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Trapper Wrestlers Win Home dual
By RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The sixth-ranked Northwest College Trappers defeated the NAIA's No. 12 Montana State University- Northern 27-15 in home wrestling action last Wednesday. The Trappers won five of the eight contested matches and further benefitted from a pair of forfeit victories.
Sophomores McCade Ford (141 pounds), Briston Brenton (157) and Mak Jones (197) joined freshmen Jesse Hillhouse (133) and Zach Oppenheimer (165) in scoring wins by decision. Returning All- American Landon Harris (285) and freshman Nick Petersen (174) both won unopposed.
"We got off to a lot of slow starts tonight," said Trapper wrestling coach Jim Zeigler. "We've got some high school habits that we need to shake still. Our mechanics can improve, but I thought our tempo was good and we kept moving. We're working on getting better."
Against the Lights of MSU Northern, who brought a pair of individually-ranked NAIA wrestlers to town for the event, the Trappers were good enough.
Jones had one of the night's pivotal wins as he out-wrestled former NJCAA national champion Evan Mattingly for a 7-3 victory. The second-year Trapper looked comfortable and in control throughout the match.
"Mak had a good match," said Zeigler. "That guy he wrestled is a former junior college champion. He's the real deal. That was a good win."
Another key win for the Trappers came at 165 pounds as Oppenheimer shook off the effects of a late-match hamstring cramp to grind out a 5-1 decision. Oppenheimer's lead sat at just one point when injury time was called to deal with the cramp.
"We couldn't get it worked out," Zeigler said. "We tried, but we ran out of injury time."
Oppenheimer wrestled the final 90 seconds of the match with a noticeable limp, but still managed to score an additional two points and hold on to his riding time bonus to score the decision win for the Trappers, 5-1.
"Give him credit, he toughed it out," said Zeigler.
In other matches, Hillhouse was a 10-5 winner. Ford gave the Trappers another five-point victory with a 9-4 decision while Brenton came out on the high side of a 9-2 decision.
Cody Britt (149) came up on the short side of a 9-3 decision against Northern's Joe Drinkwater. Trappers Philip Grout (125) and Jarrett Baker (184) were both fall victims late in the second period of their respective matches. Baker's loss came at the hands of NAIA top-five wrestler Evan Hinebauch.