Your future, our focus
NWC Trapper Open Starts Wrestling Season
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The Northwest College Trappers, ranked eighth nationally in the NJCAA preseason poll, raise the curtain on the 2010-2011 wrestling season this Saturday as the college hosts the annual NWC Open tournament.
“It’s a lot like the NFL preseason,” said Trapper head coach Jim Zeigler. “The biggest thing we want to get out of it is experience in competition. These will be the first college matches for a lot of these kids. The focus really isn’t on winning. It’s on getting out there and focusing on execution, on bouncing back from adversity if you lose and getting an idea of what you need to work on.”
In accordance with that philosophy, all healthy Northwest College wrestlers will see action at the home meet. Some of those NWC grapplers, like wrestlers from other schools in attendance, might choose to enter as unattached wrestlers.
“By not being affiliated, they can compete and still maintain the option to take a redshirt during the season,” Zeigler explained. “We leave the decision up to them to attach or stay unattached.”
Northwest College, Montana State University, Northern, Minot State University, the University of Great Falls and Western Wyoming are expected to field full lineups on Saturday. Partial lineups and unattached wrestlers from the University of Wyoming, Utah State, Northern Colorado, Utah Valley, Dickinson State, Jamestown and North Idaho will also attend.
Wrestling action will begin at 9 a.m. in Hank Cabre Gymnasium. Semifinal action should start in the mid-afternoon with the finals and placing rounds anticipated to get a late-afternoon start.
“Depending on how many entries we have, I would imagine to be finished somewhere between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.,” Ziegler said. “Folks who want to see a little wrestling can just pop in for an hour or two anytime during the day and probably see a lot of Northwest kids compete. The more hardcore fans will come and camp out in the stands.”
“This is a good early measuring stick for the kids,” said Zeigler. “They’ve been dying and waiting for it.”