Breaking Sports: Lights in third, Neiss and Mazurkiewicz in NAIA finals

The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team will probably return home fro Des Moines, Iowa with a little of what might of been. Through the the consolation finals Saturday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa, the Lights have scored104 points which puts them in a solid, but distant third behind Grande View (141) and Southern Oregon (134). Dickinson State is on Northern's heels in fourth. The semifinal round was unkind to MSU-N Saturday morning as the Lights lost four of five matches.

Northern junior Cameron Neiss was the lone semifinal winner and he will face SOU rival Prescott Garner in the 133-pound national championship match later Saturday.

Like yesterday when MSU-N's top-ranked Kody Reed was upset at 184 pounds, today, former Havre Blue Pony Ethan Hinebauch's road to the 165-pound national title was derailed by Menlo's Eric Lopez, 7-5 in the semifinals. Hinebauch did bounce back to finish an outstanding third. Also placing third for the Lights was red-shirt freshman Toby Cheff. He was beaten in the 184-pound semifinals, but did rebound to win his last two matches. At 174, Max Payne lost in the semifinals and fell to DSU's Cameron Schrempp in the consolation final to finish fourth. Also in the semifinals, Aaron LaFarge lost at 125 pounds Saturday morning, and he wound up wrestling teammate Duell Stadel for fifth-sixth. LaFarge won the match, and it was an outstanding tournament for both he and Stadel. The Lights also got an all-american finish from Mickey Cheff, who placed fifth at 157 pounds. In all, Northern will finish the event with seven NAIA All-Americans.

Meanwhile, former Havre High star Myles Mazurkiewicz will wrestle Grande View's Gustavo Martinez in today's 141-pound national championship match. Maz won a 4-2 decision in this morning's semifinal. UGF is in seventh place overall with just 67 points.

For full coverage, see Monday's Havre Daily News.