WRESTLERS READY FOR LONG ROAD TRIP
Early season momentum has the Northwest College men’s wrestling team ready for a long road trip, with two duals and a tournament over three days scheduled in Colorado and Nebraska.
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Early season momentum has the Northwest College men's wrestling team ready for a long road trip, with two duals and a tournament over three days scheduled in Colorado and Nebraska.
The extended road trip will kick off on Thursday in Sterling, Colorado, where the Trappers will match up in a pair of duals against Northeastern Junior College and Otero Junior College.
"We want to go down there and win," coach Jim Zeigler said. "I feel great about this team. I feel like last Friday's win over Providence was an awesome win for us … We had a pretty good crowd that night. Several people have commented to me that they feel like this team looks better than a lot of the teams that we've had. Sometimes it's hard for me to measure, but I can tell you that I feel as excited about this team as any team we've had."
He said that the excitement has spread amongst the team, and the Trappers are learning fast this season and expect to go down and defeat both Northeastern and Otero before heading to a tournament in Nebraska on Saturday.
That tournament will be the University of Nebraska-Kearney Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney, which will feature competition from all levels of college athletics.
"We may not wrestle everybody in the tournament. We may rest a couple of guys. We'll see how their performances are, how their weight is and how they're feeling," Zeigler said.
He particularly noted the importance of this road trip to last year's edition of the Trappers, and how long road trips can help the team learn a lot early in the season.
"When you're together on the road for five days you learn a lot about each other, and last year it was a big turning point for us," Zeigler said. "Last year it helped accelerate our growth and development, and I think the way that they [this team] get along together, the way that they are together, they love being together. I think getting on the road and getting separated from some of the things that are here, just to have a heavy concentration on competing that they get a lot better. So I'm excited, and so are they. We're ready to get on the bus and go."
This trip will be the second to last of the semester for the Trappers, who will take Thanksgiving off from competition before returning to the mat for a pair of events in Montana on Dec. 6-7.