COEUR d'ALENE - Freshman Terrance McKinney had the escape of the night for the top-ranked North Idaho College wrestling team.

Unfortunately for Cardinals, it didn't provide the spark to the lineup that they desperately needed to come away with a team victory on Friday night.

Visiting Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., ranked second in the NJCAA poll, took advantage of pins by Cody Vichi at 125 pounds and Ben Jorgensen at 133 to beat the Cardinals 24-19 in a dual Friday night at Christianson Gym.

"We didn't wrestle good enough to win this one," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "(Northwest coach) Jimmy's (Zeigler) team wrestled well and got those pins early on and came up here ready to wrestle."

With his match tied at 141 pounds at 4-4 with 15 seconds remaining, McKinney escaped the grasp of Zac Loveless, who is the top-ranked wrestler in that weight class in the NJCAA, eventually finishing with an 8-4 decision.

"To be No. 1, you've got to wrestle the entire match," said McKinney, who went to Shadle Park High in Spokane. "At the Las Vegas tournament (Cliff Keen Invitational), against those Division I guys, it was fun to be in a situation like that. I kept telling myself I might be tired, but I want to be better than him and get that final point. I just wanted to get the team back on a roll. We're the No. 1 team in the nation, and we need to do better than this. I just wanted to get the momentum going again."

"Terrance wrestles hard," Whitcomb said. "He's been coming on the last couple of weeks, and is really fun to watch. Jarrett Morrill is as good as any kid we've had, and we never beat (Loveless) with him. For Terrance to come out and beat him, it was no fluke. He's been working hard and wrestling hard, but he's got to put it all together tomorrow."

"That match was definitely a surprise," Zeigler said. "McKinney did a really good job and we're looking forward to facing him again."

Northwest sealed the first half of the annual "Battle for the Moose" trophy between the two teams with a pin by Miles Nixon of Matt Hopkins in 5:50 at 184.

"You can't give up big points like that and expect to win," Whitcomb said. "We'll make some changes probably and have to make them permanent if things don't change. There's an effort there, but you've got to go out and you either win or lose, and we lost tonight. We'll take as much responsibility as coaches as the wrestlers do, but we looked flat."

V.J. Giulio won by pin at 197, Jeremy Golding by major decision at 149, Johnathen Dennis by decision at 174 and Taylor Kornoely by decision at 285 for NIC (5-2), which hosts No. 4 Clackamas today at noon and Southwestern Oregon at 2 p.m. at Christianson Gym.

"We need to come out and wrestle a lot better tomorrow," Whitcomb said. "I'd be licking my chops if I was Clackamas seeing us wrestle like that, because they're just as tough. We'll get a chance to see where we stand tomorrow. Some guys wrestled well, but we didn't wrestle like the No. 1 team in the nation and it probably would have been a travesty if we would have pulled it off and get out thinking we're all that, because we're not right now. We need to do some things different."

"It's always a battle between us," Zeigler said. "The top two teams in the nation, and No. 4 Clackamas (who also duals Northwest today at NIC), sitting up there drooling and every bit as good as both of us, so we're going to see where we're at this weekend going into the (winter) break. What happens this weekend isn't necessarily what is going to happen in Spokane (at the NJCAA tournament Feb. 28 and March 1), but it gives us a good measuring stick to where we're at thus far."

125 - Cody Vichi, NW, p. Jared Miller, 5:18. 133 - Ben Jorgensen, NW, p. Carlos Lozoya, 3:52. 141 - Terrance McKinney, NIC, d. Zac Loveless, 8-4. 149 - Jeremy Golding, NIC, md. Hayden Heap, 16-4. 157 - Jeff McCormick, NW, d. Nico Moreno, 3-2. 165 - Diorian Coleman, NW, d. Derrick Booth, 7-2. 174 - Johnathen Dennis, NIC, d. Cole McArthur, 10-5. 184 - Miles Nixon, NW, p. Matthew Hopkins, 5:50. 197 - V.J. Giulio, NIC, p. Jon Wixom, :48. 285 - Taylor Kornoely, NIC, d. Gabe Escobedo, 7-1.