LAS VEGAS ? Facing seven total top 20 opponents Friday, Daniel Atondo was the lone Roadrunner to survive a grueling opening day for CSUB wrestling at the 26th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
“This was a rude awakening and an eye opener for a lot of our wrestlers,” said CSUB Head Coach T.J. Kerr.
In the 165 division, Atondo opened the day with a 3-1 overtime decision over Chris Jones of Missouri Valley. He then earned a 9-6 decision against
Harvard's Matthew Button before falling 2-9 to No. 1 nationally ranked Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan in the quarterfinals.
Elijah Nacita (141), Jeremy Doyle (149) and Ryan Bergman (285) each reached the round of 16 before being falling to nationally ranked opponents.
Nacitia, a redshirt freshman, opened the day with 8-1 and 17-1 wins in his first two matches, then dropped an 8-3 decision to No. 11 Kyle Ruschell.
Attempting to come back around from the losers bracket, Nacita picked up a 7-4 decision against Penn's Zack Kammerer, but was then knocked out of the tournament, 4-0, by No. 14 Joe Caramanica of North Carolina.
Doyle (149) earned a decision over Pittsburgh's Joe Eckloff and a pin against Stanford's Lucas Espericueta, but was later knocked out by No. 2 nationally ranked Josh Churella of Michigan.
Bergman faced a similar situation in the heavyweight division, earning a pair of wins, but ultimately falling to No. 4 J.D. Bergman of Ohio State.
“At a tournament with 50 teams you're going to see the elite of Division I,” said Kerr. “As a coaching staff we know what needs to be done and this team has potential.”
Atondo has the opportunity to finish as high as third place and will open Saturday's action against Keegan Mueller of North Carolina.
