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NWC Hindered by Injuries to Close First Semester
By RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
After having the date circled on his calendar for a number of weeks, Northwest College wrestling coach Jim Zeigler was left wondering what could have been as his fifth-ranked Trappers dropped a 29- 11 dual to No. 4 North Idaho over the weekend.
"We had to juggle our lineup something fierce," said Zeigler. "It's disappointing, because this is a date that's marked on my calendar for a number of reasons. It's our last event of the semester and it's a dual that I like to use to try and see what our lineup for the next semester will look like. We were unable to put that lineup together."
Injuries and illness instead forced Zeigler to improvise. Two returning All-Americans - Mc- Cade Ford (ankle sprain) and Landon Harris (illness) - were out of the Trappers' lineup last weekend. A third, Saul Guerrero, wrestled one weight class higher as Northwest struggled to fill in the gaps as best possible.
Guerrero was one of three Trappers to score wins against North Idaho, scoring an 11-1 major decision at 141 pounds. Philip Grout (125) was a 16-11 winner to lead off the night for NWC, while Nick Petersen (174) scored a 12-4 major decision.
"Nick had a great weekend," said Zeigler. "Along with Saul, he was definitely one of the stars for us. He's put together a strong semester and he's made the statement that he's someone to contend with this season at that weight."
In addition, the Trappers had four other wrestlers suffer relatively close losses against their North Idaho counterparts. Jesse Hillhouse (133) dropped a one point decision. Bobby Robins (149) and Sergio Pedroza (285) each came up two points shy. Mak Jones (197) fell by a 6-2 count.
Northwest's other results included a technical fall loss by Briston Brenton at 157 and losses by fall by Tony Wood (157) and Jarrett Baker (184).
"We had a lot of kids wrestle well, but you can't get a team like North Idaho when you're trying to fill in the gaps like we were in our lineup," said Zeigler.
With the 18-point dual victory, North Idaho gained the early advantage on the travelling moose trophy the two schools compete over.
"It was something their athletic director and I started because we wanted to get something going between our two schools," said Zeigler. "So he went out and got a moose. It started out as an every sport trophy, but wrestling is the only sport we compete against them in now, so we'll take the combined score of both duals to determine the winner."
The Trappers also dropped a bitter 24-19 dual to Southwestern Oregon on Saturday.
Guerrero scored a win by fall for the Trappers in that event. Peterson added a major decision victory for Northwest College and Brenton, Jones and Pedroza added wins by decision.
The key tipping point for Northwest College came at 184 pounds, where the Trappers' Jarrett Baker failed to make weight, forcing the team to take a forfeit at that slot. The six points proved costly to the Trappers.
"He wrestled an exhibition match and wound up winning it," Zeigler said. "So you're talking about a nine-point swing. It just goes to show how one match can make a difference in the whole thing. In a nutshell, I'm disappointed in the loss."
The Trappers will break for the holidays, during which time Zeigler is hoping a number of injuries will heal to allow the team to step on the mat at full strength next semester. The Trappers will resume wrestling practice on Dec. 28 in preparation for four duals against ranked competition Jan. 7-9 in Kansas.
The Trappers will face No. 3 Labette on Jan. 7 before facing No. 11 Pratt, No. 18 Neosho County and No. 2 St. Louis-Meramec on Jan. 9.