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Cast, Petersen and Tiernan Win at UW Cowboy Open
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The eighth-ranked Northwest College wrestling team flexed its muscle in the upper weight divisions over the weekend, crowning three champions in the amateur brackets of the UW Cowboy Open. Freshman Keithen Cast (174) and sophomores Nick Petersen (184) and Sears Tiernan (285) each went 4-0 on the day.
“All three of our champions wrestled well,” said NWC wrestling coach Jim Zeigler. “I saw a lot of improvement just over the course of this past week from where we were at our home open event.”
Kast continues to be unbeaten in his college career after cruising to the 174-pound title in Laramie. The Broken Arrow, Okla., native scored a decisive 8-0 victory in the championship to finish 4-0 on the day.
Tiernan, who narrowly missed a title at the NWC Open to begin the year, had no troubles this time around. After opening with a major-decision victory, Tiernan reeled off a pair of decisions to reach his second championship match of the year, then controlled the action for the full seven minutes to score a 9-4 victory.
Petersen’s route to the championship at 184 pounds was a bit more diverse. After winning his first two matches by fall to begin the tournament, Petersen had to endure a pair of one-point victories to take the title. Both Petersen’s semifinal and championship wins came against University of Wyoming wrestlers.
The Trappers narrowly missed advancing a fourth wrestler into the championship match. Sophomore Jesse Hillhouse reached the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket before falling in overtime. Hillhouse went on to finish fourth overall, ending with a 4-2 record for the day.
“All four of the guys that placed for us were also the guys that won their dual matches earlier in the week,” Zeigler said. “Now we need to work on bringing some of the other guys up to that level.”
Several Trappers looked to be ready to make that move, most notably 194-pound freshman Ben Price. Price, like Hillhouse, finished his day 4-2 overall, but wasn’t able to slip into a spot in the final four after dropping his second match of the day in the consolation semifinals.
Marc Madsen (133), Clint Jacob (149), Bobby Robbins (149) and Zach Oppenheimer (157) each finished with 2-2 records for the day. Timber Holmquist (165) and Bernie Dupuy (165) each finished with one victory in Laramie.
Dupuy appeared positioned for more after winning his first match of the day. Midway through the second period of his quarterfinal match, however, the Harsham, La., redshirt freshman dislocated a shoulder and was pulled from the tournament.
“He had to go to the hospital to have it popped back into place,” Zeigler said. “He’ll be out for a while, but we’re not sure how long that’s going to be at this time.”
Dupuy’s injury is the third of the season to befall a member of the Trappers primary dual lineup.
“It hurts us,” said Zeigler. “There’s 10 weights and we’ve got injuries right now at three. It forces us to move some kids around and shift things a bit. It puts us in a tough position going to Western Wyoming this week.”
The Trappers head to Rock Springs on Thursday for a dual with Western Wyoming. From there, the team travels to Greeley, Colo., for the University of Northern Colorado Open tournament on Saturday. NWC does not compete at home again until Dec. 7 when the team hosts Western Wyoming in a dual.