BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The latest Pac-10 individual rankings were released Tuesday morning with more good news for the Roadrunners.
Only one Cal State Bakersfield wrestler dropped out of the rankings, but two Roadrunners moved up and one entered the rankings for the first time this season.
Jeremy Doyle was the one wrestler who jumped into the rankings for the first time. Doyle has spent much of the season as the backup at 149 pounds, but has filled in admirably for an injured Daniel Alejandro at 157. Even though he is still weighing in at 157, Doyle went 3-1 last week and jumped into the No. 6 position at 157 pounds for the first time this season.
Two Roadrunners moved up in the rankings. Daniel Atondo moved from No. 4 to No. 2 at 165 pounds not so much for his efforts last week but more because of a review of results throughout the season showed that he deserved the No. 2 ranking.
There was a big mix at 165 overall. Arizona State's Patrick Pitsch remained at No. 1 at 165 despite losing twice last weekend including a 16-5 major decision to Cal State Fullerton's Bryan Tice. The loss makes Pitsch 1-1 against Tice this season. Atondo moved to No. 2, above Dustin Noack of UC Davis, who remains at No. 3.
Atondo defeated Noack earlier in the year, and Noack defeated Stanford's Brian Perry, so Perry dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. Tice was rewarded for his win over Pitsch with a No. 5 ranking, and Boise State's Luke Smith dropped from No. 5 to No. 6.
Also moving up in the rankings for Bakersfield is heavyweight Eric Parker, who went 3-0 last week including a 15-6 major decision over former No. 5 Chris Dearmon of Oregon. The two wrestlers swapped positions.
Things are tightening up with less than two months before the Pac-10 Championships. Cal Poly and Oregon State each have nine ranked wrestlers with UC Davis just behind with eight. Boise State has seven ranked wrestlers, followed by Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State with six, Stanford with five, Oregon with four, and Portland State with none.
