By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Jessie Schaeffer, Tyson Thivierge and Turk Lords notched first-place finishes for the MSU-Northern wrestling team at the 1999 Southern Colorado Open Sunday.
"It was very competitive down there and I think the guys did very well," said head coach David Ray.
Five Lights made it to the finals, but no team scores were kept at the open. Northern, the only team representing the NAIA, had its nearest competitor, NCAA Division I Air Force Academy, place two firsts with three finalists.
Abel Valdez, at 125 pounds, notched a second-place finish.
Lyle Cronk, at 149 pounds, finished third, Rudy James, wrestled unattached at 157 pounds, andEmmett Willson wrestled unattached at 174 pounds. Howard Mee, at 197 pounds, wrestled unattached and finished second.
"Jessie Schaeffer looked really well," Ray said. "He was a little hesitant at first, but I thought, after he broke out, he finished well."
Cronk, who finished third, lost the opening bout, but went to win six-straight en route to a 7-1 record on the day.
Fourteen teams were represented; two from the NCAA Division I, five from NCAA Division II, one from NCAA Division III, one from the NJCAA with Embry-Riddle University, and MSU-Northern of the NAIA.
Northwest champions Mark Lane and Sean Salmon did not compete at the duel.
Results
125 -- Abel Valdez, 2.
141 -- Jessie Schaeffer, 1; Josh Johnson 1-2.
149 -- Lyle Cronk, 3; Brent Riggin 4-2.
157 -- Rudy James, unattached, 4; Brendan Burns, 2-2.
165 -- Chris Hayes, 2-2; Kyle Fisher, 4-2, Casey Pinion, 2-2.
174 -- Emmett Willson, unattached, 4.
184 -- Tyson Thivierge, 1; Howard Mee, unattached, 2.
197 -- Turk Lords, 1; Dane Jacobsen, 4-2.
285 -- Damion Martindale, 2-2; Dan EAves, 1-2.
