Your future, our focus
Opening the season on their home mat the Northwest College wrestling team welcomed the University of Providence to Powell, competing in a pair of duals on Saturday.
In the first matchup, the Trappers came up against the No. 8-ranked NAIA school and battled throughout the lineup.
In the first matchup at 133 pounds, Kaiden Rubash had a battle in the first period and trailed throughout in a difficult 17-10 loss to give the Argonauts a 3-0 lead.
Kendall Cummings made his triumphant return to the mat at 141 pounds after surviving a grizzly bear attack just over a year ago. He fell in 2:41 in a difficult matchup to give Providence a 9-0 lead.
At 149 pounds, sophomore transfer Caleb Nadig used a pair of takedowns in the first period to establish a lead and finished with a 12-6 win to give Northwest its first and only points of the first dual, now trailing 9-3.
Jack Lounsbury earned a few escapes in his match at 157 pounds, but fell via technical fall 19-4 in the third period to give Providence a 14-3 advantage.
Orrin Jackson earned a takedown early in his first bout of the year, but lost by a 9-5 decision to help the Argonauts extend their lead out to 17-3.
Jesse Thornton made his debut at 174 pounds for the Trappers, falling in 56 seconds to give the Argonauts a 23-3 lead.
Robbie Ortega started at 184 pounds with Aziz Fayzullaev out to start the season, falling in the first period at the 1:55 mark.
At 197 pounds, Gavin Carter fell at the 1:14 mark and the Argonauts extended the lead to 35-3.
A tight battle throughout at heavyweight had neither wrestler gaining a significant advantage in the first two rounds, before Cody Pinkerton fell at the 5:28 mark in the third period to give Providence a 41-3 victory in the first dual.
The second dual of the day brought all new opponents for the Trappers, giving Northwest more mat experience against a different set of wrestlers from Providence.
A strong first period that included three takedowns saw Rubash fall behind at 133 pounds, and a late rally came up short in a 9-5 loss.
Cummings was unable to find his way into the match at 141 pounds, losing by tech fall 17-0 in his second bout of the day.
Nadig earned his second victory of the day at 149 pounds, using a strong push to finish with an 8-2 win and cut the lead down to 8-3.
Lounsbury held a lead going into the third period, but a strong eight point period saw his opponent speed past to a 10-3 decision and make the match score 11-3.
Jackson, at 165, earned a 9-3 victory powered by two first round takedowns.
Thornton earned his first pin of the year, finishing the match in the second period at the 4:58 mark.
Ortega fell behind early after a takedown led to three four-point near falls, and lost by tech fall in the first period 15-0.
Carter trailed after the first period and chose down in the second, unable to escape and losing by fall at the 4:08 mark.
Pinkerton earned his first victory of the season, scoring four points on an initial escape and a takedown to seal a 7-3 win — with the final score of the second dual being 22-15 in favor of the visitors.
Northwest will now head on its first of many road trips over the next 2 1/2 months, heading on the road to Rock Springs on Saturday.
The Trappers will take on defending national champions Western Wyoming Community College at 5 p.m. before returning home and preparing for another road trip next week.
Northwest debuted in a tie for eighth in the NJCAA national wrestling poll while Western Wyoming opened the season as the top ranked team.