NIC Wrestling’s New Lineup Gets Baptism of Fire in Dual Meet Against MSU-N Lights

NIC’s wrestling team took a narrow criteria loss to Montana State University-Northern’s Lights in their first inter-squad dual of the season on Saturday night, in a dual NIC Assistant Coach Cooper Thomas described as “electric.”

The Cardinals started off strong with a quick thirty-second fall from Freshman 125-lb wrestler Elijah Cater. 

Sophomore 133-pounder Zach Lopez continued the streak with a technical fall. At the close of his match, his opponent violently shoved him, and officials separated the two wrestlers.

Hunter Bidelman, Freshman at 141-lbs, defeated his opponent via major decision. He faced controversial officiating when, in the final twenty seconds of his match, he placed his opponent in a pin which the referee called, then rescinded.

At 149-lbs, Sophomore Evan Barajas lost by fall.

Redshirt Freshman Porter Craig lost a 3-7 decision at 157-lbs.

Travis Waldner, 165-lb Sophomore, won an electrifying 9-6 decision with late-match hustle.

Freshman Conan Northwind fell short ad lost by technical fall at 174-lbs.

Another Freshman, Noah Poe-Hatten at 184-lbs, lost by decision.

Sophomore Bradley Whitright lost another decision at 197-lbs.

Capping off the dual, Freshman 285-pounder TJ Takafua won a narrow decision in the final seconds, bringing the team scores to an even 20-20.

With the team scores coming to a tie, officials convened and looked over the rules. NIC and MSU-N were tied in scores, wins, pins, tech falls, and decisions. This left the decision to the number of points scored in matches, in which the Lights prevailed. 

NIC’s wrestlers drew a raucous crowd, with cheers from Cardinals and Lights erupting from the Christianson Gymnasium over the course of the two-hour dual meet.

The wrestling team’s coaching staff was excited about the dual. “It was great to have all the fans out here,” said Assistant Coach Cooper Thomas. Thomas was hired as an assistant coach at NIC just this year.

Head Coach Derrick Booth, also new to his position this year, said he was pleased with the team’s performance. “It’s tough to take a loss in front of your home crowd,” Booth said. “But a dual like that is super fun to be a part of.”

Booth says the team should be proud of their efforts. “It’s not easy to bring in a four-year school as talented as [Montana State University-] Northern, and go have your first match. We have a lot of freshmen in the lineup, and I think the effort was there.”

Booth stated his excitement for the rest of the season to come, saying “I don’t know if anybody expects anything out of us, but we’re gonna go turn some heads.”