Lights meet Argos for round one on the mat
By George Ferguson
November 12, 2015
The college wrestling season is young. But it's
already time for the biggest rivalry in NAIA
wrestling to take center stage.
Tonight in Great Falls, the Montana State
University-Northern Lights and UGF Argos will fire
the first salvo in their two-dual series for the 201516 season, and as always, it should be a great
match.
File Photo
Top-ranked Garrett DeMers, top, and the Montana State
University-Northern Lights take on the rival UGF Argos
tonight in Great Falls.
Northern comes into the dual ranked No. 5 in the
NAIA, and fresh off two successful tournaments to
open the season. The Argos attended the same
tournaments as the Lights did the last two weeks,
and they enter tonight's home dual ranked No. 16.
UGF also brings two-dual winning streak into
tonight's matchup, as they swept the Lights last
season, in two very closes meetings.
However, whenever the Lights and Argos hook up on the mat, and wherever they meet, records, rankings
and past successes really don't mean a whole lot, and numbers won't have much to do with tonight's dual
either.
"We have four returning starters and are looking at bringing home a win," MSU-N head coach Tyson
Thivierge said. "We are expecting this to be a tough dual meet. It always is (with UGF)."
"Should be another exciting dual," added UGF head coach Caleb Schaeffer, an MSU-N alumn. "Whenever
you wrestle these duals there always seems to be a favorite on paper but that really never comes into play
with this rivalry. It seems like there are always a couple of key matchups that can change the tide of the
dual every year. I believe those key matchups this year are at 149 and 165. Those two matchups will be
fun to watch."
While Schaeffer points to those two matches as key matchups in the dual, all but one weight class will
feature at least one nationally ranked wrestler in the match. And it starts with the 125-pound weight class
where Northern freshman Quintel Fuchs makes his dual debut against UGF veteran and fifth-ranked Luke
Schlosser. The Argos have generally had the upper hand in the lower weights in recent years, while the
Lights have dominated the upper weights. But this year's Northern/UGF duals could look different as the
Lights have seemed to certainly shore up the lower weight classes with budding young stars.
At 133 pounds, Northern will send out another freshman, Blake Ivie to take on sixth-ranked Argo Clinton
Garvin. At 141, yet another MSU-N freshman, Matt Weber will face off against UGF junior Justin Whitman.
And the intensity of the dual only picks up from there. At 140 pounds, 10th-ranked Brandon Weber will
have 15th-ranked UGF standout Kyle Leir, while 10th-ranked Tommy Cooper will take on UGF's Arram
Price. In the upper weights, Northern is still as stout as ever, but UGF has some talent there, too. At 165
pounds, Northern's Andrew Bartel, making his dual debut, will face 11th-ranked Khaldoon Rashid. Bartel
comes into the match ranked 14th. At 174 pounds, MSU-N senior Willie Miller, ranked fifth, is set to battle
Francisco Rueda, while Northern's Dace Fisher will square off with ninth-ranked Taylor Vaughn at 184.
Of course, the Lights' biggest guns will go last, and could certainly be the determining factor in tonight's
outcome. At 197 pounds, top-ranked Garrett DeMers will square off with UGF's Sam Voigtlander, and at
heavyweight, MSU-N senior Toby Cheff, ranked No. 2, is expected to make his season debut against
Andreas Geranios.
"Northern is big on bonus points if we can stay away from giving them big points in the upper weights I
believe we have a chance to upset them," Schaeffer said. "But if we can't stay off our backs we could be in
big trouble."
Of course, the Lights will look for pins and bonus points in tonight's rivalry meeting. As always, emotions
will be running high. And while it's still very early in the season, Thivierge said his team has been working
very hard to get the dual season off to a good start. And that's exactly what the Lights are hoping today on
UGF's home mat tonight.
"We have been putting the time in, getting ready for a competitive dual with UGF," Thivierge said. "They
took us out twice last season so we are hoping to kick off our dual season with a bang. The pressure is
there, we have put a lot of time in and we are ready to compete."
Tonight's dual between the Lights and Argos will start at 7 inside the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls. The
rematch will come Feb. 10 in Havre.
Havre Daily News website