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Team Rests Several in Advance of Hectic Week
By RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
With three duals and a rugged tournament on the horizon, the Northwest College Trappers opted to give some extra rest to several of its stars. Nevertheless, NWC still returned from the University of Northern Colorado tournament last weekend with a pair of top-six finishers.
"With some exceptions, we didn't take our starters to this meet," said Trapper head coach Jim Zeigler. "This gave some of our reserves and some of our redshirts the opportunity to get some momentum and to demonstrate that they can challenge for those varsity spots."
Redshirt freshman Seth Haas emerged as the Trapper with the most momentum coming out of the UNC meet. After losing his initial match at 141 pounds, Haas survived the marathon climb up the consolation side of the bracket, chaining together six wins to place third overall.
"Seth is a walk-on," said Zeigler. "He's a kid that came out here from Michigan on his own and he's really blossomed. He's a redshirt right now, so he pays his own way to these tournaments. I can't coach him while he's on the mat, so he has other kids in his corner giving him advice. He's really developed."
Also placing for the Trappers was freshman Aaron Philips at 184 pounds. Philips won his first two matches before dropping three in succession to place sixth in the division.
"He wrestled OK and was able to get some more confidence as the meet went on," said Zeigler. "We'd like to see him get even more aggressive than he was and push the pace even more."
In addition to Haas and Philips, the Trappers had two other grapplers finish the tournament with at least two wins under their belts. Freshman Philip Grout finished the day 3-2 in the 125-pound division while Nick Petersen went 2-2 at 174 pounds.
"Philip was able to get two of his three wins by fall," said Zeigler. "He wrestled well. His two losses were against an NCAA national tournament qualifier and to Seth Wright, who was a former national champion here at NWC. Nick's two wins both came by major decision, so he controlled those two matches well."
Heavyweight Sergio Pedroza one of the hottest Trappers in the early season, got his meet off to a good start, but opted to take a medical forfeit for his next two matches.
"We anticipate that he'll be available for us next week," Zeigler said.
Jake Budd (1-2 at 133), Bobby Robbins (1-2 at 149), Nick Jensen (0-2 at 165), Jarrett Baker (1-2 at 184) and Kyle Starling (0-2 at 285) also made the trip to Greeley, Colo.
"We're going to have some of these kids challenge for varsity spots," Zeigler said of the group that competed. "To be a really great team, you have to have that sort of competition in the (practice) room. We haven't had that the last couple of years, but this year we have a little more of it. When you've got depth, when you have people pushing you for your spot in the lineup, that's what helps to build your team."
The Trappers are off this weekend. The team hosts Western Wyoming next Wednesday in a matchup of ranked Wyoming junior college programs. Western brings the No. 17 ranking in the NJCAA to Powell to face the No. 6 Trappers.
The team travels to Great Falls, Mont., on Dec. 4 for duals against NAIA schools Dickinson State University and Simon Fraser University. The Trappers will compete in a Dec. 5 tournament hosted by the University of Great Falls.