College Wrestling: MSU-Northern defeats UGF

HAVRE – Montana State-Northern’s Willie Miller and Toby Cheff were honored on Senior Night here Wednesday night prior to registering solid efforts as the Lights defeated the University of Great Falls Argos 37-5 here at the Armory Gymnasium in a battle of nationally ranked NAIA wrestling teams.

The third-ranked Lights of coach Tyson Thivierge improved to 9-1 in dual meets, while the No. 13 Argos fell to 3-5.

A few months ago in Great Falls, Northern edged the Argos on criteria after the teams tied in the dual.

“Home court, that’s a big difference,” Thivierge said following Wednesday’s dominant performance. “Willie Miller and Toby Cheff went out there and were super aggressive, just looked fantastic, and our crowd was great. They really got into the matches.”

The Lights are playing host to traditional powerhouse Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday night at the Armory.

“We’re ecstatic to have the Hawkeyes here,” said Thivierge. “We’re so excited for Friday.”

The UGF squad, meanwhile, turns its attention to the NAIA Western Regionals in Prescott, Ariz., on Feb. 19. The Argos of coach Caleb Schaeffer did not have a full lineup Wednesday, but hope to be hitting their stride next week.

“I’ve got to get the guys that I have ready for nationals,” Schaeffer said. “All in all, our guys didn’t wrestle that bad (Wednesday). There’s a reason Northern is ranked third. They’ve got a very good team.”

Miller, a 174-pounder from Chinook, and Cheff, a heavyweight from Ronan, both won via pin for the Lights. Other Northern winners included Quintel Fuchs (125), Blake Ivie (133), Drake Randall (149), and Garrett Demers (197).

The UGF winners were Justin Whitman, who edged Northern star Matt Weber 6-2 at 141, and Taylor Vaughn (184).

MSU-Northern 37, Great Falls 5

(UGF penalized one team point)

125 - Quintel Fuchs, MSU-N won by fft; 133 - Blake Ivie, MSU-N dec. Clinton Garvin. UGF, 6-2; 141 - Justin Whitman, UGF dec. Matt Weber, MSU-N, 6-2; 149 - Drake Randall, MSU-N won by fft; 157 - Brandon Weber, MSU-N dec. Isaiah Yates, UGF, 9-2; 165 - Andrew Bartel, MSU-N dec Khaldoon Rashid, UGF, 3-1 in SVO; 174 - Willie Miller, MSU-N pinned Michael Ayala, UGF, 5:42; 184 - Taylor Vaughn, UGF dec. Dace Fisher, MSU-N, 10-2; 197 - Garrett Demers, MSU-N maj. dec. Justin Harbison, UGF, 11-1; HWT - Toby Cheff, MSU-N pinned Andreas Geranois, UGF, 1:28.