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Mishap Derails Cast’s Quest For National Title
Whoever said getting there is half the fun was most assuredly not in charge of trying to get the Northwest College wrestling team to its destination. While last weekend’s national tournament may have resulted in five All Americans and the wrestling program’s 18th consecutive top 10 national finish, getting there was nothing short of an adventure.
“We were supposed to fly out of Billings, but at first their flight was delayed due to the high winds,” Trapper wrestling coach Jim Zeigler explained. “Then as the day went on all outbound flights were canceled.”
That sent the longtime Trappers’ coach into a scramble.
“The guys here in the physical plant at Northwest were wonderful,” Zeigler said. “I was on the phone and within minutes they had two vans and drivers on their way up.”
That still left the Trappers’ coach with a dilemma, however. He still needed to figure out a way to get his wrestling team from Billings to Rochester, Minn.
“We thought about driving down to Denver, but the road conditions weren’t looking good,” he said. “Some of the kids were like ‘just drive there coach.’”
Eventually, Zeigler was able to locate a direct flight from Bozeman, Mont., into Minneapolis. But even that option held risk.
“I had to be darn certain that plane was going to be able to land and take off,” Zeigler said. “Because otherwise, we’re still stuck and now we’re two and a half hours further away from where we need to be.”
After receiving assurances from airport personnel that the 196-seat jet would be able to handle landing and taking off in the expected weather conditions, the Trappers’ coach made the call to load their vans and make the drive to Bozeman.
Through all the uncertainty, the 10 members of the Trappers’ national tournament roster had no worries regarding their arrival at the championship event.
“Oh, we were getting there,” sophomore All-American Ben Price said, drawing immediate nods of agreement from other members of the Trappers’ lineup.
Nevertheless, the entire saga threw some kinks into Northwest’s pre-national tournament routine.
“The big thing was these guys spent a lot of time sitting around while we were trying to make alternate plans, riding to get to airports and sitting around waiting,” said Zeigler. “That’s not something these guys are really accustomed to.”
That disruption to the normal routine continued even after the Trappers had landed in Minnesota as team members had to stay up late on the eve of the national tournament to cut pounds to reach their weight class — a task that normally would have been accomplished earlier.
Once the tournament started, Zeigler was able to breathe a small sigh of relief, although the Trappers’ coach acknowledged the difficulty of getting from Wyoming to Minnesota may have played a role in some early losses, like the one suffered by eventual fifth-place finisher Jaksen Cotterell, another of the Trappers’ All-Americans.
After being upset in the opening round, Cotterell stormed back with five consecutive wins to break into the medal round. After a loss relegated him to the fifth-place match, he capped the tournament by avenging his first-round loss in convincing fashion.
“It makes you mad,” Cotterell said of the mentality change brought about by an early national tournament loss.
The Trappers also took a hit early on Day 1 of the national tournament when defending national runner-up Keithen Cast fell victim to a mishap during his second round match.
“He was leading the match, and he had caught the guy’s leg and was going to sweep his other leg for a take down,” Zeigler said. “As he swept the kid with one leg, his other ankle just buckled.”
The Trappers used the full amount of injury time available, but with the ankle already wrapped their only recourse to keep Cast in the match was to apply more tape around Cast’s ankle and shoe. It was a stopgap measure at best.
“He was defenseless out there,” said Zeigler. “The guy was able to come back and beat him.”
With Cast’s championship aspirations on hold, Zeigler admits he was prepared to look out for the wrestler’s future and withdraw him from the tournament. Cast was having none of it.
“He wanted to go out there,” said Zeigler. “I didn’t think he needed to, and I told him that I didn’t think he needed to prove anything. But he wanted to go out there, so I said, ‘if that’s what you need to do to feel good about it, you go ahead.’”
Cast went on to lose that elimination match 13-4 to a Western Wyoming wrestler he had gone undefeated against throughout his collegiate career.
Cast’s injury had a ripple effect on the remainder of the team, Zeigler noted.
“Momentum is such an important thing, and something like that happens and the guys see it, because as soon as his match is done we’ve got another kid getting ready to go,” Zeigler said. “It took its toll on us a little bit.”
The team took further morale hits as Justin Gardner missed out on All-American honors via a heart-wrenching overtime loss while Miles Nixon, the Trappers’ eventual highest finisher, got caught in a scramble and pinned while leading the eventual national champion in a three-point match.
“It’s hard,” Cotterell said of seeing his teammates’ struggle. “You practice with guys for six months. They’ve gone through the same stuff you have, and then to not see them get what they deserve, it’s hard.”
Eventually though, Cast returned to the arena floor after being checked by medical staff and wrapped up the evening helping to coach and offer encouragement for his teammates. It was a move Zeigler credits with helping the team finish Friday on a five-match winning streak.
The second day started with five Trappers looking to finish as high as possible among the top eight.
“The mentality changes the second day,” Zeigler said. “Friday is just an emotional roller coaster. Saturday, everyone knows they’re an All-American and it’s just a matter of figuring how high you finish. It’s more of a business mindset.”
Northwest took care of plenty of business on the tournament’s second day. Price completed his long run up the back of the bracket to finish fifth alongside Cotterell. Sophomore Bernie Dupuy wrapped up a Trapper career with a seventh-place finish, the same placing earned by freshman Nate Garcia. Nixon placed fourth to lead the Trappers atop the podium.
“I’m pleased with how we did,” said Zeigler. “Ben, Jaksen and Miles, I think those three wrestled about as well as they could have out there. They had a very good meet.”