NDSU vs Northern Colorado on Jan. 6 & Boise State on Jan. 8

[Gladiator Dad]

The Lineup
Wt. North Dakota State (6-1, 1-1 #Big12WR)
125 -- #4 Josh Rodriguez (10-0, 7-0)
133 -- Cam Sykora (2-2, 0-0) OR Albert Landeros (3-8, 1-6)
141 -- Taylor Nein (4-7, 1-5)
149 -- Mitch Friedman (8-5, 2-2) OR Kyle Gliva (9-3, 2-1)
157 -- #16 Clay Ream (12-2, 7-0) OR Nick Mergen (6-2, 0-0)
165 -- Andrew Fogarty (15-4, 6-1)
174 -- Carter Nielsen (3-4, 3-4) OR Dylan Urbach (5-3, 0-0)
184 -- Tyler McNutt (7-5, 4-3)
197 -- Cordell Eaton (7-7, 2-5)
285 -- Ben Tynan (9-1, 6-1) OR Dan Stibral (6-6, 0-0)

Wt. Northern Colorado (0-2, 0-1 #Big12WR)
125 -- Trey Andrews (17-10, 2-0)
133 -- Rico Montoya (10-6, 0-2) OR Sean Cannon (2-4, 0-0)
141 -- #18 Timmy Box (18-7, 2-0))
149 -- Ben Polkowske (11-7, 1-1)
157 -- Jimmy Fate (5-7, 0-2) OR Tyler Kinn (2-4, 0-0)
165 -- Keilan Torres (16-9, 1-1)
174 -- Tanner Davis (3-7, 0-1) OR Dalton Robertson (8-8, 1-1)
184 -- Dylan Gabel (10-6, 1-1)
197 -- Jamarcus Grant (5-4, 0-1)
285 -- Jack Kuck (7-9, 0-2)

Wt. Boise State (1-1, 0-0 Pac 12)
125 -- Will Bardezbain (6-8, 0-2)
133 -- Josh Newberg (6-6, 0-0)
141 -- Rami Haddadin (1-3, 0-1)
149 -- Dakota Wall (7-10, 0-2)
157 -- Fred Green (13-12, 1-1)
165 -- Demetrius Romero (17-8, 2-0)
174 -- Austin Dewey (18-8, 2-0)
184 -- Kadyn Del Toro (12-10, 2-0)
197 -- Harley DiLulo (7-10, 1-1) OR Keavon Buckley (4-6, 0-0)
285 -- Gabriel Gonzalez (5-10, 0-0)

[RadioBison]

The boys look good so far tonight.

[Big Bird]

I thought most of the guys looked good tonight. UNC has some strong individuals, but a weak overall team, so it was nice to see the guys win as many as they did.
125- Rodriguez looked good against a quality D1 starter. Andrews has been in the top 20 in the past and can be dangerous. Would've liked to see him cut Andrews more and earlier, but that's nit picking.
133- Cam looked great for the first two periods. Looked like he put it into cruise control in the third. Montoya is a solid D1 starter too and I thought this would be the best match of the night. Good win
141- Nein was no match for Box's power. Box has been really good this year and Nein still isn't experienced enough against that quality of opponent to compete yet.
149- Friedman looked great. It looks like I was wrong about this weight and he has improved greatly.
157- Clay looked much better tonight. His shot defense/flexibility is so difficult for guys to deal with. It always looks like he's in trouble and yet he comes out on top.
165- I was happy to see Mergen get a chance here. I like rewarding promising guys with spot starts, even if their path to the regular lineup is blocked for a few years. He wrestled up a weight against one of UNC's good guys, and it didn't go well. Still, I'm fairly high on him and he provides really good depth in the middle and still could be a 2 year starter if he sticks with it.
174- Urbach looked really good. I thought he was solid at Midlands and he continued with that strong performance tonight. I don't think there is a wrong answer here between Urbach and Nielson.
184- This one was the roughest of the dual. Gabel is one of UNC's better starters but not one who is, or shouldn't at least be, way above McNutt. But UNC got the fall and McNutt appears to be in a funk.
197- Eaton was ok. Came away with a win against their backup, but I want to see him clean some things up still, mainly finishing his shots. I never expected him to qualify for NCAAs this year, but hoped he'd continue to improve and be right in that mix next year. Every now and then I see the improvement, but there are still some notable things to clean up.
HWT- Good finish for Tynan. Usually he dominates on his feet, but that wasn't working tonight and he still got a fall.


Overall, solid showing. Pretty disappointed with UNC's crab riding (they were pretty much never on top to do it), which they've been really fun to watch in previous Nickerson years. Boise State is weaker than UNC and we should probably win 8 matches, maybe more.

[RadioBison]

157- Clay looked much better tonight. His shot defense/flexibility is so difficult for guys to deal with. It always looks like he's in trouble and yet he comes out on top.

I'm glad that Clay is so good with the funky defense, but I sure do a lot of squirming in my chair watching it.

[Gladiator Dad]

I'm glad that Clay is so good with the funky defense, but I sure do a lot of squirming in my chair watching it.

LOL so does his mother. I can't sit next to her when he's wrestling

[Big Bird]

I can't imagine my knees bending the way his do

[Big Bird]

Also, I saw coach Garnett posted on twitter that the best dressed coach title would be up for grabs yesterday. I had Napoli winning round 1, but yesterday my vote goes to...Coach Garnett. The shoes won it for you. Nagel was runner up this time

[BisoninNWMN]

Looking forward to my first wrestling match in the new SHAC today!!

[Gladiator Dad]

Looking forward to my first wrestling match in the new SHAC today!!

You're going to like the new venue. The video board is awesome you can look up to see the score without missing the action on the mat.

[BisoninNWMN]

You're going to like the new venue. The video board is awesome you can look up to see the score without missing the action on the mat.

Some of the comments on here about the leg room will be interesting to witness in person in a few hours.