Defeat of No. 4 Lincoln highlights weekend

The Northwest College Trapper wrestling team knew it was in for a challenge as it prepared for the NWCA National Duals tournament. It probably didn’t realize just how tough that tournament would prove to be.

The seventh-ranked Trappers faced three of the top four teams in the nation within a 24-hour period over the weekend. The Trappers won one of those three duals and finished the prestigious event in fourth place overall, an improvement over their finish the previous year.

Northwest opened the tournament paired against No. 4 Lincoln College and began with a flurry. Kamron Day (125) opened with a win by injury default. Justin Gardner (133) followed with a win by fall and Colton Thornton was unopposed at 141 pounds to lift the Trappers to an 18-0 lead.

Northwest continued to press the lead with a string of decisions. Nathaniel Garcia picked up a 10-6 win at 149 pounds. Jacksen Cotterell added a narrow 2-1 victory at 157 pounds and Bernie Dupuy stretched his consecutive wins streak into double figures with a 9-2 win.

Keithen Cast, ranked first nationally at 174 pounds, scored an 18-2 technical fall and Miles Nixon (184) added a 3-1 decision as the Trappers vaulted to a 35-0 lead. Lincoln scored a decision victory at 197 as Ben Price came out on the short side of a 5-2 decision. Lincoln also scored a win by fall at the 285-pound slot, but it hardly matters as the Trappers steamrolled their way to a 35-9 victory.

That advanced the team to a date with No. 1 Iowa Central in the semifinals on Sunday morning.

Once again, Day got the dual off to a positive start for the Trappers with a six-point win. This time, the redshirt freshman scored a third-period win by fall to vault Northwest to a 6-0 lead.

From there, things went downhill. Gardner and Thornton both wound up on the short side of major decisions while Garcia was pinned to give Iowa Central a 14-6 lead.

Then came a series of narrow decisions that all flowed in favor of the nation’s top-ranked team. Cotterell dropped a 7-4 decision on the mat. Dupuy followed with a 5-4 loss that snapped his 10-match win streak. Cast was a 3-1 victim in overtime in a match pairing the No. 1 and No. 4 wrestlers in the nation at 174 pounds.

Miles Nixon dropped a 3-2 decision that ensured an Iowa Central victory. The Trappers lost the final two matches as Price and Sullivan each fell by decision to make the final score 32-6 in Iowa Central’s favor.

That set Northwest up in the third-place dual against No. 2 Clackamas.

Day completed an undefeated weekend for the Trappers with a 3-0 decision in the opening match. Gardner and Thornton followed with decision losses before Garcia was pinned to give Clackamas a 12-3 lead on the scoreboard.

Cotterell righted the ship for Northwest with a 3-2 decision win at 157. Dupuy followed with an 8-1 decision that came within seconds of being a major decision for the Trappers.

Cast recovered from his earlier loss with a 5-2 win at 174 pounds, drawing Northwest even on the scoreboard with three matches to go. Unfortunately for the Trappers, none of those matches went their way.

Nixon was pinned in the second period to give Clackamas a six-point lead. Price followed with a 5-3 loss that locked the Trappers into their fourth-place finish. Sullivan extended his heavyweight match into overtime before falling 2-1 to leave the final score 24-12 in favor of Clackamas.

Trapper wrestling returns to the mat on Thursday with a home dual against Western Wyoming. The Trappers will also host the University of Great Falls in a Friday night dual. Both contests begin at 7:30 p.m.