Lights finish third in Spokane

A busy stretch of wrestling for the Montana State University-Northern Lights over the weekend, and Northern came away with some good results.

On Saturday, the Lights took on North Idaho College and Simon Fraser University at the Cardinal Duals, hosted by NIC, then they wrestled in the Spokane Open on Sunday, where they placed third overall.

In the Cardinal Duals, a short-handed MSU-N squad beat Simon Fraser 29-21, in a dual that saw the Lights tally three pins and win five matches on bonus points. Rob Pair started things off for Northern with a major decision at 125 pounds, while Matt Weber made his season debut with a major decision at 141. Drake Randall (149), Andrew Bartel (165) and Ben Stroh (184) earned pins, while Taylor Kornoely got a key decision at heavyweight.

Northern also had a rematch with NIC. The Lights beat the Cardinals last month in Havre, but on their home mat, the Cardinals turned it around and won a close dual, 25-19. Dylan Lockwood and Brennan Veis got big wins for the Lights at 133 and 141, respectively, while Bartel won a 6-5 decision at 165. Stroh also got a pin at 184 and Kornoely won 4-2 at heavyweight.

Sunday, the Lights wrestled with close to 30 other teams in the Spokane Open, and while some key grapplers sat the tournament out, MSU-N still scored 85.5 points to finish third.

Stroh and Kornoely both won championships at the Spokane Open. Stroh pinned Clackamas’ Nick Maximav in the 184-pound title bout, while Kornoely won the heavyweight title, also against a Clackamas rival.

Brandon Weber finished second for Northern at 157 pounds, losing a tight match to Southern Oregon’s Hunter Hodges in the championship, while freshman Clayton Carter placed sixth at 141.

The Lights will return to action with the Battle of the Rockies Duals Dec. 2 and the Battle of the Rockies Open Dec. 3 in Great Falls.

North Idaho 25, Lights 19

125 - Garrett White, NIC, md. Robert Pair, 15-7. 133 - Dylan Lockwood, MSUN, md. Thunder Morales, 12-3. 141 - Brennon Veis, MSUN, d. Bryson Beard, 8-6. 149 - Thomas Stevenson, NIC, p. Drake Randall, 4:16. 157 - Brent Evans, NIC, by forfeit. 165 - Andrew Bartel, MSUN, d. Trey Meyer, 6-5. 174 - Alex Aguilar, NIC, d. Steeler French, 8-2. 184 - Ben Stroh, MSUN, p. Levi Perry, 1:22. 197 - Jeremy Merryweather, NIC, p. Dace Fisher, 5:39. 285 - Taylor Kornoely, MSUN, d. Cooper Thomas, 4-2.

Lights 29, Simon Fraser 21

125 – Rob Pair, MSU-N maj. dec. Oscar Bulaqui, 12-2; 133 – Cruz Velaszquez, SF pinned Dylan Lockwood, 1:50; 141 – Matt Weber, MSU-N maj. dec. Taber Spray, 12-0; 149 – Drake Randall, MSU-N pinned Kenji Yamashita, 4:50; 157 – Tanner Spray, SF won by fft; 165 – Andrew Bartel, SF pinned Cody Osborne, 1:02; 174 – Reid Watkins, SF dec. Steeler French, 11-6; 184 – Ben Stroh, MSU-N pinned Nolan Badonovinac, 3:38; 197 – Morgan Smith, SF pinned Dace Fisher, 3:54; 285 – Taylor Kornoely, MSU-N dec. Sean Molle, SF, 6-3.