George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
It may not jump off the page at you, and no one is going to put it up in lights, but the Montana State University- Northern wrestling teams’ 10th-place finish at the NAIA national championships this weekend was a big accomplishment, and one that MSU-N can build its future around. Northern survived one of the Midwest’s worst snowstorms in recent memory, and in many ways, the Lights hung tough in a loaded NAIA field at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The Lights finished the tournament, which was won by Lindenwood University, with 61 points. Embry- Riddle was second and Dickinson State was third. MSU-N’s rival, the University of Great Falls finished in sixth place with 93.5 points. The highlight of the weekend for MSU-N and second-year head coach Dan Troupe was the final round on Saturday night. Troupe sent two wrestlers into the finals in Cory Borges and Brian Fritchman. Both MSU-N grapplers came up short in their bid for a national title, but Troupe said that the team’s finish and the accomplishments of Borges and Fritchman made this year’s tournament a much-improved experience. “Having two wrestlers in the finals was a great experience for us,” Troupe said. “And it’s something we can build this program around in the future. I think finishing 10th was a great thing too. It was a vast improvement from last year and everything about this weekend was very positive.” Borges, who lost a heartbreaking 7-5 decision to defending champion Delrico Choates of Cumberland’s in the 125- pound championship match, was a catalyst for MSU-N’s move up the NAIA ladder this weekend. Unseeded coming into the tournament, Borges took out several nationally- ranked wrestlers on his way to the finals. He pinned fourth-ranked Cory Johnston of DSU in the second round and then beat Lindenwood’s Josh Sampo in the semifinals. “I am extremely proud of the way Cory Borges wrestled this weekend,” Troupe said. He had some really tough matches, and through it all, he stayed very aggressive and it took a lot of courage to wrestle the way he did. I mean, (Josh) Sampo is one of the best 125-pounders at any level and he beat him. And if Delrico Choates and Cory wrestled 10 times, I would say Cory wins nine of them. It just didn’t happen this time. “But Cory just had a great weekend,” he added. “And he is a guy we are going to build this program around for the next two years.” Fritchman, a junior captain at MSUN, was equally impressive in reaching the 197-pound final where he was pinned by Justin Schlecht of DSU. Schlecht was named the NAIA Wrestler of the Year after the tournament. “Brian is just amazing,” Troupe said. “He doesn’t care who he’s up against, he wrestles the same way and he got here through hard work and dedication. “Right now it’s a mismatch with him and Schlecht,” he added. “He is just that good of a wrestler. But Brian had a great tournament and I am really proud of the way he wrestled.” MSU-N senior Chris Smith and junior David Waters also reached the quarterfinals, and Smith came agonizingly close to making his second appearance in the NAIA finals. Smith lost in the 141-pound semifinals to Cumberlands’ Brad Cooper by way of a 5-3 decision. That loss came on the heels of a spectacular double-overtime win over McKendree’s Kyle Jahn in the quarterfinals. Smith rebounded from the loss to Cooper by finishing fifth. He defeated Jahn again in the fifth-place match. “Chris wrestled his heart out this weekend,” Troupe said. “He never quit trying to score points even after he lost in the semifinals. It’s tough because he was so close to winning the whole thing. It was just a few second and a few situations that didn’t go his way, or he probably would have won the tournament. But I am really proud of him because he battled through the adversity and finished strong.” Smith’s fifth-place finish was his second time earning All-American status in what was an embattled career at MSU-N. The often-injured Smith also finished second at 133 pounds during his freshman season. Waters, who reached the 174-pound quarterfinals, didn’t rebound to make All-American. After losing to eventual national champion John Salter of Lindenwood in the quarters, Waters dropped his next match in the loser-out round, falling one win short of placing. Northern’s only downfall was its lack of scoring in the wrestlebacks. No Light had an easy draw this weekend, but MSU-N expected to get more points at 133 pounds from Colt Heger and Mike McPeak. Both wrestlers looked good in winning first-round matches, but then both proceeded to lose close decisions in their next two matches. The Lights also got a first-round win for Josh Robinson at heavyweight before he lost twice. And Byron Kuylen (149) and Chad Seely (184) both scored in the wrestlebacks for the Lights, each winning once. “I thought we would score a few more points,” Troupe said. “But that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. “This was still a very good tournament for us,” he added. “And the biggest thing is, we have everybody but Chris Smith coming back. We accomplished a lot this season and this weekend, and we have a lot of positives we are going to build on.”
