Your future, our focus
Northwest Falls Apart Late In Rock Springs
Before Northwest College wrestling’s fourth dual of the season, head coach Jim Zeigler had a message for his team.
“I told the guys, ‘We don’t lose to Western Wyoming,’” Zeigler said in November.
On Nov. 19, the Trappers didn’t, outlasting Western Wyoming Community College for a 22-21 win at Cabre Gym in Powell.
On Friday, No. 11-ranked NWC couldn’t appease its coach twice.
The Trappers led by two heading into the final three matches of a dual in Rock Springs, but the No. 12 Mustangs won out to down NWC 24-17.
“I don’t keep a lot of stats and records over my years here, and the only two things I can tell you is I’ve coached 100 All Americans, and I’ve faced Western Wyoming 47 times and won 42 of them,” Zeigler said. “It’s unfortunate, but you’re going to lose one now and then, and basically, that’s one out of every 10 times we wrestle.”
NWC (3-8 in duals) fell behind early when the dual began with the 184-pound division. The Trappers haven’t wrestled anyone in that slot all season, and Friday was no different, as WWCC was awarded a forfeit. At 197, NJCAA No. 2-ranked Jon Wixom gave NWC a boost with a pin over Aspen Naylor in 4:23 that tied the match at six.
“[Western Wyoming] tried to get cute and moved their 184-pounder up to 197 thinking he had a better chance than their 197 guy,” Zeigler said. “But he did not. He wrestled pretty tough with Jon but Jon eventually got him.”
The Mustangs followed with a win when Dylan Sackett survived Gabe Escobedo 8-5 in the 285-pound bout. And at 125 pounds, No. 10-ranked Ronald Wardleigh pinned NWC’s Robert Gomez in 1:31 to give Western a 15-6 advantage.
NWC responded, as Eduardo Pehna dropped Brett Jones with a 4-2 decision before freshman John-David Henderson defeated Brenn Schiess 3-2.
Henderson started the season well, but has struggled since Northwest’s holiday break. On Friday, however, Zeigler was full of praise for the Alabama native.
“John-David wrestled one of the best matches he’s wrestled all year,” Zeigler said. “The one thing I thought he did better this time than he has before is maintaining his focus throughout.
“He got into a tough spot where the Western kid was in a scoring position, but John-David held on and didn’t let the kid break him, and that resulted in a win for JD.”
After Henderson’s win, sophomore and No. 2-ranked Jeff McCormick cruised past Ezekiel Mamalis with a 15-0 technical fall at 149 pounds.
Zeigler was hoping for a pin, but said it was obvious that Mamalis was deliberately avoiding a pinfall.
“Couldn’t get the pin, but the guy didn’t wrestle,” Zeigler said of Mamalis. “His whole mission was to not get pinned and he succeeded.”
McCormick’s tech fall pushed the Trappers ahead 17-15, but the Mustangs recovered quickly to win the final three matches.
Despite a loss at 157, Zeigler was pleasantly surprised by freshman and former Powell High School wrestler Matt Widdicomb. Against No. 6-ranked Ryan Slaugh, Widdicomb trailed just 2-1, but with 15 seconds remaining, couldn’t capitalize from his top position as Slaugh secured the tight 3-1 win with an escape.
“Matt wrestled tooth and nail right down to the end,” Zeigler said. “He really wrestled a great match.”
NWC’s last two bouts were nail-biters, as 165-pound sophomore Kaelen Loveless was beaten by Kaden Campbell in a 7-6 decision. Jacob Beck then fell short to No. 2-ranked Colby Barlocker in a 6-4 decision at 174 pounds.
“Jacob wrestled really well, he did a great job,” Zeigler said. “It was a hard fought, tooth-and-nail match where the outcome wasn’t decided until the final whistle.
“And when you’re in that situation with the No. 2-ranked guy in the country, you’re doing something right, so Jacob’s right there.”
Zeigler said several matches could have gone NWC’s way if it hadn’t been for early mistakes committed by his grapplers. But even in defeat, the coach found positive in his team’s overall performance.
“Conditioning seemed to be a factor in every match and we were stronger at the end of every match, which is something I was very pleased about,” Zeigler said. “It stings to lose to Western, but our guys wrestled hard ... they wrestled a lot harder than they have been ... and now they have to wrestle smarter.”