WRESTLERS LEARN ON TOUGH IDAHO ROAD TRIP

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

A weekend full of lessons for the freshmen and impressive performances for the sophomore wrestlers led to mixed results for the Northwest College wrestling team at the Cardinal Duals in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. NWC defeated Big Bend Community College 49-0 before recording losses to Clackamas Community College 37-18 and host North Idaho College 38-9.    

NORTHWEST 49, BIG BEND 0
Starting the weekend on Friday the NJCAA preseason No. 7-ranked Trappers took on the No. 16-ranked Vikings.
Northwest jumped out to a significant advantage immediately, getting a forfeit for Dylan Sorensen at 125 pounds, followed by pins by Ryan Nutt at 133 pounds and Zachary Covolo at 141 pounds to make it an 18-0 lead.
Devin Grossman earned a 12-4 major decision victory at 149 pounds before a forfeit gave Northwest another six points at 157 pounds for Sunny Espinoza Jr. to make it 28-0.
Porter Olson got a 12-7 decision at 165 pounds, before consecutive pins by Dustin Rhoades at 174 pounds and Asad Fayzullaev at 184 pounds.
Race Moxley earned a narrow 3-2 decision at 197 pounds, before Austin Richens got an 8-2 win at heavyweight over the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the preseason poll.
"The kids wrestled really well on Friday night," coach Jim Zeigler said. "Their heavyweight, he's good. He won their region last year and he's the highest returner. That was a good win."

CLACKAMAS 37, NORTHWEST 18
Heading into Saturday the Trappers matched up with the No. 5-ranked Cougars.
Clackamas jumped out to an early lead, earning wins at 125 pounds with a pin of Sorensen and a tech fall over Nutt at 133 pounds to the No. 8 wrestler in the country.
Covolo got Northwest on the board at 141 pounds with a pin of his own, before a string of victories put the match out of reach for the Trappers.
"The sophomores showed up and the freshmen were timid," Zeigler said. "I think it was a good experience for them. They have to go through that, and Clackamas and North Idaho are both two of the better teams in the country. No question in my mind about that. They came out and they were fired up."
A 14-5 major decision at 149 pounds over Grossman by the No. 3 wrestler in the country made it 15-6; that was followed by a pin of Espinoza Jr. by the No. 7 wrestler at his weight, a 20-2 tech fall of Porter Olson at 165 pounds by the No. 8 wrestler and a pin of Rhoades at 174 pounds made it 32-6.
"Clackamas came out with a lot of swagger and attack, and they believed in themselves," Zeigler said. "Our kids are smart, they're well-mannered, they're a lot of things. But they're not cocky. So I talked to them about that and I said 'hey, you've got to find that swagger a little bit when you go out there and wrestle. You've got to be more ready.' They just didn't react well to it. They didn't attack, they lacked confidence … They just weren't ready that way. That's on me too." 
Fayzullaev earned the win at 184 after a medical forfeit, Moxley fell via an 18-1 tech fall at 197 before Richens ended it with a quick pin at heavyweight to make the final scoreline 37-18.    

NORTH IDAHO 38, NORTHWEST 9
Ending the weekend against the host Cardinals the Trappers were looking for a win against the No. 11 ranked team.
North Idaho jumped out to an early lead with a pin of Sorensen at 125 pounds, adding to it with a 17-0 tech fall over Nutt at 133 pounds by the No. 7 wrestler at his weight.
"They put the freshmen on their heels. And our kids just didn't recover from that. It's a lesson, I think we're better than we showed against those two teams. But that's one of those painful things that the freshmen have to go through," Zeigler said.
Covolo came up just short in an 11-9 defeat at 141 pounds before a 15-0 tech fall of Grossman at 149 pounds made it 19-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
Espinoza Jr. fell via pin at 157 pounds, and Olson fell via an 18-3 tech fall at 165 pounds before Rhoades fell via a difficult overtime loss in a 9-8 sudden victory for the Cardinals.
"Dusty was good … He got caught in a really tough match. He lost in overtime on a technicality," Zeigler said.
Fayzullaev got Northwest on the board at 184 pounds, earning a 7-3 decision.
Moxley fell via a 21-6 tech fall at 197 pounds before Richens capped his strong weekend with a third period pin of the No. 1 wrestler in the country to make the final score 38-9.
"Austin had the big weekend," Zeigler said. "Our team is close, they will survive this. They'll be just fine. They're a close-knit team, they enjoy each other, enjoy the coaches, vice versa."
 
SMALL BREAK
The Trappers now head into another small break before hitting the mat next week, taking the time to prepare for another set of strong matches on Dec. 4 in Beatrice, Nebraska.
"I think it was a good week for a good experience, and we'll move forward, put it behind us, move forward with a positive attitude … I did let them know we're headed into Southeast Nebraska and they're as tough as these two teams. So you better get ready. I think they have the attitude that that's not going to happen again," Zeigler said. "They had to go through that [this past weekend] at some point."