Lights host
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
Dual matches in wrestling
aren't the same as other sporting events like basketball, football or baseball.
Because the overall outcome
still comes down to individual matches, it's much easier to predict winners of
duals.
That being said, Montana State
University-Northern wrestling coach David Ray isn't being cocky or
overconfident when he admits that it's not whether or not his team will win its
dual tonight against the University of Mary or the one tomorrow against
Northwest College, it's by how much.
The Lights and Mary will
square off tonight at
With the Marauders forfeiting
a pair of weights and suiting up five freshmen, a Lights' victory is pretty
much assured. But winning the dual isn't just enough for Ray - it never has
been.
Instead, he expects to see his
wrestlers come out with the same intensity and aggressiveness they displayed in
dominating last weekend's Dickinson State Open Classic, scoring 168 team
points.
"I want to see the same
energy," Ray said. "We want to maintain that intimidation factor any
time we step on the mat. We want to go out and set the tone."
The Marauders finished tied
for third at the DSU tourney with 54 points, which is a good showing,
considering Mary is still in a bit of transition phase.
Head coach Josh Kerbaugh enters his second year at the helm and is in the
process of building Mary's program. Kerbaugh wrestled
at
He also served as a graduate
assistant at
"He's trying to raise the
level of the program," Ray said. "It takes time. They have a lot of
young kids, but they do have some solid individuals at a few weights."
At 184 pounds, junior Elijah Simburger is ranked fourth in NAIA and won last week's DSU
open classic. Simburger didn't face Northern's Jesse Juarez in the tournament. His teammate,
Todd Paszek, a former NCAA Division II All-American,
defeated
At 165 pounds, freshman Ben Imidieke is a talented newcomer who won five state championships
in high school.
"In
Imidieke won three matches at the DSU
Classic, but he will have to face Northern's Aaron
Jensen, who won the 165-pound division last week and had one of his best
showings of the season.
Mary also had a solid wrestler
in junior Jack Lindsay at 197 pounds. Lindsay finished third in
Northern will suit up Brian Fritchman at 197 for the dual. Fritchman
sat out last weekend with a sore shoulder, but is ready to go for tonight.
Following tonight's dual, Ray
and his team will load up and head south to face
Northern defeated Northwest
22-18 on Dec. 10 in Havre. Despite winning six matches, the overall score was
close because the Lights gave up two pins.
Ray doesn't expect it to be
quite as close this time.
"The match at 125 will be
tough because Seth Wright is an All-American and is an outstanding
wrestler," Ray said. "But our line-up has gotten much stronger since
that first dual. Realistically, I expect us to win nine of the 10
matches."
While the dual wins are almost
assured, there is a more important purpose to them.
"We need the mat
time," Ray said. "It's very important for us to continue to get out
there and compete and maintain that level of intensity. And it's always nice to
compete at home in front of our fans."
WT MSU-N vs. U of Mary
125 - Zach Morgan, Fr vs. Open
133 - Brian Luna, Sr vs. Travis Stone, Fr
141 - Chris Smith, So vs. Josh
Bauer, Fr
149 - Dustyn
Azure, Sr vs. Open
157 - Stryder
Davis, Sr vs. Andy Passmore,
Soph
165 - Aaron Jensen, Jr vs. Ben Imdieke, Fr
174 - Ryan Mattingly, Jr vs. David Oliver, Fr
184 - Jesse Juarez, Sr vs. Elijah Simburger, Jr
197 - Brian Fritchman, Fr vs. Jack Lindsay, Jr
HWT - Chase Gormley, Jr vs. Keith McCleary, Fr
Copyright
© 2005 Havre Daily News