After three weeks off following the Apodaca Duals, the Northwest College wrestling team is set to head off to Sterling, Colorado, to take part in the Rocky Mountain Regionals this weekend.

Coach Jim Zeigler said the seasonal illness bug ran its course through the team following the home event, but the Trappers have returned to full strength heading into the qualifiers this weekend.

“We have been doing our conditioning, hard-lifting and training in the mornings and then doing technique, drills and wrestling in the afternoons,” Zeigler said.

Northwest heads down to the event to compete against hosts Northeastern College alongside Western Wyoming and Otero Junior College for a chance to head to the national tournament in two weeks in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Zeigler said the top two places in each weight class will be guaranteed a spot at the national tournament, with five wild card places being split among the 10 weight classes to send five additional wrestlers to the national tournament.

The weight classes that will receive additional qualifiers have not been determined at this time and will be determined by the coaches prior to the start of the tournament.

“We have some weights where there are three guys that should be going to nationals,” Zeigler said. “Those will likely be the guys that will have wild cards.”

Northwest will have multiple top seeds at the qualifiers this weekend, with Aziz Fayzullaev at 174 pounds, Ryker Blackburn at 197 pounds and Cody Pinkerton at 285 pounds all taking the top seed in their weight classes.

He said that Bobur Berdiyorov and Gus Harrison will be one of the top two seeds at 141 and 157 pounds respectively, while Orrin Jackson will slot in at the No. 2 seed for 165 pounds.

Brady Lowry is expected to be a three or four seed at 149 pounds after returning late in the season while Cody Todd will be the No. 4 seed at 184 pounds.

“If you can get an upset at the regional tournament, it puts you in a position going to nationals with confidence and momentum,” Zeigler said. “It also has a lot to do with your positioning in the bracket at the national tournament. If you go in as the No. 1 seed out of our region you will likely get a two, three or four seed. You won’t hit another one seed until at least the quarterfinals.”

He said that the regions are not always balanced heading into the national tournament, as a lower seed in a region can be stronger than the top seed in another region. 

An attempt is being made to get more accurate seeding through events such as the national duals in January to help make matchups even heading into the national tournament.

The regionals will take place on Saturday, at the Bank of Colorado Events Center.