TRAPPERS TAKE DOWN NO. 1

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

A weekend filled with emotion, excitement and a lot of talented wrestlers brought fans to Cabre Gym, leading to one of the biggest moments of the season for the Northwest College wrestling team during the Apodaca Duals on Friday and Saturday.

The Trappers split four duals over two days, highlighted by a victory over NJCAA No. 1-ranked Western Wyoming Community College in the final bout 22-21 on Saturday. Northwest also defeated Northeastern Junior College 38-18 on Saturday, but fell short against North Idaho College 35-13 on Friday and Snow College 29-22 to wrap up the weekend.  

NORTH IDAHO 35, NORTHWEST 13
Friday night brought a host of emotions, as the No. 6-ranked Trappers held a ceremony presenting Cody Pinkerton with the Apodaca Award before a dual against North Idaho.

In a difficult dual, the Trappers fell behind early, after a forfeit at 125 but a 7-1 decision for Kaiden Rubash at 133 kept Northwest close down 6-3.

The Cardinals opened up their lead by winning the next five weights; a 19-2 tech fall at 141 pounds, a 10-2 major decision at 149 pounds, a 19-2 tech fall at 157 pounds, an 11-2 major decision at 165 pounds and a 17-0 tech fall at 174 pounds gave the visitors a commanding 29-3 lead.

Aziz Fayzullaev earned a 19-8 major decision at 184 pounds to get Northwest on the board again, before a late pin at 197 pounds made it 35-7.

Pinkerton earned a pin at heavyweight in 1:26 to cap off the night and make the final score 35-13.

"It seems to be a pattern every year. They are kind of shocked Friday night and they get caught up in the emotions," coach Jim Zeigler said. "Just didn't wrestle well."    

NORTHWEST 38, NORTHEASTERN 18
The Trappers kicked off Saturday against Northeastern out of Colorado.

A forfeit at 125 started the day, before Rubash turned around a match he trailed early to earn a pin and tie the match at six.

Northeastern forfeited at 141, then Caleb Nadig got a major decision 10-1 at 149 to make it 16-6.

The visitors got a pin at 157, Orrin Jackson got the pin at 165 and the Plainsmen earned a pin at 174 to make the match 22-18.

Fayzullaev got a pin at 184 and Josh Womack followed suit at 197 to secure the match before Pinkerton earned an 11-0 major decision at heavyweight to make the final score 38-18.

"By day two you can tell that the fans, workers, officials and all the competitors have settled into the event," Zeigler said. "They tend to wrestle really well on Saturday."     

NORTHWEST 22, WESTERN WYOMING 21
The matchup of the weekend came at noon on Saturday, when the Trappers attempted to defeat a team that had beat them 50-3 in early November.

Yet again a forfeit at 125 gave the visitors an early lead, but Northwest had answers throughout.

Rubash held on for a 12-9 decision at 133 after leading 10-1 in the first period, but a second period pin at 141 pounds gave the Mustangs a 12-3 lead.

A 10-3 decision in favor of Nadig at 149 was followed by a 12-3 major decision at 157 for Jack Lounsbury to cut the lead down to 12-10.

The turning point in the match came at 165 pounds, after Jackson found himself in a difficult position early, but battled back to turn the match on its head and earn a pin in 1:03 to give the Trappers a 16-12 lead.

"That was the dual," Zeigler said. "Without that you don't win, without any one of them you don't win but that's a huge swing. That's when we knew we could win it."

A 7-2 decision at 174 went in favor of the Mustangs, before one of the matchups of the day at 184 pounds.

No. 2-ranked Fayzullaev matched up with No. 1-ranked Darion Johnson of Western, as the two battled throughout.

Fayzullaev held a 4-2 lead after the first, and a 4-3 lead after the second when Johnson earned an escape after starting down.

A late takedown by Johnson was the deciding factor, giving him three points and the 6-4 victory to hand Fayzullaev his first loss as a Trapper.

Another tight battle ensued at 197, with neither wrestler earning a point until the third period.

That came on an escape in the third, with Western holding a 21-16 lead heading to the final bout.

Heavyweight featured another top two matchup, with No. 1-ranked Pinkerton facing No. 2-ranked Dmarian Lopez and needing a pin to win the match.

Neither wrestler scored in the first, and Pinkerton scored on an escape in the second before getting Lopez down and pinning him at the 4:29 mark — sending Cabre Gym into a frenzy as the Trappers earned the 22-21 win.

"I put it all in my faith. I put it in God's hands that it would happen," Pinkerton said. "We wrestle those guys all the time and they beat us a lot. That was big. It felt electric in here (Cabre Gym)."

The victory was a big step for the Trappers, giving Northwest a boost as it heads into the final month of the season.

"Us beating Western was mind-boggling," Zeigler said. "When you line us up and you look at it top to bottom they have more than we have. On that day, under those circumstances, we were the better team. We wrestled better, we forced mistakes on them, we got in their head and outworked them. It paid off."    

SNOW 29, NORTHWEST 22
Ending the weekend the Trappers took on Snow College, hoping to ride the momentum of the earlier match to earn another victory.

The early forfeit coupled with an 11-4 decision at 133 and a 10-4 decision at 141 gave the Badgers a 12-0 lead.

Nadig got six points at 149 after a medical forfeit ended the match and Lounsbury got a pin at 157 to tie the match at 12.

Jackson got a 12-4 major decision at 165 to give the Trappers the lead, before a pin at 174 for the Badgers and a forfeit due to a minor injury to Fayzullaev suffered during the Western bout at 184 gave Snow a 24-16 advantage.

"I would have liked to have seen him wrestle … That was a teachable moment," Zeigler said.

A 17-0 tech fall at 197 made it 29-16, before Pinkerton ended his undefeated weekend with a pin at heavyweight and made it 29-22.    

QUICK DUAL
Weather permitting, Northwest is scheduled for a dual against Trinidad State this Friday in Rock Springs.

"It just depends on what the weather is like (over South Pass)," Zeigler said. "We are not in the position to do a 10, 11-hour bus ride home from Rock Springs … We can stay home and train while enjoying the warm weather in Powell … (if we do wrestle) I want them to carry that momentum down there."

That dual will be the final action for several weeks before the Trappers host national qualifiers with the NJCAA Plains District Championships on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Zeigler said he wants the team to carry momentum into the qualifiers. The team is nearing the end of its regular season and putting the finishing touches on a four month long season that has included countless hours building the team's foundation.