The Montana State University-Northern Lights wrestlers did something Saturday night that no other NAIA team had been able to do since 1969 beat the Southern Oregon University wrestlers on their home mat.
The Lights, ranked fourth, won seven out of ten duals en route to the 27-10 victory over third-ranked Southern Oregon.
In what was a tight dual meet for most of the night, sophomore Dustyn Azure broke the score open for Northern with a pin in 38 seconds over fourth-ranked Ryan Henry.
With a 21-10 lead, the Lights sealed the win moments later when junior Kyle Klonizos battled back from a 2-0 and a 4-1 deficit to win 8-6 in overtime over another fourth-ranked wrestler, Chris Huntley.
"We received quite a wrestling lesson tonight," Raider head coach Mike Ritchey said in a press release. "We were looking to win, while they were looking to dominate. They were very tough.
"We need to be more, much more aggressive by the time March (and the NAIA championship meet) rolls around."
Northern had won three straight national crowns until Southern Oregon ended the streak last year.
The Lights took an early 8-0 lead after wins from Tyson Thivierge and Emmett Willson, but Mike Whitehead put SOU on the scoreboard with an 11-1 major decision win over Matt Carter. The Raiders trailed by one at two different times in the dual meet at 8-7 and 11-10.
That was as close as they would get.
Consecutive wins by Bobby Mantle, Azure, Klonizos and Kyle Fisher set up the historic win.
After the win at SOU, the Lights ventured to Central Washington University in hopes of coming away with a win to end the season with an undefeated mark.
Central Washington had only two wins in the meet, while the Lights had many big wins the biggest being Bobby Mantle's 9-5 upset over top-ranked Shaine Jamie.
The undefeated season (13-0) the Lights posted is the first under head coach David Ray's tenure and the first since the 1970s when David Greenwood was coach.
Also on the weekend, the Lights recorded their first shut out of the season with a 51-0 win over Pacific Lutheran University.
The following are the results from the three weekend dual meets:
Northern 51, PLU 0
125 Carl Valley won by decision 7-1 over Floyd Bangerter
133 Caleb Schaeffer won by fall in 2:14 over Matt Holt
141 Eric Dunmire won by technial fall 19-4 over Wade Braozowski
149 Bobby Mantle won by forfeit
157 Dustyn Azure won by fall in 6:10 over Gustano Anaya
165 Kyle Klonizos won by fall in 1:24 over Rich Vigorito
174 Kyle Fisher won by decision 3-1 over Josh Rhoden
184 Tyson Thivierge won by injury default
197 Emmett Willson won by technical fall 18-3 over Jasen Bennie
HWT Matt Carter won by forfeit
Northern 27, SOU 10
125 Andy Thompson lost by decision 3-2 to Nolan Harris (ranked seventh)
133 Caleb Schaeffer (fourth) won by decision 6-4 over Jordan Ottow
141 Eric Dunmire (seventh) lost by decision 4-2 to Colin Murphy (fifth)
149 Bobby Mantle won by major decision 22-8 over Shannon Slover
157 Dustyn Azure won by fall in 38 seconds over Ryan Henry (fourth)
165 Kyle Klonizos won by decision 8-6 in overtime over Chris Huntley (fourth)
174 Kyle Fisher (second) won by decision 9-2 over Brian Wilson (sixth)
184 Tyson Thivierge (first) won by technical fall 21-4 over Abe Haddon (eighth)
197 Emmett Willson (fifth) won by decision 4-2 over Mike Sills (sixth)
HWT Matt Carter lost by major decision 11-1 to Mike Whitehead (second)
Northern 39, Central Washington 9
125 Carl Valley (third) won by fall in 2:47 over Jamie Garza
133 Caleb Schaeffer won by fall in 2:28 over Ross Kondo
141 Eric Dunmire lost by decision 11-5 to Cole Denison (sixth)
149 Bobby Mantle won by decision 9-5 over Shaine Jaime (first)
157 Dustyn Azure won by decision 10-4 over Ken Salvini
165 Kyle Klonizos won by forfeit
174 Kyle Fisher won by decision 11-5 over Ty Roberts
184 Tyson Thivierge won by fall in 4:36 over Franco Santiago
197 Emmett Willson won by major decision 21-3 over Josh Brock
HWT Dupree Lacey (Central Washington) won by forfeit
