WRESTLERS HIT HIGHS, LOWS IN NEBRASKA

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Returning to action after the Thanksgiving break led to mixed results in Nebraska for the Northwest College wrestling team, as the Trappers had three duals in one day, rolling past Labette Community College 39-9 and Northeastern Junior College 38-12 before falling to host Southeast Community College 38-9.
"I think Labette and NJC are both pretty decent teams. I think we handled them nicely … Unfortunately, the excellent team (Southeast CC) handled us pretty well," coach Jim Zeigler said of the weekend. "Again, it's kind of, where do we fit? I think we're obviously outside that top tier of the top six-to-seven teams. We're outside of that … Do we have a chance to improve? Absolutely there's a chance to improve and climb into that tier. But, we're not there yet."    

NORTHWEST 39, LABETTE CC 9
Wrestling the Cardinals for the first time the Trappers were looking for a strong performance at a neutral site in Beatrice, Nebraska.
Dylan Sorensen got the early win for the Trappers against the Cardinals out of Parsons, Kansas. Sorensen finished with a third period tech fall 16-1 to make it 5-0.
Labette took the win at 133 pounds as Ryan Nutt was withdrawn due to injury in the third period to make it 6-5.
Northwest regained the lead at 141 pounds when Zachary Covolo earned a 10-2 major decision to make it 9-6, but the Cardinals responded with an 11-8 decision over Devin Grossman at 149 pounds to tie the score 9-9.
Colby Ducatt earned the win at 157 pounds with a 10-5 decision to give Northwest the lead for good, as Porter Olson added to it with a third period pin at 6:16 and Dustin Rhoades earned a forfeit win to make it 24-9.
"Porter really had a breakout weekend. He beat the guy from Labette, that's one of their top guys," Zeigler said. "Asad [Fayzullaev] has been working with him regularly in practice, and I see a huge difference. Asad's an excellent teacher and partner and everybody that wrestles him gets better. It's quite obvious with Porter."
Fayzullaev earned a first period pin in 1:30 at 184 pounds, Race Moxley got a 3-1 decision at 197 pounds before Austin Richens again made quick work at heavyweight to earn the pin in 40 seconds to make the final score 39-9. 

NORTHWEST 38, NORTHEASTERN JC 12
The Trappers were looking for a second victory on the season against the Plainsmen, this time in a neutral site match.
Northwest took the opening matchup quickly, as Sorensen didn't even take a minute to pin his opponent, taking only 46 seconds to secure the win at 125 pounds.
The Plainsmen got on the board at 133 pounds, as a 10-7 sudden victory in overtime over Nutt made it 6-3.
Covolo helped Northwest extend its advantage at 141 pounds, as he made quick work and earned a second period tech fall 18-3 to make it 11-3.
Northeastern made a run starting at 149 pounds, when Grossman was forced to withdraw due to injury for Northwest early in the first period, and Ducatt fell by a 4-1 decision as the Plainsmen made it 12-11.
"Devin wrestled pretty good, but he got hurt and so we had to withdraw him in the middle of that second dual," Zeigler said. "He's not going to be available for Western (Wyoming) either … We'd rather err on the cautious side and he'll be ready to go in January."
Olson gave Northwest the lead back for good at 165 pounds, earning a second period at the 3:29 mark to make it 17-12. 
Rhoades got the win early in the third period at 174 pounds after his opponent was forced to withdraw due to injury, before Fayzullaev got a first period pin at 184 pounds in 2:14 to make it 29-12.
"Dusty had a workman's weekend. He was working and grinding," Zeigler said.
Moxley earned a 9-6 decision at 197 pounds and Richens finished the match with a 24-second pin at heavyweight to make it a 38-12 final score. 

SOUTHEAST CC 38, NORTHWEST 9
Ending the weekend against the hosts the Trappers fell behind early, as the Bobcats got a pin of Sorensen in the first period and an injury win over Nutt at 133 pounds late in the third period.
Covolo fell in a close contest at 141 pounds with a 4-1 decision, before a Trapper forfeit at 149 pounds made it 21-0.
"Covolo is right there. He wrestled so well this weekend, he really did. I'm not one to bring referees into it, but I think we had some unfortunate calls in his match that I think went against us and I think it made a difference," Zeigler said. "But, the bottom line is, I was really happy with the way that he wrestled and I think that's a match he will win most of the time."
Ducatt fell via a 6-0 decision at 157 pounds, Olson fell via a pin at 165 pounds and Rhoades fell via an 11-7 decision at 174 pounds.
Northwest got on the board at 184 pounds with a 10-3 decision by Fayzullaev to finish his unbeaten weekend.
Moxley fell via a 22-5 tech fall at 197 pounds before Richens earned another pin at heavyweight to end his weekend with all pins.
"Austin and Asad, another great weekend for both those guys. No. 1 ranked guys in the country, and they were able to show that they're still there," Zeigler said.     

TOUGH ROAD TEST
The Trappers head back out on the road to wrap up the first semester, making the trip down to Rock Springs to take on one of the top NJCAA programs in Western Wyoming Community College in a dual at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night.
"The results are still the same. I think the progress is yet to come, but I think the experience (against top teams) is going to be beneficial in the long run," Zeigler said. "Experience is going to be beneficial, but the progress didn't show and now we're walking into the biggest monster of all on Tuesday. So something's got to change, and we're going into their den. It's loud and it's violent."
He used the example of going to a wrestling camp and wrestling older kids to compare with competing against a top team.
"They can't wait like, 'I want to wrestle that guy, I want to wrestle that guy.' There's no fear involved and there's no pressure involved and they just want to see how well they can do," Zeigler said. "That's the attitude they need to take when they're going against somebody that's more experienced, higher ranked and in a better position than them. For the young guys, they need to go in there with the mentality of having fun, and let's see what I can do, instead of being afraid and hesitant and letting the guys take it to him."
That will be the final dual of the first semester as Northwest will return to the mat for competition on Jan. 9-10 for the NJCAA National Duals in Miami, Oklahoma.