MSU-N grapplers make the most of homecoming
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Montana State University-Northern wrestling team has been much maligned
this season. It seems that not much has gone right for the No. 19 Lights over
the last two months.
On Thursday night at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse, things finally did go right
for the Lights, at least enough to defeat NJCAA member
The Lights scored 25 of the duals' first 28 points en route to a 25-15 victory
over the Trappers. The win was an improvement from when Northern defeated
“It is a win and we'll take it,” MSU-N head
coach Dan Troupe said. “We did some good things tonight and we were shaky in
some spots.
“The first time we faced them, it was nip and tuck,” he added. “And if they
don't forfeit the 125-pound match, it could have been much closer again tonight.
But overall I'm pleased with our performance tonight.”
After the forfeit at 125 pounds and a Mike McPeak loss at 133 pounds, Northern
got on a roll that essentially ended any chances of the Trappers winning the
dual.
Colt Heger worked his way to a pin of Johnny Graham in the 141-pound match, and
Chris Smith followed that up with a hard-fought 7-5 decision at 149 pounds,
putting the Lights ahead 15-3. Smith broke a 5-5 tie
with a takedown of Northwest's Cody Moulton with 13 seconds remaining in the match.
Northern earned six more points in the 157-pound match when Northwest's Eric
Trujillo was injured on a takedown by Ty Aiken in the first period.
Jensen scored numerous takedowns throughout the match and worked his way to a
13-5 decision that gave the Lights a seemingly insurmountable lead of 25-3.
“I thought we had a real good stretch right there,” Troupe said. “I saw a lot
of guys really show some improvement tonight. Jensen and Heger both wrestled
really well.”
On a night when everything went right early for Northern, the momentum switched
quickly in the final four bouts. After Jensen's win at 165, the Lights didn't
score another point.
That wasn't for lack of effort. In some respects, the Lights wrestled up at
every weight class after 174 pounds. Freshmen Colter Dimas and Chad Seely lost
decisions on riding time at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively. Both wrestlers
fought off deficits in the third period, but riding time broke the ties in
favor of the Trappers.
The same circumstance happened to Ryan Mattingly in the 184-pound match with
Shawn Vincent. Vincent scored a reversal at the buzzer, and riding time gave
him a 4-3 win. In the heavyweight match, Northern's Brian Fritchman, who
normally wrestles at 197, simply gave up too much weight to Northwest's Spencer
Bowles, as Bowles earned a 10-3 decision.
“I thought our young guys wrestled hard and never quit on us tonight,” Troupe
said. “Chad Seely is a true 184-pounder and Brian Fritchman was forced to help
us out at heavyweight because right now we just don't have one.
“We're getting better,” Troupe added. “I saw a lot of good things from our guys
tonight. We were much more offensive and we were in control of the tieups.
Those are areas where we needed to improve and we're doing that. Things are
starting to come along.”
The Lights won't be back on the mat until Feb. 1 when they travel to
Lights 25, Trappers 15
125 - Brock Zollinger, MSU-N win by forfeit.
133 - Eric Tapia, MSU-N dec. Mike McPeak, MSU-N, 14-11.
141 - Colt Heger, MSU-N pinned Johnny Graham, NC, 5:54.
149 - Chris Smith, MSU-N dec. Cody Moulton, NC, 7-5.
157 - Ty Aiken, MSU-N injury default Eric Trujillo, NW.
165 - Aaron Jensen, MSU-N dec. Chris Riding, NW, 13-5,
174 - Julius Rios, NW dec. Colter Dimas, MSU-N, 8-7.
184 - Shawn Vincent, NW dec. Ryan Mattingly, MSU-N, 8-3.
197 - Avery Rogers, NW dec.
HWT - Spencer Bowles, NW dec. Brian Fritchman, MSU-N, 10-3.