TEMPE, Ariz. ? Cal State Bakersfield put itself in a perfect position to knock off the two-time defending Pac-10 Champions from Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, but for the second time in three duals, the Roadrunners fell short by a 19-18 score.

Bakersfield lost at home on Jan. 7 by the same 19-18 scoreline to now No. 24 nationally ranked Columbia before crushing San Francisco State 48-0. The Roadrunners now lost another 19-18 dual against Arizona State.

The difference in the match came at 197 pounds when Arizona State's Jason Trulson pulled off an upset over the Roadrunners' Brandon Halsey. Halsey entered the match ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 and pushing the national rankings, while Trulson is ranked No. 4 in the conference.

This one was all Trulson, though, from the beginning. Two first-period takedowns gave Trulson a 4-2 lead and he carried a 4-3 lead into the third period after Halsey chose down and escaped in the second. But Trulson used an escape and a takedown for the 7-5 win.

The rest of the match went pretty much as expected, but little things could have turned the tide in the dual. Matt Schumm opened the match at 141 pounds and backed up his No 4 ranking in the Pac-10 with a 10-3 decision over Robert Galvan. But one more point would have given the Roadrunners a major decision and one more point, which would have made a difference in the team score in the end.

Brandon Doyle, ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 at 149 pounds, knocked off Arizona State's Chris Remsen by a 10-6 score before the Pac-10's No. 1 wrestler 157 pounds Brian Stith of Arizona State earned a major decision over Daniel Alejandro, 14-4.

Bakersfield's Daniel Atondo, ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 at 165, earned a technical fall over Cameron Smith, 16-1, before Arizona State's Rick Renzi picked up an 18-10 major decision over Garth Wara at 174. ASU's Greg Gifford returned the favor of the technical fall at 184 pounds at 21-5 over Brandon Ceremello before Trulson earned the upset win over Halsey.

At that point, Bakersfield trailed the dual 16-11, but heavyweight Eric Parker won his seventh match in eight attempts with a 15-4 major decision over Thor Moen to narrow the team score to 16-15. The Roadrunners' Brandon Zoetewey will likely jump into the Pac-10 rankings this week after knocking off No. 6 at 125 John Espinoza of Arizona State, which gave Bakersfield an 8-4 decision which gave Bakersfield an 18-16 lead.

But in the final match of the night, ASU's Shawn Jones earned a 10-3 decision over Bakersfield's John Cardenas at 133 to earn the 19-18 win.

Bakersfield returns to the Icardo Center on Sunday for matches against Stanford at 3 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m.

Arizona State 19, Cal State Bakersfield 18 141?Matt Schumm (CSUB) dec. Robert Galvan (ASU), 10-3 149?Brandon Doyle (CSUB) dec. Chris Remsen (ASU), 10-6 157?Brian Stith (ASU) maj. dec. Daniel Alejandro (CSUB), 14-4 165?Daniel Atondo (CSUB) tech. fall Cameron Smith (ASU), 16-1 174?Rick Renzi (ASU) maj. dec. Garth Wara (CSUB), 18-10 184?Greg Gifford (ASU) tech. fall Brandon Ceremello (CSUB), 21-5 197?Jason Trulson (ASU) dec. Brandon Halsey (CSUB), 7-5 285?Eric Parker (CSUB) maj. dec. Thor Moen (ASU), 15-4 125?Brandon Zoetewey (CSUB) dec. John Espinoza (ASU), 8-4 133?Shawn Jones (ASU) dec. John Cardenas (CSUB), 10-3