Lights faced raised level of competition at NCAA Division I-laden Cowboy Open
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com

With each passing week, the level of competition that the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team faces grows a little tougher. This weekend will be no different as the Lights head to the University of Wyoming's Cowboy Open invitational wrestling tournament on Sunday.

The tourney had originally been scheduled for Saturday but was pushed back due to the Wyoming-Utah football game. The tournament, featuring five NCAA Division I teams, will be a significant step up in difficulty from last weekend's Northwest Invitational, which the Lights dominated.

"This is definitely a level higher than what we have wrestled so far this year," said head coach David Ray. "We've talked all week about performance. It's important for me to see if we can compete at this tournament. It gives me an indication of how well we'll do at NAIA nationals."

The tournament is much different format with around 15-17 teams competing and two separate divisions. There will be a 20 and under division and an open division for older wrestlers. "I like the format," Ray said. "It allows our younger wrestlers to compete against people closer to their own age." There will be significantly more wrestlers in the younger division with around 30 wrestlers competing per weight class.

Ray is hoping to see improvement from some of his younger wrestlers. "I think last weekend was an eye-opener for some of them," he said. "To be honest, I thought some of our younger wrestlers performed very poorly I expect them to be better this weekend even if the competition is better." Hopefully, the Lights will raise their level of performance. "I want to see if they can compete against tougher wrestlers," Ray said "They need to be able to compete and fight no matter who they wrestle against."

Leading the group of Lights' wrestlers in the 20 and under division is redshirt freshman Dale Seley, who won the 165-pound division at the Northwest tourney. In the open division, Northern will bring out its heavy hitters to vie for some top places. Stryder Davis leads the group, looking to return to the championship match at 157 for the third straight year. Davis finished second last season and won the division two years ago while wrestling for North Idaho College. Davis is coming off a weekend which saw him pick up six pins in six matches. "Stryder's looking really solid," Ray said. "He wants to go out and dominate. He has set some high goals for himself this season and winning this tournament is one of them."

Besides Davis, senior Mazi Burke, junior Jesse Juarez, sophomore Anthony Haukenberry and senior transfer Brian Luna are capable of placing the top three. One thing is for certain, Ray is looking for his wrestlers to fight, scrap and compete their way into a better showing than last year. "Last year we had some kids get pinned late in the tournament to get eliminated," Ray said. "I was very disappointed. This year I'm looking for some consistent performances. We were so up and down last weekend. I want to see us wrestler competitively every match. We have nothing to lose."

Lights tourney roster 20 and under 125 - Sean Costello, Sean Morgan 133 - Michael McPeak, Albert Starrett, Colt Heger 141 - Matt Kilmartin, Steven Boger 157 - Dale Seley, Frank Jachetta, Tyler Aiken 174 - Emory Willson, Colter Dimas 197 - Brian Fritchman HWT - Josh Robinson, J.R. Carter Open (over 20) 133 - Brian Luna 141 - Chris Smith, Dan Shaw 149 - Anthony Haukenberry 157 - Stryder Davis 165 - Aaron Jensen 174 - Ryan Mattingly, David Waters 184 - Jesse Juarez 197 - Mazi Burke HWT - Chase Gormley