NIC wrestling takes down Montana State-Northern

After suffering a 22-21 loss to the University of Great Falls Oct. 25, the North Idaho College wrestling team responded with a 30-16 win over Montana State University-Northern the next day.

Nico Moreno (165), V.J. Giulio (197) and Taylor Kornoely (285) all earned pins for the Cardinals. Moreno was losing 10-2 to Ethan Hinebauch before he roared back for the pin in the third period.

“Until that final whistle blows, you’ve got to wrestle hard and that shows Nico did that,” said NIC head coach Pat Whitcomb.

Giulio pinned Garrett DeMers, a freshman from Coeur d’Alene, in the first period and Kornoely finished the dual strong for NIC with a pin in the second period over Jorrell Jones.

“V.J. is mature,” Whitcomb said. “Obviously, very physically strong, but mentally, he’s in it for the long haul the whole match. If you wrestle with him, you’ve got to be ready for a war and that’s what we need out of V.J.”

Sophomore Duell Stadel (125) of Montana State opened up the dual with a pin over freshman Jared Miller to get the Lights on the scoreboard first. But, NIC’s Carlos Lozoya (133) beat Aaron LaFarge 4-2 the next match. Jeremy Golding earned an 11-6 win for NIC over Micky Cheff in the 157-pound division. Golding usually wrestles at 149, but since the Lights forfeited at 149, Golding said the coaches moved him up a weight class so he could wrestle.

“I just wanted to wrestle hard and see what happens, leave it all on the mat,” Golding said.

Both Great Falls and Montana State are among the top wrestling programs in the country. Montana State is ranked second and Great Falls sixth in the NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Preseason Top 20 Poll. NIC’s lone loss last year was to Great Falls.

“It’s not NCAA football where we try to schedule the worst team we can for a tune-up,” Whitcomb said.

The Cardinals (1-1) are ranked second in the NJCAA opening polls and will travel to Powell, Wyo., to compete in the Powell Open Nov. 9.