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Seven wrestlers travel to Midlands Championships
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
This isn't just any wrestling tournament - this is the elite For seven Montana
State University-Northern wrestlers, the opportunity to compete against the
elite will come this weekend when they travel to Midlands Wrestling
Championships in Evanston, Ill.
"This is simply the best tournament these guys will ever wrestle
in," said Lights head coach David Ray. "You only get so many
opportunities to compete against the elite."
How elite? This isn't a college wrestling tournament, it's a championship
tournament. So besides the best NCAA Division I wrestlers, there will also be
several wrestlers who have graduated from school and are now trying to
prepare to qualify for the 2004 Olympics.
When asked to compare Midlands to the Cliff Keen Invitational tournament in
Las Vegas that the Lights competed in a month ago, Ray was blunt, calling the
Vegas trip a "good warmup."
"This tournament is much tougher than Vegas," Ray said. "You
have all the good Division I programs including all the Big-10 schools,
Oregon State, Iowa State and Arizona State, but it's the unattached guys, who
compete internationally, that make it really tough."
One of those unattached wrestler will be perhaps the single greatest wrestler
in NCAA history. Cael Sanderson, formerly of Iowa State, who finished his
college career undefeated and a four-time NCAA national title champ, will be
there along with several other outstanding amateur wrestler with Olympic
aspirations.
Despite the high level of talent, Ray still
has high expectations for his wrestlers, one in particular.
"I want to win matches plain and simple," Ray said. "We can
win matches in this tournament, does that mean I think they'll place? That
would be tough, but I don't think anyone should go 0-2."
One person who will win matches is senior Emmett Willson, who will go into
the 197-pound division seeded No. 2 overall.
Willson finished fourth last year in the tournament, losing to former Iowa
star Lee Fullhart in the semifinals and Chris Stretkowicz of Hofstra.
Stretkowicz will be the top seed at 197, which leaves Ray very optimistic at
Willson's chances to get to the final matches.
"Emmett has his sights set on winning," Ray said. "If he
wrestles like he's capable of I don't see why it couldn't happen."
Along with Willson, Ray will take Caleb Schaeffer (133), Chris Smith (141),
Stryder Davis (157), Jesse Juarez (174) and true freshman Emory Wilson (174).
"Emory was going to be there with his parents, so I figured I might as
well let him get out there and experience it," Ray said. "It will
be good for him in the long run."
Schaeffer competed at Midlands last year and is familiar with the
competition. Ray hopes that the experience at the Cliff Keen Invitational
will help his first-time wrestlers.
"It was good to see the high intensity level in Vegas, but the intensity
at this meet will be even higher," Ray said. "Guys that take first
in Vegas usually finish fifth or sixth in this tournament."
What it really boils down to for the Northern wrestlers is attitude. Ray said
his team has to go in there with a mixture confidence and fearlessness
"They need to just go out and compete hard because they have nothing to
lose," Ray said. "We're the only NAIA school to ever wrestle there
in my 11 years going to it and people don't expect much. But I do.
"This is a mental tournament," Ray added. "It's going to test
them more mentally than anything. We need to believe we can compete. We need
to compete mentally because physically we're right there."
The Midlands Championships start on Saturday at the Welsh-Ryan Arena. People
looking for up-to-date results can go to wrestlingmall.com
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