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NWC, Cowboys Set to Tangle
By RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The Northwest College wrestling program prepares for the spotlight this Friday night as the team heads to Laramie for a head-to- head showdown against the University of Wyoming. The opportunity has Trapper head coach Jim Zeigler elated.
"This is a great opportunity for exposure for our program," said Zeigler. "It should help in recruiting that people see we have this sort of schedule and that our wrestlers have this sort of opportunity. For the sport of wrestling, it is tremendous that we have this sort of partnership with the University of Wyoming to promote the sport within our state."
The Northwest-Wyoming dual, which takes place at 5 p.m. on Friday at the UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie, comes on a weekend full of activities. For starters, the dual comes at the conclusion of a day-long wrestling clinic that will have dozens of high school coaches from throughout the state in town.
Zeigler will serve as the afternoon clinician for that event.
Laramie will also be serving as the host city for the various state championship high school football games being played this weekend. The Cowboys host their annual Cowboy Open wrestling tournament on Saturday and the University of Wyoming will tip off men's basketball season that same day.
All of those events are expected to help bolster the attendance at Friday's Northwest-UW wrestling dual.
"It's good to have the interest of the University of Wyoming and that they're interested in competition with us," said Zeigler. "That says a lot about the quality of our program and having this opportunity, in turn, will help with our visibility. With everything that's going on in town this weekend, there is the opportunity for a lot of people to come out and watch."
UW sent 11 wrestlers to Powell last weekend to participate in the NWC Open. Five of those grapplers returned home with weight-class titles.
Northwest College kept the title in one weight class as 2009 national runner-up Landon Harris scored the 285-pound title.
Harris will again anchor the 285-pound slot when the Trappers step onto the mat against the Cowboys. The rest of the team's lineup is expected to feature Jesse Hillhouse (125), Saul Guerrero (133), McCade Ford (141), Cody Britt (149), Briston Brenton (157), Zach Oppenheimer (165), Nick Petersen (174), Jarrett Baker (184) and Mak Jones (197).
Most of the Trappers' 31-man roster is expected to take part in Saturday's Cowboy Open event. Similar to last weekend's NWC event, several of those competitors will compete unattached.