Nine Lights headed to NAIA nationals

The NAIA put a new twist on wrestling this season, as it changed the way wrestlers qualify for the national tournament. Instead of automatic and pre-qualifiying as in the past, the NAIA decided that the regional tournaments would be true national qualifiers.

That put a lot of pressure on the No. 6 Montana State University-Northern wrestling team going into Saturday's Western Regional in Great Falls. The West is undoubtedly the toughest regional as six No.1-ranked wrestlers and three of the top six teams in the NAIA are in the region.

Neiss

And that makes what the Lights did Saturday in Great Falls so special. With the least amount of grapplers entered among themselves, Great Falls and Southern Oregon, Northern battled its way to 125 points and a third-place finish. UGF won with 141.5 points, while Southern Oregon also just edged the Lights with 133 points.

More importantly though, the Lights pushed nine wrestlers through to the national tournament, with only sophomore Hunter Azure having to default due to injury. So at the end of the day, head coach Tyson Thivierge couldn't have been more happy with his team's performance.

"To go down there and finish where we did, just 16 points away from winning it, I'm really pleased," Thivierge said. "We were right there. But what's really satisfying is the fact all of our guys did it all on their own. We didn't have to try for any wildcard spots, there was no doubting and no wondering. Our guys wrestled really well and took care of business all on their own."

MSU-N had three regional champions, with perhaps the most impressive being 133-pound junior Cameron Neiss. In the semifinals, Neiss knocked off top-ranked Prescott Garner of SOU in a 10-8 thriller, then turned around and beat second-ranked Angel Garcia of Menlo in the final, 2-1 in overtime. Neiss wound up being voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the regional.

Hinebauch

"We knew Cameron was capable of winning the tournament," Thivierge said. "But it was the way he did that was special. Those are two very good opponents he beat, back-to-back, and he really rose to the occasion."

As expected, Ethan Hinebauch won at 165 pounds, defeating Great Falls' rival Shawn Lau in the final. Top-ranked Kody Reed won at 184 pounds, though he and teammate Toby Cheff didn't wrestle in the championship match. Cheff recently dropped to 184 and the strategy paid off Saturday as he got to the final, which will set he and Reed on opposite sides of the national tournament bracket.

"That's what we wanted, was for those two to be on opposite sides and we accomplished that," Thivierge said. "They are both wrestling really well right now and are both very confident. We know it would have been a great match, but we decided that it would be better to let them face off at nationals. So this week, they are really co-champions."

Junior Max Payne also placed second for the Lights at 174 pounds, while Mickey Cheff finished third at 157, as did Aaron LaFarge at 125.

Northern also got a big boost by getting Duell Stadel (125) and Trevor Goss (149) through to nationals as well as both finished fourth.

"We have had high hopes for Duell all year and he's never wavered," Thivierge said. "He just gets tougher and tougher every time he goes out there. He was the fifth-ranked wrestler in this weight class and he won two big matches by pin to get to nationals. So I'm very happy for him.

Reed

"Trevor Goss really showed up," he added. "He really wrestled well, really rose to the occasion and punched his own ticket. So he and Duell were very big for us this weekend."

As expected, former Blue Pony Myles Mazurkiewicz captured the 141-pound championship Saturday. He defeated teammate Ryan Martin in the championship match and will be the top seed at 141 in the national tournament.

Now, the Lights will have a week to prepare for the 2013 NAIA national tournament, which runs March 1-2 in Des Moines, Iowa.

"We wrestled really well," Thivierge said. "I'm really pleased with where we're at right now, and I'm proud of these guys for going to Great Falls and taking care of business."

Western Regional

MSU-Northern Results

125 - Duell Stadel (2-2) placed 4th and scored 10.50 team points

Quarterfinal - Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by decision over Drake Medieros (Menlo) 1-2 (Dec 7-6); Semifinal - Mitchell Lofstedt (Southern Oregon) 2-0 won by pin over Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 (Pin 2:49); Cons. Semi - Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by pin over Hayden Zimmerman (Simpson ) 0-3 (Pin 5:22); 3rd Place Match - Aaron La Forge (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by decision over Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 (Dec 10-7); 2nd Place Match - Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by rule over Drake Medieros (Menlo) 1-2 (RULE).

125 - Aaron La Forge (3-1) placed 3rd and scored 11.50 team points.

Quarterfinal - Aaron La Forge (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by decision over Hayden Zimmerman (Simpson ) 0-3 (Dec 8-5); Semifinal - Sean Silva (Embry Riddle) 8-2 won by decision over Aaron La Forge (MSU-Northern) 3-1 (Dec 7-4); Cons. Semi - Aaron La Forge (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by major decision over Drake Medieros (Menlo) 1-2 (Maj 8-0); 3rd Place Match - Aaron La Forge (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by decision over Duell Stadel (MSU-Northern) 2-2 (Dec 10-7).

133 - Cameron Neiss (3-0) placed 1st and scored 15.50 team points.

Quarterfinal - Cameron Neiss (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by tech fall over Mason Saldana (Embry Riddle) 5-8 (TF 18-2); Semifinal - Cameron Neiss (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by decision over Prescott Garner (Southern Oregon) 2-1 (Dec 10-8); 1st Place Match - Cameron Neiss (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won in overtime over Angel Garcia (Menlo) 2-1 (OT 4-2).

149 - Trevor Goss (2-2) placed 4th and scored 12.00 team points.

Quarterfinal - Colin Merkley (Embry Riddle) 1-3 won by major decision over Trevor Goss (MSU-Northern) 2-2 (Maj 15-4); Cons. Round 1 - Trevor Goss (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by pin over Christian Franks (Menlo) 0-2 (Pin 2:26); Cons. Semi - Trevor Goss (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by pin over Robert Workman (Embry Riddle) 7-6 (Pin 2:51); 3rd Place Match - Chase Burns (U. Great Falls) 3-1 won by pin over Trevor Goss (MSU-Northern) 2-2 (Pin 1:32); 2nd Place Match - Trevor Goss (MSU-Northern) 2-2 won by rule over Robert Workman (Embry Riddle) 7-6 (RULE).

157 - Edward Cheff (3-1) placed 3rd and scored 12.50 team points.

Quarterfinal - Edward Cheff (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by pin over Samuel Duchene (Menlo) 0-2 (Pin 6:30); Semifinal - Joshua Chang (Embry Riddle) 3-0 won by decision over Edward Cheff (MSU-Northern) 3-1 (Dec 11-5); Cons. Semi - Edward Cheff (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by decision over Jesse Routsong (Embry Riddle) 11-7 (Dec 6-1); 3rd Place Match - Edward Cheff (MSU-Northern) 3-1 won by decision over Dalton Urrutia (Southern Oregon) 2-3 (Dec 7-5).

165 - Ethan Hinebauch (3-0) placed 1st and scored 18.00 team points.

Quarterfinal - Ethan Hinebauch (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by pin over Bryson Gutches (Southern Oregon) 0-2 (Pin 5:23); Semifinal - Ethan Hinebauch (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by pin over Eric Lopez (Menlo) 2-2 (Pin 2:45); 1st Place Match - Ethan Hinebauch (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by decision over Shawn Lau (U. Great Falls) 2-1 (Dec 6-2).

174 - Max Payne (1-1) placed 2nd and scored 12.00 team points.

Quarterfinal - Max Payne (MSU-Northern) 1-1 received a bye () (Bye); Semifinal - Max Payne (MSU-Northern) 1-1 won by decision over Taylor Vaughn (U. Great Falls) 3-1 (Dec 10-4); 1st Place Match - Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon) 3-0 won by pin over Max Payne (MSU-Northern) 1-1 (Pin 4:44).

184 - Toby Cheff (2-1) placed 2nd and scored 14.00 team points.

Quarterfinal - Toby Cheff (MSU-Northern) 2-1 won by decision over Adam Wolfe (U. Great Falls) 3-2 (Dec 9-2); Semifinal - Toby Cheff (MSU-Northern) 2-1 won by pin over Jacob Abrams (Southern Oregon) 3-1 (Pin 3:52); 1st Place Match - Kody Reed (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by injury default over Toby Cheff (MSU-Northern) 2-1 (I-D 0:00).

184 - Kody Reed (3-0) placed 1st and scored 19.00 team points.

Quarterfinal - Kody Reed (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by major decision over Tyler Thomas (Southern Oregon) 1-3 (Maj 12-3); Semifinal - Kody Reed (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by pin over Erick Parsons (Menlo) 0-3 (Pin 2:17); 1st Place Match - Kody Reed (MSU-Northern) 3-0 won by injury default over Toby Cheff (MSU-Northern) 2-1 (I-D 0:00).