The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team went into the 2012 NAIA national tournament with a lot of confidence. And Northern went into the second day of the event riding high.
However, day two of the tournament proved to be the Lights’ undoing as Northern suffered a series of dramatic setbacks, which ultimately led to the Lights finishing in seventh place with 73.5 points at the end of the three-day national tourney in Des Moines, Iowa.
“Seventh place is an improvement,” Northern head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “But on the other hand, this hurts pretty bad. You invest a lot emotionally in these guys and to see some of the things that happened to us, I just feel so bad for these guys. They are a great group and I’m proud of every single one of them for what they’ve given to our program.”
The first stunner for the Lights was defending national champion Evan Hinebauch losing in the 184-pound quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. Hinebauch was tied with Campblesville's Allen Scruggs on points, but he was down three seconds of riding time, which is a gut-wrenching way to lose a hard-fought match. Hinebauch had battled injuries the last month of the season, but made no excuses, and instead, he showed his true character by coming back to place third, beating the tournament’s No. 1 seed, as well as Brian Block, the man who beat Hinebauch earlier this season, on his way to the consolation championship.
With his third-place finish, Hinebauch joined a select club at Northern as a four-time NAIA All American.
“I’ve had a great career,” Hinebauch said. “I’ve had years of tough matches and big wins. This weekend didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but that can happen in this sport. When you lose a match like the one I did on Friday, that’s when you find out how tough you are. So I’m pretty happy with the fact I came back and took third and I won my last match.
“Evan is composed when he wins and he is composed when he loses,” Thivierge added. “I’m so proud of him for just him being who he is. He bounced back and led us the rest of the tournament after that one loss and it was so important for our younger guys to see him do that. He’s just a very special kid and he has meant so much to this program.”
Things didn’t go as planned for fellow Northern senior Anthony Weerheim. Ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds, Weerheim cruised to Friday night’s semifinals, but then fell victim to an unusual circumstance against Campblesville's Chris Teague. Weerheim trailed Teague 8-5 late in the match but rallied to tie it at 8-8 with :15 left. However, Weerheim may have thought he was down by one point and gave up a late escape which sent Teague to the championship match. Weerheim battled back to place fourth overall, but his goal was to win a national championship and for the second straight season, it just didn't happen for Weerheim, who's been brilliant with the Lights.
“You feel so bad for an Anthony Weerheim and Evan Hinebauch because they are leaders, they lead our team by example and they fell short of their goal this week. Both those losses were so close and so tough to take. As a coach, it just hurts to see those things happen to your kids because they invest so much in you and you invest so much in them. But I couldn’t be more proud of both of those guys. They are great people, great leaders and have meant so much to our program."
MSU-N had four wrestlers reach the quarterfinals with Ethan Hinebauch (165) going on to reach the semis before falling. Hinebauch wound up sixth, earning NAIA All-American in his first year at the national tournament. Mickey Cheff (157) lost in the quarterfinals and came within one match of earning All-American status as well. At 174 pounds, sophomore Max Payne lost early, but battled back to place eighth and earn All American.
Beau LaSalle, Cameron Neiss, Jared Miller and Kody Reed also scored points for the Lights over the weekend.
“It was a tough weekend,” Thivierge said. “A few guys probably didn’t wrestle to their potential and we had some upsets along the way. But there were also positives. Mickey Cheff once again wrestled phenonomonal, and overall, we had a lot of coaches coming up and telling us how impressed they were with our team, with our mentality and how composed our guys were this week. That means a lot. And we had a young team who learned a lot this season and lot this weekend. So I feel like the future is certainly looking good for us.”
Grand View captured the NAIA national championship with 172 points. Southern Oregon was a distant second with 141 and Campblesville was third with 121.5.
Northern’s rival, the Great Falls Argos finished sixth with 90 points. Former Havre Blue Pony Myles Mazurkiewicz reached the 141-pound semifinals before falling to teammate Anthony Varnell, who wound up winning his second straight national title. Mazurkiewicz came back to finish sixth, earning NAIA All American for the second time in his career.
2012 NAIA National Tournament
at Des Moines, Iowa
Final Team Scores
1. Grand View 172.0, 2. Southern Oregon 141.0, 3. Campbellsville 121.5, 4. Lindsey Wilson 96.5, 5. Oklahoma 94.0, 6. Great Falls 91.0, 7. Montana State-Northern 73.5, 8. Missouri Valley 67.5, 9. Midland 67.0, 10. Missouri Baptist 64.5, 11. Baker 60.0, 12. Morningside 52.5, 13. Dickinson State 49.0, 14. Cumberlands 46.5, 15. Shorter 40.0, 16. Indiana Tech 39.5, 17. William Penn 33.0, 18. York 30.0, 19. Concordia 29.0, Northwestern 29.0, 21. Wayland Baptist 26.5, 22. Waldorf 25.5, 23. Menlo 25.0, 24. Bethany 21.5, Jamestown 21.5, 26. Dakota Wesleyan 18.5, 27. Embry-Riddle 14.0, 28. Cumberland 12.0, 29. Hannibal-LaGrange 9.0, 30. Hastings 4.5, 31. Bacone 4.0, Central Baptist 4.0, 33. Truett-McConnell 3.5, 34. Briar Cliff 2.5, 35. Calumet St. Joseph 0.0.
125 - Riley Miller
Deteoreious Prayther (Missouri Baptist) won by major decision over Riley Miller, MSU-Northern, (Maj 12-4); Isaiah Mayorquin (William Penn) won by decision over Riley Miller, MSU-Northern, (Dec 5-3)
133 – Cameron Neiss
Cameron Neiss, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Travis Barroquillo (Indiana Tech) won by decision over Cameron Neiss, MSU-Northern, (Dec 6-3); Cameron Neiss, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Cameron Neiss, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Jeff Ohnemus (Waldorf) (Pin 1:34); Scott Schlosser, UGF, won by decision over Cameron Neiss, MSU-Northern, (Dec 1-0)
141 – Anthony Weerheim
(4th Place, All American)
Anthony Weerheim, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Anthony Weerheim, MSU-Northern, won by tech fall over Christian Hernandez (Bacone College) (TF 16-1); Anthony Weerheim, MSU-Northern, won by major decision over Isaac Thomas (Lindsey Wilson) (Maj 13-2); Anthony Weerheim, MSU-Northern, won by decision over Nick Coffman (Grand View) (Dec 3-2); Chris Teague (Campbellsville) won by decision over Anthony Weerheim, MSU-Northern (Dec 9-8) (sf); Weerheim maj. dec. G. Martinez (Grand View), 9-1; Consolation final: Weerheim pinned by D. Riley of LWC, 4:51.
149 – Beau LaSalle
Beau Lasalle, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Beau Lasalle, MSU-Northern, won by decision over Cody Green (Midland) (Dec 5-4); Anthonie Linares (Cumberlands) won by pin over Beau Lasalle, MSU-Northern, (Pin 6:42); Matt Milton (Campbellsville) won by pin over Beau Lasalle, MSU-Northern, (Pin 1:07)
149 – James Petersen
James Peterson, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Bradley Steele (Dickinson State) won by pin over James Peterson, MSU-Northern, (Pin 5:38); James Peterson, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Matt Milton (Campbellsville) won by pin over James Peterson, MSU-Northern, (Pin 3:21)
157 – Mickey Cheff
Mickey Cheff, MSU-Northern, won by tech fall over Tyler Schaefer (Northwestern) (TF 16-1); Mickey Cheff, MSU-Northern, won by decision over Joseph Goolsby (Central Baptist) (Dec 6-5); Mickey Cheff, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Harrison Courtney (Lindsey Wilson) (Pin 4:21); Conor Young (Campbellsville) won by tech fall over Mickey Cheff, MSU-Northern, (TF 17-0); Colby Crank (Bethany) won by decision over Mickey Cheff, MSU-Northern (Dec 11-7).
165 – Ethan Hinebauch
(6th Place, All American)
Ethan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Ethan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Anthony Martinez (William Penn) (Pin 1:11); Ethan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by injury default over Isaiah Williams (Missouri Baptist) (Inj.); Ethan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by decision over Jared Wildeboer (Morningside) (Dec 6-4); Kevin Hardy (Oklahoma City) won by pin over Ethan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern (Pin :35) (sf); losy by maj. dec. B. Lemmon (Southern Oregon), 9-1; Fifth-Sixth Match: lost by maj. dec. D. Jackson (MVU), 13-1.
174 – Max Payne
(8th Place, All American)
Max Payne, MSU-Northern, received a bye; Joseph Stephens (Lindsey Wilson) won by decision over Max Payne, MSU-Northern, (Dec 11-6); Max Payne, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Rowen Stander (Midland) (Pin 2:53); Max Payne, MSU-Northern, won by tech fall over Tyler Sarringar (Dakota Wesleyan) (TF 20-5); Max Payne, MSU-Northern, won by decision over James Haywood (Lindenwood) (Dec 4-3); Tanner Martin (Indiana Tech), won by major decision over Max Payne, MSU-Northern, 20-11. Seventh-Eighth Match: pinned by J. Sievert, 5:35.
174 – Jared Miller
Jared Miller, MSU-Northern, won by major decision over Dominic Smothers (Dakota Wesleyan) (Maj 11-0); Ty Knowler (Grand View) won by pin over Jared Miller, MSU-Northern, (Pin 3:36); Andrew Carter-Johnson (Missouri Baptist) won by pin over Jared Miller, MSU-Northern, (Pin 3:37)
184 – Kody Reed
Kody Reed, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Eric Johnson (Calumet St. Joseph) (Pin 2:39); Brian Block (Morningside) won by decision over Kody Reed, MSU-Northern, (Dec 7-0); Kody Reed, MSU-Northern, won by major decision over Dan Capp (Hannibal-LaGrange) (Maj 11-1); C.J. Berry (Bacone College) won by decision over Kody Reed, MSU-Northern, (Dec 8-7)
184 – Evan Hinebauch
(3rd Place, All American)
Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by decision over Dan Capp (Hannibal-LaGrange) (Dec 9-4); Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Jesse Hellinger (Dickinson State) (Pin 5:37); Allen Scruggs (Campbellsville) won by decision over Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, (Dec 4-3); Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Jeremy Gardner (Cumberlands) (Pin 4:19); Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern, won by pin over Jarid Price (Baker) (Pin 1:53); won by dec. Weston Keleher (MBU), 2-0; Consolation Final: won by dec. Brian Block, 8-2.
