GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's wrestling team lost a hard fought dual Thursday evening, falling to their conference rival Montana State-Northern 22-15.

"Not very many times in my coaching career have I lost a dual and been so proud of our effort," head coach Steve Komac said. "It was an outstanding effort tonight. We saw the effort all night long. We had some very controversial matches tonight, lot of back and forth, a lot of heated coaches at times. The effort out of all the kids, them and us, was outstanding."

The two teams split the first four matches, with Joel Avila and Chris Mesa picking up wins early for the Argos to give them an 8-6 lead after the first four matches. The Argos went on a bit of a run in the middle weights, with Boone Giulio (157 lbs.) and Jordan Komac (165 lbs.) picking up wins to extend the lead to 15-6.

The Lights swept the rest of the matchups, though it wasn't without some good moments from the Argos. Alan Badley wrestled hard in his matchup at 184 lb., before getting pinned. And KC Buday lost in the fourth overtime via riding time (seven seconds) at 285 lbs. after going through an intense, lengthy matchup against the top wrestler in the 197 lb. weight class, Isaac Bartel.

"If anybody had the chance to watch that last match, they watched a marathon," Komac said. "KC Buday wrestling the number one ranked kid from the weight class below him. Lot of 197 lb. top-ranked guys can run through kids, but KC stood strong. He is just getting better and better all the time. That might be the best effort I've seen from anybody all season."

Rivalry duals tend to get heated in a normal setting, but this match had a lot of extra stakes as well. The National Tournament this season is dictated by individual rankings and not a conference tournaments, meaning the dual tonight had a lot of playoff implications.

"One of our focuses is getting kids ready for the National Tournament and the kids that we believe deserve to go to the National Tournament wrestled really well tonight," Komac said. "That's the biggest focus we've had. I think we're in a good place in our program."

The best part for Komac however, was the ability for the team to compete on their home floor.

"It's awesome being in our gym," Komac said. "Of course we miss those fans and we look forward to the day we get to have them back. But to be on our court, wrestling with our teammates behind us, it's awesome. We love this feeling and if this year has taught us anything it's that we have to cherish it. It was a great night of wrestling."
 
Final Results
125 lbs. – Joel Avila def. Kaleb Frank 14-3
133 lbs. – Eli Walston lost to Nick Kunz 6-0
141 lbs. – Chris Mesa def. Carl Cronin 10-1
149 lbs. – Justin Gibson lost to Connor Harris 5-1
157 lbs. – Boone Giulio def. Brock Bushfield 4-3
165 lbs. – Jordan Komac def. Devin Crawford 12-3
174 lbs. – Bridger Hall lost Chase Short 13-6
184 lbs. – Alan Badley lost to Isaac Casey via fall
197 lbs. – Emmit Augare lost to Steeler French 6-4
295 lbs. – KC Buday lost to Isaac Bartel in OT via riding time (7 seconds)