluster performance on Thursday night against North Idaho College," Ray said. "Obviously, I made the wrong assumption. It's that mentality of competing against a Division I school. We just came in intimidated."
Northern picked up wins from Brian Luna at 133, Stryder Davis at 157 and Chase Gormley at heavyweight.
Luna dominated Paul Tice scoring a 19-4 technical fall. Davis scored a 7-3 decision over Angelo Lago, while Gormley decisioned Chris Chambers 6-2.
"We had our chances," he said. "Both Seley and Juarez were leading 3-0 in their matches, but couldn't finish them off. Dale made a few little mistakes. And Jesse knows what he did wrong."
While Northern had its opportunities at knocking off Cal-State Fullerton, the same could not be said against Boise State.
The Broncs made quick work of the Lights with a 34-7 win.
Northern won just two matches in the dual as Davis picked up a tough 7-5 decision over Luke Salazar. Juarez rebounded from the tough loss with a 10-0 major decision over Jason Cates.
"I truly felt we could split with each team, but sometimes having the affiliation of NCAA Division I can be intimidating," Ray said. "And it seemed to affect us."
There was a salvageable moment for Ray from the weekend after he found out that Fullerton defeated Boise 28-17.
"It shows that matchups make a big difference," Ray said. "But we beat ourselves mentally before we even stepped on the mat against Boise."
Northern was scheduled to attend the DAC-10 duals this weekend, but they have been cancelled. The Lights will be in action again on Feb. 9 when they host the University of Great Falls in their final home appearance of the season.
CAL-STATE FULLERTON 23, MSU-NORTHERN 17
125 - Jesse Miramontes, CSF tech. fall Zach Morgan, MSU-N 17-2
133 - Brian Luna, MSU-N tech. fall Paul Tice, CSF 19-4
141 - Juan Mora CSF injury def. Chris Smith, MSU-N
149 - Jeff Silva, CSF dec. Dustyn Azure, MSU-N 9-5
157 - Stryder Davis, MSU-N dec. Angelo Lago, CSF 7-3
165 - Shawn Reilly, CSF dec. Dale Seley, MSU-N 11-9 OT
174 - Leonel Sanchez, CSF dec. Ryan Mattingly, MSU-N 12-5
184 - Jesse Taylor, CSF dec. Jesse Juarez, MSU-N 8-3
197 - Brian Fritchman, MSU-N win by forfeit
HWT - Chase Gormley, MSU-N dec. Chris Chambers, CSF 6-2
BOISE ST 34, MSU-NORTHERN 7
125 - A.Hochstrasser, BSU tech. fall Zach Morgan, MSU-N 15-0
133 - Scott Jorgenson, BSU dec. Brian Luna, MSU-N 10-4
141 - Jacob Scoles, BSU win by forfeit
149 - Ben Cherrington, BSU major dec. Dustyn Azure, MSU-N 14-0
157 - Stryder Davis, MSU-N dec. Luke Salazar, BSU 7-5
165 - Russel Brunson, BSU pinned Dale Seley, MSU-N 3:53
174 - Ben Gilliland, BSU dec. Aaron Jensen, MSU-N 6-4
184 - Jesse Juarez, MSU-N major dec. Jaston Cates, BSU 10-0
197 - Casey Phelps, BSU major dec. Brian Fritchman, MSU-N 18-4
HWT - Justin Moody, BSU dec. Chase Gormley, MSU-N 2-1
