The already very successful season for the Montana State University-Northern Lights wrestlers just keeps getting better.
Two weeks after finishing the regular season with an undefeated dual meet record, the Lights won the regional title at Dickinson State University.
Northern took the title easily with 147.5 points. The University of Mary came in second with 98 points and Jamestown College in third with 57.5 points.
The Lights also had six individual title winners Caleb Schaeffer at 133 pounds, Bobby Mantle at 149 pounds, Kyle Fisher at 174 pounds, Tyson Thivierge at 184 pounds, Emmett Willson at 197 pounds, and Matt Carter at heavyweight.
At 125 pounds, two Northern wrestlers placed with Carl Valley taking second and Andy Thompson taking third. Valley lost by major decision 17-3 to the top wrestler in NAIA, Pat Runez from the University of Mary.
Schaeffer's win in the championship came by technical fall 25-9 over Alan Roness from Jamestown College. Mantle also defeated a highly-ranked wrestler in the championship, number four Tyrone Martinez from Dickinson State. Mantle won by decision 17-9.
In the 174-pound weightclass, Northern's Kyle Fisher and teammate Mike Lester met up in the finals, with Fisher taking the title by a 12-4 major decision win.
Northern head coach David Ray said although his team had some minor letdowns in some weightclasses, he was pleased overall.
"They did a good job," he said. "But we still haven't wrestled up to our capabilities. We might be saving it for nationals, which is good."
With the big win at regionals, Ray said his team has some major momentum going into the national tournament March 1-2.
"They feel good with where we're at," Ray said. "But we're taking it one thing at a time.
"It's going to be an exciting tournament," Ray said of the upcoming national tournament. "Anything can happen at any time. It's just like everybody's records are 0-0 right now."
The following are the results from the finals rounds:
125 Carl Valley (second place) lost by major decision 17-3 to Pat Runez from the University of Mary; Andy Thompson (third place) won by injury default over Aaron Hartnell from the University of Mary
133 Caleb Schaeffer (first place) won by technical fall 25-9 over Alan Roness from Jamestown College
141 Eric Dunmire (second place) lost by decision 9-2 to Derek Weigel from the University of Mary
149 Bobby Mantle (first place) won by decision 17-9 over Tyrone Martinez from Dickinson State
157 Dustyn Azure (fourth place) lost by decision 7-5 in overtime to Brandon Hays from Dakota Wesleyan
165 Kyle Klonizos (third place) won by decision 12-5 over Scott Loveless from Dakota Wesleyan
174 Kyle Fisher (first place) won by major decision 12-4 over Mike Lester from MSU-Northern
184 Tyson Thivierge (first place) won by pin in 2:01 over Nick Small from Jamestown College
197 Emmett Willson (first place) won by technical fall 19-4 in 6 minutes over Randy Gust from the University of Mary
HWT Matt Carter (first place) won by pin in 1:18 over Chad Johnson from Dakota Wesleyan
