By Rob Everingham
It was show time in Havre last night as the MSU-Northern Lights wrestled in one of two spring home bouts.
The Lights took on Western Wyoming College and picked up a 39-6 win in the dual.
Northern head coach David Ray said his team came out explosive and impressed him by getting a lot of the first take downs.
At 125 pounds, Northern's Abel Valdez was pinned by Anthony Guillen of Western Wyoming at the 5:24 mark in the match.
Ray said Valdez knows better than to stay in the position he was.
"We can't do that at Nationals and expect to win," Ray said.
Ray did say he was pleased with how Valdez started out the match.
Northern's Jason Fratzke wrestled at 133 pounds and won a 9-5 decision over Eric Wright.
"He will be tough," Ray said of Fratzke, who has not wrestled since February of last year.
Fratzke needs to build up mental confidence when on the bottom, Ray said. But on his feet, he looked very good.
Jessie Schaeffer won a 14-4 decision over Dallas Balzly at 141 pounds.
Ray said Schaeffer came out strong, let up in the middle of the match, but did finish strong.
"He looked good and wrestled to Jessie's capability," Ray said.
At 149 pounds, Tamien Labuff won an 11-9 decision over Travis Peak of Western Wyoming.
Labuff lacked some intensity in the match, Ray said. There was a point in the match where Peak threw Labuff and, Ray said, he just mentally lost were he was in the match.
Brendan Burns showed his toughness, as he pinned Renton Williams at the 5:35 mark, despite a possible broken nose.
Ray said he went out and attacked, but had some mental let downs in the match. Burns did finish strong to pin his opponent, which, Ray said, surprised him.
Light Chris Hayes won a 14-4 decision over Nick Aullman.
"I can't say enough about him," Ray said.
Hayes is a great student and has a great athletic mentality, Ray said.
"He just goes, goes, goes," Ray said.
Ray said he wished other members of the team would compete like him and show intensity all the time.
Mark Lane stepped onto the mat for the first time this year and picked up a technical fall, winning 22-7.
Lane had wrestled in two tournaments, but wrestled both unattached.
Ray said he looked good in front of his family, who drove up from Wyoming to watch him wrestle.
"He went after it and looked impressive," Ray said.
At 188 pounds, Tyson Thivierge also won by technical fall, with a 17-2 pounding of Josh Wisniewski.
Thivierge looked solid, Ray said. He opened the match good and did well throughout the match.
At 197 pounds, Northern's Dane Jacobsen won by forfeit.
Northern's Turk Lords wrestled at the heavyweight spot and won a 10-0 decision.
Ray said Turk was a little nervous in the match, being outweighed by almost 60 pounds, but he did not want to get injured. But, Ray said, he looked good at times.
Lords has been ill during the past few weeks and has only seen limited action.
Ray said his first five wrestlers struggled some, but his last five looked good.
The Northern gym was full, with about 400 fans, and, Ray said, it was nice to see that kind of support and hopefully they will all come back for the Lights' final home match of the season in two weeks.
For now, the Lights head off to the Dickinson State Classic. The Lights will be one of 12 teams with other powerhouses, University of Mary, Dickinson State, North Dakota State, Western Wyoming and Chadron State.
This will be the best look Northern will get at teams in their region, and just what competition is in store for them at the Great Plains Regional.
"We'll be able to see where we stack up," Ray said.
The Lights who will be attending are the 10 wrestlers who wrestled against Western Wyoming, plus Nate Laslovich and Lyle Cronk.
Sean Salmon will still be out recovering from an injury sustained at the Midlands.
Ray said it is very important that they do well at this meet because it will greatly affect where they will be seeded going into the Great Plains.
Northern wrestlers are also at Central Washington this weekend in Ellensburg, Wash.
A group of red shirt wrestlers went on their own, and Mark Nay drove them to Washington in his van.
Competing at Washington will be Kyle Nay, Josh Johnson, Dustyn Azure, Brent Riggin, Kyle Fisher, Emmett Willson, and Howard Mee.
MSU-Northern def. Western Wyoming College 39-6
125 -- Abel Valdez, MSU-N, pin Anthony Guillen, 1:51; 133 -- Jason Fratzke, MSU-N, dec. Eric Wright, 9-5; 141 -- Jessie Schaeffer, MSU-N, dec. Dallas Balzly, 14-4; 149 -- Tamien Labuff, MSU-N, def. Travis Paek, 11-9; 157 -- Renton Williams, Wyo., pin Brendan Burns, 5:24; 165 -- Chris Hayes, MSU-N, dec. Nick Aullman, 14-4; 174 -- Mark Lane, MSU-N, dec. Jason McLane, 22-7; 184 -- Tyson Thivierge, MSU-N, dec. Josh Wisniewski, 17-2; 197 -- open; Hwt -- Turk Lords, MSU-N, dec. Doug Shumacker, 10-0
