11/11: CSU-Bakersfield (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. #16 Rutgers (1-0, 0-0 B1G)
A quick update/fix from last week’s round-up, I failed to mention Rutgers’ 26-15 dual victory over the Bakersfield Roadrunners. The Roadrunners were able to pick up four wins. Matt Williams (197) picked up a fall and Alex Encarnacion-Strand (285) earned a decision. At 125lbs, Sean Nickell beat Rutgers’ Sean McCabe, 8-1. At 149lbs, Coleman Hammond took out Anthony Giraldo, 3-0.
As we covered last week, CSUB (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12) will be on the tournament scene in the following weeks, with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite (CKLV) on 12/2-12/3, the Reno TOC on 12/18, and finally the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on 12/29-12/30. They host West Virginia in a non-conference dual on 1/4 before starting their conference-dual season against Stanford on 1/8. (See: Schedule)
11/13: Arizona State at Journeymen Classic
Ali Naser (133) went 2-1 on the day, but his most notable match was unfortunately an 8-0 loss to #14 (at 125lbs) Sean Fausz of North Carolina State.
At 149lbs, #14 Christian Pagdilao was, again, not in action for the Sun Devils. Instead, we saw, once again, RS freshman Josh Maruca and RS junior Oliver Pierce compete; remember that Maruca beat Pierce outright 9-4 at the Keystone Classic. (Pierce was mistakenly reported to be a 2x NCAA Qualifier in the Week 2 Round-Up, he is a 2015 NCAA Qualifier and 2016 Pac-12 finalist.) The story of this weight-class continues for the Sun Devils, as both Maruca and Pierce went 2-1 on the day. Maruca joined Pierce in having a win over Fredy Stroker of Minnesota, the former beating the Gopher freshman at Journeymen, 2-1. The other wins were not of high-note, but the losses could implications for the future of Sun Devils’ 149lbs spot. Pierce fell 2-0 to West Virginia’s Christian Monserrat, Maruca fell 13-1 to Wisconsin’s Andrew Crone. Pierce earned a major decision on the day.
Freshman Anthony Valencia, ranked #14, went 2-1 on the day, beating two Lehigh competitors. He lost a 6-5 match to #13-ranked senior Dylan Cottrell of West Virginia. At 174, #13 freshman Zahid Valencia went 3-0, beating 2015 All-American, #8 RS Junior Ethan Ramos of North Carolina in an 11-10 barn-burner. Sophomore Tanner Hall, #4 heavyweight in the nation, lived up to his ranking, as he beat Ohio State’s Thomas Haines 7-4, but lost to #2 senior Connor Medbery of Wisconsin, 3-2.
[11/7 edition of FloWrestling Rankings used for 11/13]
11/18: Cal Poly (3-3, 0-1 Pac-12) vs. Army (0-2, 0-1 EIWA)
In the days prior to the Roadrunner Open, teams used their travel times wisely and squeezed some dual-meets into their schedule. Army looked to get its first win of the season, while Cal Poly looked for only its second Division 1 victory thus far. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the Black Knights took seven of ten matches, en route to a 23-10 victory for Army (1-2, 0-1 EIWA). Cal Poly (3-4, 0-1 Pac-12) earned victories at 133, 149, and 174lbs. Sophomore Yoshi Funakoshi picked up five takedowns on his way to a 12-6 victory at 133. Fellow sophomore Joshy Cortez earned a decision at 149 while senior Travis Berridge picked up a major at 174.
The Mustangs (3-4, 0-1 Pac-12) will go on the tournament circuit in December, heading to the CKLV Invite and Reno TOC. They then host BigXII opponent West Virginia on 1/3/2017. (See: Schedule)
Boise State (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. Purdue (3-0, 0-0 B1G)
The Purdue University Boilermakers came to the Gold Coast on a business trip and started it on a decent note, spoiling the Boise State Broncos’ dual-season opener, 20-17. Purdue took six out of ten matches.
The Broncos started the dual strong, picking up back-to-back wins at 174 and 184. Redshirt senior and Pac-12 finalist Austin Dewey picked up a fall at 174 before RS sophomore Kadyn Del Toro earned a decision. RS Junior Carson Kuhn picked up an 18-2 technical fall at 133lbs. Talented RS Freshman Demetrius Romero earned a 9-3 decision to close out the dual.
The Broncos (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) are on the tournament scene like much of the national landscape, heading to the CKLV, Reno TOC, and the Midlands Championships. They also host Utah Valley of the BigXII Conference on 12/10 prior to the Reno TOC. (See: Schedule)
#12 Stanford (1-1, 1-0 Pac-12) vs. Purdue (4-0, 0-0 B1G)
The then-#12 ranked team Stanford bounced back well after losing eight of ten to defending NCAA Champions, #4 Penn State on 11/13, handing the Boilermakers their first loss of the season 23-14, taking six matches of ten while earning bonus points in three of the six.
2015 All-American, #13 Jim Wilson bounced back after a loss to Penn State, beating his Boilermaker opponent 17-5 to start the dual strong at 174lbs. Josh Marchok, number 19, picked up a quick fall in the first period at 197, the first of three straight wins in the dual for Stanford. Two-time NCAA Qualifier, #11 Nathan Butler earned a 4-0 win at 285, followed by #4-ranked All-American Connor Schram picking up a major decision for the Cardinal at 125lbs, 9-1. Schram is back on the winning track after a 3-0 loss to Penn State freshman Nick Suriano. The #2-ranked 141lber in the nation Joey McKenna beat his Purdue opponent 6-3. I’d personally like to see some more bonus out of the talented McKenna, but hey, he’s the All-American between the two of us. At 165, SJS’s own Keaton Subjeck was not fielded, but RS Senior Peter Galli picked up a solid 6-1 win for the Cardinal to close out the dual.
Jason Borrelli will keep his Cardinal (2-1, 1-0 Pac-12) in the furnace, heading to four tournaments: the Roadrunner Open (see below), CKLV Invite, Reno TOC, and the Southern Scuffle (1/1-1/2). They are hosted by CSU Bakersfield on 1/8 in a conference dual. (See: Schedule)
11/19: #17 Arizona State (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. #3 Ohio State (0-0, 0-0 B1G)
In the Sun Devils’ most attended home dual since 2010, they hosted 2015 National Champions Ohio State in the Buckeyes’ season opener. The Buckeyes would take the dual with a lopsided 27-15 score, winning six matches. Ali Naser and #13 Anthony Valencia picked up decisions at 133 and 165 respectively. At 157lbs, RS Freshman Josh Shields upset #11 Jake Ryan of Ohio State 13-12 on riding time. Zahid Valencia (#8) made short work of Ohio State back-up Seth Williams at 174. The much anticipated match-up against #1-ranked Ohio State junior Bo Jordan will have to wait.
Ohio State dominated the final three (heavy) weights, going from down 15-12 to up 27-15. They unleashed a returning-NCAA champion in the #2-ranked sophomore Myles Martin at 184lbs, who earned a tech-fall over Sun Devil Jacen Petersen. Freshman Kollin Moore, number 16, earned a fall in a little over a minute for the Buckeyes, before defending Olympic and Heavyweight NCAA Champion, #1 Kyle Snyder dominated #4 Tanner Hall, 20-8.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) head to the CKLV and Midlands in December, before heading to Ames to face Iowa State on January 6th. (See: Schedule)
11/20: Oregon State (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. #10 Michigan (2-0, 0-0 B1G)
Michigan improved to (3-0, 0-0 B1G) on the year, beating their non-conference opponent 38-7, taking eight matches from Oregon State in Corvallis. 2x NCAA Qualifier, #17, 141-pound senior Joey Palmer picked up a decision. Bumping up to fill the void left by Amarveer Dhesi (a returning All-American that is out with a knee-injury), 2015 NCAA Qualifier Cody Crawford earned a major decision at 285.
At 133 lbs, Wolverine freshman, #10 Stevan Micic put a heavy 19-3 tech-fall on SJS product, OSU freshman Devan Turner. Two-time NCAA Qualifier, #19 Joey Delgado was knocked off by talented Michigan sophomore Zac Hall in a big way, 14-4, at 149. Cody Griego, number 16, slipped against Michigan’s unranked Jackson Striggow 5-2.
Oregon State (1-2, 0-0 Pac-12) has a mixed schedule heading into the holidays. They have a similar schedule to the Boise State Broncos, aforementioned. The Beavers compete at the CKLV, Reno TOC, and Midlands. Prior to the Reno TOC, OSU faces Utah Valley in Orem, Utah on 12/15. They travel to Northern Colorado on 1/13. Both duals will be non-conference. (See: Schedule)
2016 Roadrunner Open
Brackets
At 125lbs, the CSUB Runners ruled the day as Sergio Mendez (a senior purportedly on redshirt) and teammate Sean Nickell made it to the tournament finals. Nickell would get the forfeit nod to win the tournament title. Nickell had three bonus point victories in his three matches on the day. Former NCS standout Troy Lakin finished in 4th-place for Menlo College. David Gonzalez of Cal Poly beat Matt Gamble of SF State, 2-1, in the 5thplace match.
(David Gonzalez (Cal Poly), left, defends a leg-attack against Purdue's Ben Thornton)
4x CA state placer, CA state champ Durbin Lloren (wrestling unattached for Utah Valley in his first collegiate season) reached the final at 133lbs before losing to Luke Welch of Purdue. CSUB sophomore Carlos Herrera fought hard to finish in 3rd-place. He started his day with a 7-1 tiebreaker-1 win over Brandon Kier (unattached- Stanford). Two more wins (including a quarterfinal decision over Boise State junior Josh Newberg) put him in the semis, where he lost to Purdue’s Luke Welch 5-3 in sudden victory. In the conso-semis, he beat Yoshi Funakoshi (Cal Poly) 8-4, before taking the 3rd-place match by 11-2 major. Funakoshi finished in 6th, losing to Josh Newberg 6-4.
(Boise State's Josh Newberg, left, and CSU Bakersfield's Carlos Herrera, right, scramble at 133lbs)
At 141, Joey McKenna notched three-straight falls in his five total victories en route to the tournament title. In the semi-finals, McKenna topped 2015 NCAA Qualifier Jack Hathaway (Oregon State) 4-0. In the finals, he beat 2016 NCAA Qualifier in Logan Everett (Army West Point), 2-1. Hathaway finished in 3rd-place. Stanford also had freshman Requir Van Der Merwe finish 4th. Van Der Merwe had close matches against Everett and Hathaway in the semis and 3rd-place match, respectively; both matches finished 4-2 for the opponent.
Coleman Hammond registered two tech-falls, a fall, and two majors en route to the 149lbs title for the Roadrunners. The top-two seeds met in the 157lbs finals. Two-time NCAA Qualifier, #10 senior Russell Parsons (Army West Point) earned bonus points in three of four wins en route to the title, beating Alex Griffin of Purdue 6-2 in the finals. Stanford’s RS-sophomore Paul Fox finished in 3rd-place, picking up notable wins on the day. Fox prevailed over Boise State’s AJ Fierro, 10-6, in the quarterfinals and Cal Poly’s Joe Granger, 10-9, in the consolation-semis. Fox increased the gap between him and Cal Poly in his very next match, sticking Mustang starter Colton Shorts in 1:05 for 3rd-place.
(Paul Fox of Stanford, top, looks for a chicken-wing on AJ Fierro(?) of Boise State)
Stanford ruled at 165, putting NCAA Qualifier, #19 Keaton Subjeck and Peter Galli into the finals. Subjeck picked up three falls in five victories, beating his teammate, Galli, 6-2 in the finals. Cardinal senior Jim Wilson picked up two bonus point victories in his five wins en route to the 174lbs Roadrunner Open title.
(Bryan Battisto of CSU Bakersfield, left, looks to finish a leg-attack on Jim Wilson, right)
The Mustang contingent was highlighted by RS junior 184-lber Sohrab Movahedi championship run, including a 3-2 victory over post-graduate, 2x NCAA Qualifier for CSUB, Adam Fierro in the finals. Movahedi beat Kaydn del Toro of Boise State 6-4 in the semis; del Toro finished 4th-place.
At 197, Roadrunner Matt Williams beat the #1-seed, Rocco Caywood of Army, 5-2 to claim his title. In the heavyweight tournament, #11 Nathan Butler stood-fast against against a few Pac-12 opponents, beating Boise State starter Gabe Gonzalez 6-0 in the first round of the tournament. In the finals, he registered his second win over Cal Poly’s Spencer Empey on the season, 6-5. It continues to appear that #4 Tanner Hall of ASU and Butler will vie for the Pac-12 title come March.
[11/14 edition of FloWrestling Rankings used for 11/18, 11/19, 11/20]
More wrestling?
'16-'17 Pac-12WR Season Opener
‘16-’17 Pac-12WR Week-2 Round-Up
The Creation of USAWrestling’s Atlas
Top 10 125lbs NCAA Performances: 1-5 | 6-10
Coaching Conundrum: Part 1: Fresno State / Part 2: Boise State / Part 3: Cal-Poly SLO / Part 4: CSU Bakersfield / Part 5: Stanford / Part 6: Arizona State / Part 7: Oregon State / Part 8
