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Freshmen Rally In Comeback Against Western Wyoming
By the time Northwest College freshman Heber Shepherd pinned Western Wyoming’s Brayden Nuffer to the mat, he wasn’t writing the Trappers’ comeback so much as he was providing the punctuation.
“He didn’t need the pin,” said NWC head coach Jim Zeigler. “But it sure was a nice exclamation.”
Shepherd’s pin at 2:59 of the night’s final bout brought the Trappers’ bench to its feet as Northwest sealed a 27-18 dual win over Western Wyoming on Thursday evening.
Any win would have done for Northwest, which led 21-18 through nine bouts but trailed 15-0 after losing by way of major decision, fall and technical fall in the first three.
“It was a great effort by our kids,” Zeigler said. “They had their backs against the wall and they fought. They fought hard and climbed back in to it.”
The Trappers finished with five straight wins and went 6-4 head-to-head against the Mustangs, who are tied with the Trappers as the nation’s 20th-ranked team.
NWC sophomore Eduardo Penha got the Trappers on the board with a pin of Western’s Arthur Tomax at 2:33 of 133-pound bout, the fourth bout of the night.
“He turned it around,” Zeigler said.
Still, the Trappers were down 15-6 and the Mustangs appeared to curb any momentum Penha had stolen with a 5-1 decision over Trapper freshman Riley Loveless (141 pounds).
“It is tough to be down early,” Zeigler said. “A lot of wrestling in the dual meets is dependent upon momentum. When one team establishes momentum it’s tough.”
Whatever the Mustangs established in the first half of the dual was shrugged off by NWC sophomore John-David Henderson, and the four Trapper freshmen who followed him.
Henderson earned an 8-0 major-decision win over Ezekiel Mamalis to bring the Trappers within 18-10 and spark a dual-clinching five-bout rally.
First-year wrestlers Justin Polkowske, Andrew VonRein, Tevin Nuttall and Shepherd combined for 17 points to catch, surpass and hold off the Mustangs.
Polkowske won an 11-4 decision over sophomore Ulisses Lopez in the 157-pound bout to make the score 18-13.
VonRein tied the dual with a 17-1 technical fall of Oscar Acosta at 165 pounds. The five-point bout tied the score with just two bouts remaining. VonRein beat Acosta 7-3 at the NWC Open on Oct. 31.
Nuttall, wrestling in place of fellow 174-pound freshman William Kishpaugh (illness), gave Northwest its first lead of the night with a 7-3 win over Kaden Campbell, setting the stage for Shepherd in the 184-pound finale.
Zeigler lauded his young team for being ready for the moment, even after a humbling start.
“I feel like our young guys are pretty talented,” Zeigler said. “They stepped up as soon as (Western) scored. I thought they showed a lot of character. It was just one of those lasting wins.”
Seven of Northwest’s 10 wrestlers on Thursday night were freshmen.
“They’ve been working hard, and they got a long way to go,” Zeigler began. “They’re really green but I feel like from day one to now they’re progressing quickly. They’re definitely getting better every day and that’s exciting as a coach.
“I hope that it’s an indication that we’re teaching them the right things early and building foundations and they’ll continue to grow.”
The dual began with an unlucky draw for the Trappers.
“We knew that would be a challenge for us, drawing 197 and heavyweights, they’re our least experienced guys,” Zeigler said. “Those are both guys trying to step up and fill a spot.”
Things didn’t get much easier when the third bout returned to the lightweights, where Western’s Cole Verner waited.
“(Verner) is their best wrestler,” Zeigler said. “I knew that was a challenge, even though I think our kid (Matthew Barfuss) wrestled pretty well.”
Northwest freshman Dean Gerber (184 pounds) lost 14-3 in the opening bout, and sophomore Jacob Wells followed with a pin at 3:41 in the heavyweight match. Barfuss lost an 18-1 technical fall to Verner.
HEADING WEST
The Trappers travel to Great Falls, Montana, for duals against Southern Oregon University (5 p.m.) and University of Great Falls (7 p.m.) on Friday.
Northwest continues west for Sunday’s Spokane Open in Spokane, Washington.
The Trappers will see established two-year schools No. 4 Clackamas, No. 11 North Idaho, No. 17 Highline and Southwest Oregon, as well as a host of Division- 1 and NAIA schools.
Wrestlers from Boise State, Oregon State, University of Idaho, University of Washington, Washington State, College of Southern Oregon, Montana State University-Northern and others will comprise the competition.
Zeigler said competing against high-profile schools can be a double-edged sword.
“It’s beneficial in that our kids, when they’re winning, they realize that they’re capable,” Zeigler said. “And that’s their ultimate goal, to move on to a four-year school and wrestle.”
However, when they’re losing, “It can hurt their confidence.”
For a freshmen-heavy team like the Trappers, experience is a must, wherever, and against whomever, they can get it.
“In wrestling, it’s always been a sport where you throw them into the wolves and they survive or they don’t,” Zeigler said.
Northwest will have to survive on the road for the remainder of 2015. The Trappers’ next home dual is against Great Falls on Jan. 16, then not again until the Apodaca Duals on Jan. 29-30.