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Northern wrestlers under Ray's watchful eye at DSU tourney
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
A warning to the Montana State University-Northern wrestlers: Head coach
David Ray is going to be watching each one of you closely this weekend - yes,
even more intently than normal. If that's possible.
The Lights begin a trying and difficult three-week stretch on Saturday at the
Dickinson State Blue Hawk Invitational wrestling tournament in Dickinson,
N.D. and Ray will be watching their every move.
"I'm going to be watching them very closely," Ray said. "I
want to see how they react to the competition. This is a very important meet
for us."
The importance of the meet comes at several different levels. Just two weeks
after the Christmas break, Ray expects his wrestlers to be free of any rust
they might have incurred. The Lights have to be, because this tournament will
have repercussions down the road.
Besides featuring the top NCAA Division III team in Augsburg College and
perennial NAIA powers Menlo College and William Penn, the tournament will
feature every team from Northern's region. And when and if, Lights wrestlers
do meet up with opponents from the region, they need to win and win
convincingly.
Obviously from a psychological standpoint a dominant win is nice, but wins
over opponents from the region mean higher seeding for Northern wrestlers at
the Northern Regional tournament in Havre on Feb. 14.
"It's very important that we win those
matches for seeding at the regional tournament," Ray said. "We want
our wrestlers seeded as high as possible to make sure we aren't wrestling
each other in the quarterfinals or semifinals. The better we do at regionals,
the better our seeding is at the national tournament."
No wrestler is safe from the watchful eye of Ray - well, maybe one wrestler.
Senior Emmett Willson is in the midst of a brilliant season and is coming off
a pair of tournament titles. His success this season has garnered him the
high honor of competing in the 38th Annual National Wrestling Coaches
Association All-Star Classic Dual on Feb. 2 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Willson is
only the second non-NCAA Division I student-athlete to compete in this event.
"This is probably one of the highest honors any collegiate wrestler or
athlete can achieve," Ray said. "Winning the Las Vegas
Invitational, Midlands and defeating the No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 8, No. 9, No.
13 and No. 16 Division I ranked athletes and a 30-0 record help propel Emmett
to this nomination."
"I don't have to worry too much about Emmett," Ray said. "But
everyone else, I will be watching very close even Caleb (Schaeffer), Stryder
(Davis) and Kyle (Fisher)."
All three of those wrestlers are ranked first in their respective weight
classes in the NAIA. Still, all three will see good competition this weekend.
The Dickinson tournament boasts its strongest field ever with the addition of
Menlo and William Penn. Both are among a small group of NAIA national
contenders and Ray will be very interested to see what they have.
"Menlo is ranked fifth as a team," Ray said. "We are going to
dual them in Cleveland at the NAIA national duals, so it will be good to get
an early look at them. I am very interested to see if William Penn actually
makes the trip; if they do that will make the tournament even tougher."
The strongest team at the tournament besides Northern would have to be
Augsburg, which will bring a large group of wrestlers to compete in all
weight classes.
"They are all just solid, strong fundamental wrestlers," Ray said.
"There's a reason they're number one in Division III."
Also competing in the meet will be the host Bluehawks, University of Mary,
Jamestown College along with Division II schools Chadron State, Northern
State, some wresters from the University of Wyoming and North Dakota State
and several other schools. A total of 19 teams will be there making it a very
strong tournament for the area.
"It's obviously not as tough as Las Vegas or Midlands," Ray said.
"But it's much better than last weekend's tourney in Dana; it's just a
little bit below the Cowboy Open."
Northern will take 19 wrestlers to the tournament and Ray holds high expectations
for each.
"I am hoping each of them rises to the occasion," Ray said.
"This is what you crave is good competition. You want them to get up for
challenges. I hope they're excited. These next three weeks are going to be a
test. Hopefully, we're physically and mentally prepared for it, because if
we're not it's my fault."
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