Your future, our focus
Bouncing back on the road last weekend the Northwest College wrestling team earned a pair of dual victories over Northeastern Junior College and Otero Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, before finishing the trip at the Younes Hospitality Open at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
“Coming off that Western (Wyoming) loss we came back and regrouped and we had really good workouts,” coach Jim Zeigler said.
COLORADO DUALSThe Trappers were dominant against Otero Junior College, winning 41-3.
Neither team wrestled at 125 pounds, and Kaiden Rubash at 133 earned a pin early in the third period at the 5:12 mark to give Northwest a 6-0 lead.
Treyson Davila won by major decision at 141 pounds with a 13-1 scoreline, and Caleb Nadig followed with a pin at 149 pounds in 1:03 to make it 16-0 in favor of the Trappers.
Jack Lounsbury earned an 11-0 major decision at 157 pounds, but Orrin Jackson lost an 11-5 decision at 165 pounds to give Otero its lone victory of the night.
Jesse Thornton returned the favor with a 5-4 win at 174 pounds, Robby Ortega got a forfeit at 184 pounds, Gavin Carter earned a pin in 2:19 at 197 pounds and Cody Pinkerton finished the dual with a pin in 1:43 at 285 to make the final score 41-3.
Following that the Trappers took on the host Northeastern JC, with the hosts taking an early lead after a forfeit at 125 by Northwest.
Northwest responded with three straight victories including two pins by Rubash at 133 (4:47), Davila earned a forfeit and Nadig won in 47 seconds at 149.
Lounsbury lost by technical fall at 157 pounds after a 22-5 scoreline, before Jackson received a forfeit win at 165.
Thornton lost a tough decision 14-11 at 174 pounds, before Aziz Fayzullaev got his first victory of the season at 184 with a pin in 1:36.
“Having Aziz in the lineup adds a ton of energy to our entire lineup,” Zeigler said.
Carter got a pin at the 6:31 mark and Pinkerton finished with a pin with one second remaining to finish the night with a 42-14 Northwest victory.
“They wrestled great, they competed hard, they supported each other and there was a lot ofenergy,” Zeigler said. “It was a lot of fun. I liked how they stepped up and answered the call.”
YOUNES OPENNorthwest continued the trip further east, heading to Nebraska to take part in the Younes Hospitality Open on Saturday.
At the tournament there were two divisions, elite and amateur, with a majority of the Trappers competing in the amateur division.
“There’s about 700 kids in the tournament. They break it into two divisions with the amateur division being primarily freshmen and sophomores with bigger brackets, and the elite are the really competitive and older kids,” Zeigler said.
In the elite division, Pinkerton competed at 285 pounds, finishing with a 3-2 record — battling with athletes all the way up to Division I.
“Him going 3-2 was good. He gets the attention from the four year schools,” Zeigler said.
The other Trapper competing was a wrestler from last year’s team who is now helping coach, Gus Harrison, who finished 1-2 in the elite 174 pound division.
In the amateur brackets, Nadig finished with a 5-1 record but was unable to wrestle his next match at 149 pounds after reaching the six match limit for the day.
Lounsbury went 3-2 at 157 pounds; Josh Womack went 3-2 at 197 pounds; Kendell Cummings went 3-2 at 141 pounds; Thornton went 2-2 at 174 pounds; Davila went 2-2 at 141; Ortega went 1-2 at 184; Carter went 1-2 at 197; Rubash went 0-2 at 133 and Mark Larsen went 0-2 at 285.
“You can run into some barn burners that can kick the crap out of you but there are also guys you can beat. I like that for our young guys because I felt like all of them got some success from the weekend and something to build on. It’s hard to get that first college win sometimes,” Zeigler said.
Northwest will take a small break for Thanksgiving, before returning next week to practice before heading into Montana for duals and a tournament in Great Falls Dec. 1-2.
“We get a holiday break and they get to breathe a little bit,” Zeigler said. “We’ve got something to build on. I’m proud of our guys, I love the energy and I love how we all enjoy each other.”