COEUR d'ALENE - After dislocating his right elbow less than a month ago, Caleb Rivera stepped back on the mat Friday night for an important wrestling dual between North Idaho College, ranked sixth in the NJCAA, and eighth-ranked Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., at Christianson Gym.

His match proved to be the difference as Rivera won a 13-5 decision over Ben Price of Boise at 197 pounds, clinching the Cardinals' 22-19 win over the Trappers in the first leg of the Battle for the Moose.

"It was good to see Caleb wrestle as well as he did tonight," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "He didn't hold anything back. Once he gets his conditioning set, he should be pretty good."

Rivera jumped out to an 11-4 lead after the first period and held on for the decision.

"It felt good to get back out on the mat," Rivera said. "He (Price) was a tough wrestler, but my sweep was good tonight. My adrenaline was pumping at the start and I got into the mindset to wrestle right away."

NIC got 12 points via forfeits from Northwest, as the Trappers were missing wrestlers at 141 and 184 because of injury.

"We started a little slow," said Rivera, a redshirt freshman from Grandville (Mich.). "We've got all the talent to get a national title."

"Northwest is a tough team," Whitcomb said. "Once they get those guys back, they're going to be really tough."

After losing the opening match by decision, NIC freshman Mike Rodriguez (133) earned a 10-4 decision to tie the dual at 3-all. Ryan Zumwalt (157) and Kyle Sweedman (174) won to give NIC a 13-12 lead.

“That’s the kind of team we’ve got this year,” Whitcomb said. “We’re either going to win by three, or we’ve lost by three.”

They will conclude the Battle for the Moose during the Northwest College Duals Jan. 27 in Powell.

“I don’t think either of us had our best match tonight,” Northwest coach Jim Zeigler said. “Both of us were missing a couple of guys that normally start. Those points are hurting us right now.”

The team with the most points between the two duals will win the Moose, in its fourth year.

“This is the most competitive matchup we’ve got,” Zeigler said. “It’s hard to find good competition in our region (Region 9). Having the moose keeps a good, healthy rivalry.”

NIC hosts top-ranked Clackamas Community College today at 11 a.m. and 11th-ranked Southwestern Oregon at 1 p.m.

“These are the kinds of matches we need right now,” Whitcomb said. “Going into break, we need to see where we’re at. Our guys that lost really competed well. We need to go out and work on the things that went right and clean up the things that went wrong.”

125 — Brandon Matlock, NW, d. Joaquin Calderon, 8-1. 133 — Mike Rodriguez, NIC, d. Justin Gardner, 10-4. 141 — Jarrett Morrill, NIC, by forfeit. 149 — Nathaniel Garcia, NW, d. Connor Pelzel, 10-5. 157 — Ryan Zumwalt, NIC, d. Jaksen Cotterell, 6-2. 165 — Bernie Dupuy, NW, md. W.V. Meyer, 12-1. 174 — Kyle Sweedman, NIC, d. Keithen Cast, 7-3. 184 — Justin Korthius, NIC, by forfeit. 197 — Caleb Rivera, NIC, d. Ben Price, 13-5. 285 — Sean Sullivan, NW, p. Justin Gillespie, 3:17.