NWC WRESTLING STARTS STRONG

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

The Northwest College wrestling team started its season strong in Colorado, winning a dual over Northeastern Junior College on Saturday before seeing some good early season results at the Mines Rookie Open on Sunday in Golden, including a win by Asad Fayzullaev at 184 pounds.      

NORTHWEST 34, NORTHEASTERN 9
Starting the season with a dual against a region opponent the Trappers took on the Plainsmen on Saturday afternoon in Sterling.
Northwest started off strong, getting a win from Dylan Sorenson at 125 pounds with an 8-3 decision, followed by an 18-6 major decision win by Ryan Nutt at 133 pounds.
Zachary Covolo kept the momentum going at 141 pounds, earning a pin to make it 13-0.
NJC secured the win at 149 pounds with a close 10-6 decision over Devin Grossman, and a difficult situation followed for Northwest at 157 pounds after an early medical forfeit for Colby Ducatt made it 13-9 Northwest.
"Devin lost a really close one at 149 and he avenged the loss the next day at the tournament. Colby was in a situation where he was winning and rolled an ankle, so we pulled the plug on that one and had to give up six points there," coach Jim Zeigler said. "More importantly we needed to get him healthy. So we're working on that."
The Trappers stopped the Plainsmen's momentum in its tracks, earning a 20-13 decision at 165 pounds via Porter Olson and an 11-5 decision at 174 pounds for Dustin Rhoades.
Fayzullaev got a quick 20-4 tech fall win at 184 pounds, before Race Moxley earned a 10-1 major decision at 197 pounds and Austin Richens got the pin at heavyweight to finish the match and make it a 34-9 final scoreline.  

MINES ROOKIE OPEN
Continuing on to Golden the Trappers went to the Mines Rookie Open, which featured wrestlers from all levels including NCAA Division I competitors.
"The guys stuck together. Really worked hard for each other," Zeigler said.
Leading the way was Fayzullaev, who started his run to a title with a first round pin followed by a 10-3 decision to reach the quarterfinals.
Fayzullaev earned another pin in the quarterfinals, and advanced to the semifinals.
In the semifinals he matched up with Western Wyoming Community College's Banks Love, which proved to be an early season matchup between the top two wrestlers at 184 pounds at the NJCAA level.
The preseason poll for NJCAA had Fayzullaev ranked No. 2 and Love ranked No. 1, but Fayzullaev earned a 6-5 decision to claim the victory and advance to the final.
In that final, Fayzullaev earned a second period pin over a competitor from Air Force, earning Fayzullaev the title to open the season.
"Asad was great all weekend … He's so savvy and smart about how he wrestles and seeing his opportunities, creating opportunities, capitalizing on opportunities, holding his ground," Zeigler said. "He was as good as I've ever seen him, the same form he was at at the national tournament last year … All his wins were impressive."
The next highest placer for Northwest was Richens at heavyweight, as he earned a 28-second pin in his first match, before falling to a University of Wyoming competitor in the quarterfinals in a close 5-4 decision.
Richens then battled back and pinned three straight opponents, with no matches lasting past the first period, to finish fifth overall.
"Austin, still adjusting to the weight, wrestling bigger guys but also adjusting to himself being bigger," Zeigler said. "I thought he was great."
Another competitor who had an opportunity to place was Rhoades at 174 pounds, losing his first match in a close 10-7 decision.
After a bye he earned a 4-1 sudden victory, and then earned a major decision and decision to advance to the consolation semifinals.
Early in that semifinal a small injury forced Rhoades to withdraw as a precaution.
"Dusty was fantastic all weekend. He's been in the lineup some last year, but boy he showed how much he has grown, matured and developed over the last year," Zeigler said. "He was solid in his matches. Dusty is really good at staying within himself … Just wrestled so smart and won just battle after battle."
The Trappers had a number of athletes who recorded wins throughout the day, as Sorensen went 2-2 at 125 pounds; Nutt went 2-2 at 133 pounds; Covolo went 2-2 at 141 pounds and Grossman went 2-2 at 149 pounds. Jackie Meador, Olson and Moxley went 0-2 at 133, 165 and 184 pounds respectively.
After the weekend Zeigler said he was pleased with what he saw on the mat, especially from his freshmen who were getting their first college wrestling experience.
"They showed moments where they were good, but there were a lot of nerves. So getting past that, getting that first win under the belt is a big help for them, they looked even better on Sunday," Zeigler said, adding that they did have to overcome some moments like giving up on situations they shouldn't, and learning how to manage a match, such as "when to just hold your ground and hold position, knowing and seeing opportunities to realize this is an opportunity and not pass by on that and wait for a later opportunity. Take them as they come. All lessons."
Overall Zeigler was proud of the team for how they conducted themselves throughout as he felt the sophomores did a good job of introducing the freshmen to the routine of a long trip.
"That first long road trip like that I think you kind of set the tone, establish what the ground rules are and boundaries. How we function as a unit everywhere we go, from hotels or restaurants to the gym, through our workouts through everything," Zeigler said. "Everything ran like clockwork, and I'm excited about that. The guys understand the system now, the freshmen. The sophomores did a great job of teaching."     

TIME TO LEARN
After the first weekend of action on the road the Trappers now have time to prepare at home for an extra week before heading back out on the road the weekend of Nov. 21-22 to the Cardinal duals in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
"We can expand on our teaching now. The guys have been anxious to learn some new techniques and do some things, but I don't really get into that until they're really solid with some basic things that I feel they need to know," Zeigler said. "We're going to expand on that now. They're going to start learning some new things, and it's time. They get excited about that.