PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Without question, the 15th-ranked Southern Oregon men's wrestling team overachieved Saturday at the NAIA Western Region Qualifying Tournament – just not quite enough to defend its championship.

The depth of third-ranked Montana-State Northern prevailed and the heavily-favored Lights won their first title since joining the region in 2007 with 152.5 points. The Raiders – who had won six of the last seven titles but were ranked behind the Lights, No. 10 Menlo and No. 13 Great Falls coming into the tournament – exceeded expectations by placing second with 140.5 points and advancing six individuals to the NAIA Championships automatically with top-three finishes.

Great Falls (113.5 points) finished third, Menlo (106.5) was fourth, Embry-Riddle (87) fifth, Warner Pacific (59.5) sixthand Simpson (33.5) seventh.

SOU matched MSU-Northern with a tourney-high three individual champions: Tyler Cowger (149 pounds), Aaron Demay (157) and Ryan McWatters (184).

Cowger and DeMay won their titles by default as teammates Chandler Michael (149) and Aaron DeMay (157) ran into them in the finals. SOU's other runner-up finisher was Tanner Fischer (197), who ran into top-ranked Garrett DeMers of MSU-Northern in his final.

The national tournament will take place March 4-5 in Topeka, Kan. Five wild-card berths were to be decided by the region's coaches following the tournament, and thirty additional wild cards from all across the country will be announced Monday by the NAIA office.

(Update: Casey Coulter was awarded one of the region's five wild-card bids to the NAIA Championships.)

SOU also produced three champions last year but Cowger was the only one back. The third-ranked junior, aiming to become a three-time All-American, defended his title by not allowing a single point. He won by 13-0 major decision against Embry-Riddle's Dylan Passalaqua in the quarterfinals and by 2-0 decision against Great Falls' Kyle Leir in the semis.

Michael also reached the 149-pound final with a tougher road – first defeating Embry-Riddle's Anton King, 18-5, and then pulling off a 3-1 upset of MSU-Northern's 12th-ranked Drake Randall.

The bulk of SOU's most surprising work was done at 157 pounds. DeMay had to upset 14th-ranked Brenn Schiess of Embry-Riddle with a first-round pin in the quarterfinals before knocking off 12th-ranked Brandon Weber of MSU-Northern by a 5-3 decision in the semis. On the other end of the bracket, Hodges started with a 14-second pin of MSU-Northern's Austin Blaede, and then upset sixth-ranked Richard Ortiz with a 5-2 decision in the semis.

McWatters, ranked fourth in the NAIA and a runner-up last year, claimed his first title at 184 pounds in dominant fashion: He pinned Embry-Riddle's Kolby Mays in 2:47 in the quarterfinals, worked Great Fall's Sam Voigtlaender for a 21-7 major decision in the semis, and then blanked fifth-ranked Taylor Vaughn of Great Falls, 4-0, in the championship bout.

Fischer's run to the finals was equally breezy: He pinned Simpson's Henry Campos in 2:44 and beat Menlo's Kenny Steers, 6-1, in the semifinals before running into DeMers.

The Raiders had two fourth-place finishers in Reed Tennyson (174) and Alejandro Sandoval (285). After falling in the semifinals, Tennyson bounced back with a 5-4 squeaker in the consolation semis, and Sandoval had to win his consolation semifinal against teammate Zane Wardwell, 3-2.

Sandoval placed fifth along with SOU 125-pounder Casey Coulter, both going 2-2 on the day.

TEAM SCORES – Montana State-Northern 152.5, Southern Oregon 140.5, Great Falls 113.5, Menlo 106.5, Embry-Riddle 87, Warner Pacific 59.5, Simpson 33.5.

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
125 – Casey Coulter (5th place)
Quarterfinals – Coulter dec. Mhar Caballa, MSU-Northern, 10-2
Semifinals – Troy Lakin, Menlo, dec. Coulter, 12-5
Consolation Semifinals – Quintel Fuchs, MSU-Northern, maj. dec. Coulter, 8-0
5th-place Match – Coulter p. Joshua Johnson, WPC, 4:10

133 – Matt Peterson
Round 1 – Alex Ursua, WPC, dec. Peterson, 10-5
Consolation Round 2 – Joel Palabrica, Menlo, maj. dec. Peterson, 13-5

149 – Tyler Cowger (1st place)
Quarterfinals – Cowger maj. dec. Dylan Passalaqua, Embry-Riddle, 13-0
Semifinals – Cowger dec. Kyle Leir, UGF, 2-0
Championship – Cowger wins by default over Chandler Michael, SOU

149 – Chandler Michael (2nd place)
Quarterfinals – Michael maj. dec. Anton King, Embry-Riddle, 18-5
Semifinals – Michael dec. Drake Randall, MSU-Northern, 3-1
Championship – Tyler Cowger, SOU, wins by default over Michael

157 – Aaron DeMay (1st place)
Quarterfinals – DeMay p. Brenn Schiess, Embry-Riddle, 2:46
Semifinals – DeMay dec. Brandon Weber, MSU-Northern, 5-3
Championship – Demay wins by default over Hunter Hodges, SOU

157 – Hunter Hodges (2nd place)
Quarterfinals – Hodges p. Austin Blaede, MSU-Northern, 0:14
Semifinals – Hodges dec. Richard Ortiz, Simpson, 5-2
Championship – Aaron DeMay, SOU, wins by default over Hodges

165 – Chris Moreno (6th place)
Quarterfinals – Blake Cooper, WPC, p. Moreno, 6:12
Consolation Semifinals – Khaldoon Rashid, UGF, sudden victory over Moreno, 8-6
5th-place Match – Taylor Damico, Embry-Riddle, dec. Moreno, 8-7

174 – Reed Tennyson (4th place)
Quarterfinals – Tennyson p. Stone Escobedo, Menlo, 4:41
Semifinals – Willie Miller, MSU-Northern, p. Tennyson, 2:17
Consolation Semifinals – Tennyson dec. Matthew Tsarnas, Simpson, 5-4
3rd-place Match – Michael Ayala, UGF, sudden victory over Tennyson, 4-2

184 – Ryan McWatters (1st place)
Quarterfinals – McWatters p. Kolby Mays, Embry-Riddle, 2:47
Semifinals – McWatters maj. dec. Sam Voigtlaender, UGF, 21-7
Championship – McWatters dec. Taylor Vaughn, UGF, 4-0

197 – Tanner Fischer (2nd place)
Quarterfinals – Fischer p. Henry Campos, Simpson, 2:44
Semifinals – Fischer dec. Kenny Steers, Menlo, 6-1
Championship – Garrett DeMers, MSU-Northern, p. Fischer, 0:38

285 – Alejandro Sandoval (4th place)
Quarterfinals – Taylor Kornoely, MSU-Northern, tech. fall Sandoval, 17-1 (6:45)
Consolation Round 1 – Sandoval dec. Andreas Geranios, UGF, 2-0
Consolation Semifinals – Sandoval dec. Zane Wardwell, SOU, 3-2
3rd-place Match – Stephen Wilbert, WPC, dec. Sandoval, 4-2

285 – Zane Wardwell (5th place)
Quarterfinals – Wardwell dec. David Rupp, Embry-Riddle, 7-2
Semifinals – Toby Cheff, MSU-Northern, p. Wardwell, 1:24
Consolation Semifinals – Alejandro Sandoval, SOU dec. Wardwell, 3-2
5th-place Match – Wardwell p. David Rupp, Embry-Riddle, 4:41