GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The first of two meetings between Montana rivals (3) University of Providence and (17) Montana State University-Northern had a little bit of everything. Two ranked wrestlers lost to unranked foes, a defending national champion was pushed deep into overtime, and a senior got a pin in his first match of the season as the Argos pulled out a 25-15 win that was closer than the score suggested.

"You can never call any of these matches. You can look at it on paper and you might as well rip it up and throw it out," Head Coach Caleb Schaeffer said of wrestling Northern. "I always get shocked with one that we win and one that we lose and I'm sure Coach Tyson would say the exact same thing."

By far the best match of the night was the also the only one to feature two ranked wrestlers. (1) Brandon Weber, MSUN's defending national champion, and UP's (7) Casey Dobson were supposed to be the headliner for the night and they didn't disappoint.

Weber looked to be taking control early, picking Dobson up off the ground, rose Dobson's body up almost to shoulder height, and went to slam him to the mat for a huge early takedown, but the Argo redshirt-sophomore squirmed loose and landed on his feet to keep the match scoreless.

The first period ended a 0-0 tie. Dobson went down to start the second period and earned the match's first point with a quick tumbling escape. Weber equaled the task with an escape of his own in the third period to bring the score to 1-1.

That's where the score stayed not only for the rest of regulation but for three and a half more minutes of overtime wrestling. The match ended at the end of the fourth minute of overtime with Weber getting another escape to win the 2-1 decision.

While Dobson didn't come away with a win, he did prove that his calling card win in 2016-17, a 2-1 decision upset of the then-defending national champion in the national tournament, was no fluke.

"Casey's a gamer and he could certainly have won that match. That would have solidified him and put him in the national tournament no matter what. But we're going to get there eventually," Schaeffer said. "There is so much that went on in that match. There were so many chances of scoring that didn't happen because the other guy countered. It was an amazing match."

Had Dobson pulled it off, that would have been the upset of the night, but instead, that honor went to MSUN's Isaac Bartel who got the best of (4) John Hensley at 197 with a shocking 9-5 decision. UP usually uses the last four weight classes to rack up bonus points in duals, but that wasn't the case against Northern.

At 174, (7) Adrian Lyons-Lopez was on the verge of a major decision when he gave up a takedown in the final 20 second to win by decision (11-5).

Junior Justin Harbison wrestled at 184 instead of (8) Randy Keesler, who wrestled up a weight class from 174 in UP's last dual. Harbison was unranked and face (18) Steeler French. French had the early advantage with a takedown but got a big takedown plus a 4-point near fall in the second period to break the match open. Like Lyons-Lopez, he toyed with a major decision and didn't get it, but still ended up with a 10-4 decision over a ranked opponent.

With the heavier weight classes not drawing the big numbers like they usually do, it was the first few matches that were impressive for the Argos.

Redshirt-senior (11) Isaac Wilson wrestled his first match of the season after missing the team's first two duals due to an injury. He looked rusty at first, almost getting pinned as MSUN's Nick Kunz earned a takedown and a 2-point near fall to start the match, but turned that into a reversal and a 2-point near fall of his own. He started down in the second period and turned a reversal into a pin to win by Fall (3:00).  

He was followed by sophomore Eli Walston at 133. Heading into the season, the 133 weight class was a bit of a question mark for the Argos, but Walston performed well in the team's first two duals, hanging on for close losses against tough competition including an overtime loss.

His quick, aggressive pace resulted in another high scoring match that featured 9 total takedowns, 5 of which went Walston's way. That extra takedown and a point for riding time earned him a 16-13 win, his first victory of the season.

"I'm telling you right now, he's going to be in a lot of duals and 133 is not a weak spot right now," Schaeffer said. "He's scoring a lot of points, more points than a lot of guys on our team."

UP also benefited from 6 free points on an MSUN forfeit at heavyweight where (10) Matt Hopkins would have been waiting. Even without those 6 points, the Argos still would have won by 4 points.

The Argos stay undefeated in dual with a record of 3-0. UP hasn't lost a dual since January 6, 2017. Next up will be the team's first test at a tournament, with the team's top wrestlers traveling to Iowa for the Grand View Open on Saturday, November 11, while the rest of the squad will go to the Northwest Open in Powell, Wyoming on November 12.