Forsyth mat stars will wrestle at MSU-N

The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team is right in the heart of the 2014-15 season. But, on a weekend when the Lights were off, head coach Tyson Thivierge landed a big piece of Northern's future.

On Tuesday, Thivierge announced the signing of Forsyth brothers Matt and Brandon Weber. Together, the duo are two of the most successful wrestlers in recent Montana prep mat history.

"As a coaching staff, we are over the moon about having two of Montana's best wrestlers choose Northern as the place where they wanted to end up wrestling," Thivierge said. "Coach Azure was extremely persistent with this signing, and he was a huge factor in signing both the individuals. We couldn't be more excited about these two join our program."

Like the Hinebauch's were to Havre High wrestling, the Weber's are wrestling royalty in southeast Montana. Together, they've helped transform Forsyth into an elite prep power, not just in the Class B-C ranks, but in all of Montana. From 2011-2013, the Dogies captured three straight Class B-C state championships, and the Weber's were a huge part of that success.

Brandon, who graduated last spring, is a three-time Class B-C state champion, and reached final's night at the All-Class State Tournament four straight times. After finishing second his freshman season, he captured three state championships in a row and set the Montana record for wins in a career with 200. The elder Weber lost just nine times in his prep career, and at one point, rattled off 134 straight wins. He traveled to Germany this past summer to wrestle for team Montana, with younger brother Matt, but then decided to take a break from wrestling, instead, attending Miles Community College this past fall. But now, the older Weber, is going back to wrestling, and he'll be a Light, and Thivierge couldn't be more excited.

"If you look in the Montana wrestling record book, you will see Brandon's name everywhere," Thivierge said. "He has a lot of talent and he loves to pin people as well. The records alone are impressive, but his desire to win and win decisively is what we were attracted to. This is a recruit we tried hard to get last spring, now he will be joining us this spring semester to get him back in the swing of competing.  We have always left the door open for recruits, and he is one we were in touch with since last spring and summer."

"I'm pretty jacked. It will be a great experience," Brandon said "It's pretty awesome my brother gets to come with me, too."

Indeed. Matt Weber will be a Light as well. But he has unfinished business. Come February, he will try and join Montana's elite as a four-time state champion. He's won three in a row and is widely considered one of the top Montana seniors pound-for-pound.

"Matt is another phenomenal athlete that chose Northern as his next destination," Thivierge said. "We can only hope that with his early decision to come to Northern, that the pressure is off from a recruiting aspect. He can focus on beating his brother Brandon's records. Matt is a beast, as are all the Weber boys. He is goal-oriented and wants to make his stamp on Montana wrestling. He is one of those individuals that will make you better by just having him compete in your room and on your team. His early signing for Northern Wrestling was big."

The middle Weber, there's also Luke, a junior who also competes for head coach and father Scott Weber, eventually wants to become a Navy Seal. But he'll put that on hold as he goes to Northern with older brother Brandon in search of collegiate glory.

"It's very exciting getting to wrestle with him again. It's what I've always wanted to do," Matt said. "We took a trip to Germany this summer and that was the last time we thought we'd wrestle together. But, now they offered him a scholarship after me and I get a chance to wrestle with him and that's pretty cool."

Saturday at the Forsyth Invitational, it was cool for the entire Weber family, as well as the Dogie program. Thivierge and Azure were there to watch the two Weber's sign their NAIA national letters of intent, officially making the two Montana prep stars, who have enjoyed wrestling success in high school, as well as on the national AAU scene, Lights. Brandon will wrestle at 149 pounds for the Lights, while Matt will wrestle at 141.

As both Weber's are excited to be heading to Northern, where they'll compete for one of the NAIA's elite programs, Thivierge couldn't be more excited to have them.

"We are really excited about it. To me, this is a big deal for Northern," said Thivierge "There are not many times you get a four-time finalist and three-time state champ and his brother is going for his fourth title. There are not too many times you sign them both.

"The reason we put so much pressure on these two is simple - you don't find a brother duo (let alone have another three coming up), that want to win as bad as they do," he continued. "I have a brother, our competitions were legendary. They will feed off each other, they will push each other and that will ultimately rub off on the team. Simply put, these two are killers on the mat."