Lights pin Mounties

It will be a long time before the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team will compete in front of its hometown fans again, so when the Lights got the chance last Friday night against Eastern Oregon University, they made sure to take advantage of it.

Northern, which dualed Eastern Oregon, a program that is in the first year of its existence and is headed by former Lights’ assistant coach Dustyn Azure, rebounded from a loss to UGF last Wednesday. The Mounties built an early lead inside the Armory Gymnasium, but were unable to hold it and fell to the fourth-ranked Lights, 30-13.

“We were getting bonus points,” Northern head coach Tyson Thiverge said. “I think that getting slapped in the face against UGF woke us up a little bit. We still have to find a way to wrestle for seven minutes, but a lot of the guys dug deep tonight.”

The start was not promising for the Lights, as Eastern Oregon took the first two matches of the night. First, Mhar Caballa earned a win over Robert Pair of MSU-N, by way of a 12-1 major decision. Then, Matt Nguyen scored a win by fall over Dylan Lockwood of the Lights in 2:01 to give the Mounties a 10-0 lead.

Yet, Northern would respond. Dylan Veis scored a late takedown in the 141-pound match and earned a dramatic 3-2 win over Brendon Vladic. After that, Drake Randall got a win for the Lights at 149 pounds, defeating Jared Neiss in a 10-3 decision. Tommy Cooper also notched an 11-8 win over Ryan Middleton of EOU and that pulled the Lights within one at 10-9.

That set the stage for the most exciting match of the night, which took place at 165 pounds, with Andrew Bartel and Brandon Davidson. Davidson held the lead late in the third period, but a late takedown by Bartel tied up the match and sent it into overtime. In the extra session, Bartel not only got the win, he notched a pin fall in 28 seconds in getting Northern the win and six points, which gave the Lights a 15-10 advantage. It was Bartel’s second overtime match of the week.

“That match by Bartel, that was probably the biggest win of the night,” Thiverge said. “That win really helped us. That was a great job of him and just continuing to battle. We had a number of guys that did that.”

The Lights continued their onslaught at 174 pounds as Steeler French notched a 12-6 win over Briton Hansen. Up 18-10, Chinook’s Ben Stroh put the dual win on ice, as he pinned Clark Woodward in 57 seconds to put MSU-N ahead 24-10, which clinched the win for Northern.

“Getting those bonus points, that’s our style of wrestling,” Thiverge said. “We want to go out and be aggressive and get pins. But for everybody else, we are finding ways to go out and get wins. There were a couple of matches that looked like they weren’t going to go our way and we found a way and that’s what you want to see.”

The Mounties got on the board with three more points thanks to a win at 197 pounds as Braeden Phillips defeated Northern's Dace Fisher 3-1. Yet, the Lights ended the dual in style as Taylor Kornoely, the No. 2 ranked heavyweight in the NAIA, pinned Zachary Wardle of EOU in 30 seconds to close things out.

Northern will be on the mat next in Laurel taking on Northwest College this Wednesday, followed by the Cardinal Duals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Saturday and the Spokane Open Sunday.

Lights 30, Eastern Oregon 13

125 - Mhar Caballa, EOU, dec. Robert Pair, 12-1; 133 - Matt Nguyen, Eastern Oregon, pinned Dylan Lockwood, 2:01; 141- Dylan Veis, MSU-N, dec. Brendon Vladic 3-2; 149 - Drake Randall, MSU-N dec. Jared Neiss 10-3; 157 - Tommy Cooper, MSU-N, dec. Ryan Middleton, 11-8; 165 - Andrew Bartel, MSU-N pinned Brandon Davidson, 7:28; 174 - Steeler French, MSU-N dec. Briton Hansen, 12-6; 184 - Ben Stroh, MSU-N, pinned Clark Woodward, 0:57; 197 - Braeden Phillips, EOU, dec. Dace Fisher, 3-1; 285 - Taylor Kornoely, MSU-N pinned Zachary Wardle, 0:30.