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Hall And Orozco Finish Fifth; CSUB Ties For Eighth At Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Wrestling CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Hall And Orozco Finish Fifth; CSUB Ties For Eighth At Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

LAS VEGAS, Nev.-Trevor Hall (Sr., Battle Ground, Battle Ground HS) and Riley Orozco (Sr., Fallon, Nev., Church County HS) each posted fifth places finishes to pace CSUB at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Hall, a 165-pounder, was the lone Roadrunner to advance to the championship semifinals where he faced No. 4 Justin Kerber of Cornell. Kerber defeated Hall by a 7-3 count. In the consolation semifinals, Hall dropped a 12-7 decision to Joe Booth of Drexel. Hall was awarded fifth place by medical default againt No. 6 P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra.

Orozco, who is ranked No. 19 at 197 pounds, lost to Indiana's Matt Powless (No. 18) in the championship quarterfinals. Orozco's opened consolation action by pinning Oregon State's Chad Hanke 4:59 into their bout. In the consolation semis, Michigan's Anthony Biondo (No. 15) defeated Orozco 4-0. The fifth place match saw Orozco take on Jamelle Jones of North Idaho College. Orozco handed the second ranked wrestler in junior college a 5-2 defeat for the position.

Three CSUB competitors earned eighth place showings. No. 18 David Morgan (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Centennial HS) placed eighth at heavyweight. Morgan advanced to the championship quarterfinals before falling to No. 11 Nathan Fernandez of Oklahoma. Morgan earned a 7-3 decision over Boise State's T.J. Felix to begin his consolation bracket. Morgan lost 3-1 in overtime to UNC Greensboro's Peter Sturegon in the consolation semifinals. Columbia's Kevin Lester beat out Morgan for seventh place by taking a 3-2 decision.

Jose Mendoza (So., Selma, Calif., Selma HS) finished eighth at 133 pounds. Mendoza advanced to the round of 16 before losing to No. 5 Filip Novachkov. Mendoza won two consolation matches on day one and opened Saturday with a 8-4 victory over Michigan's Zac Stevens (correction to Friday's story). No. 12 Ian Paddock defeated Mendoza in the consolation semis 11-3, sending Mendoza into a seventh place mattch against No. 6 Scott Sentes of Central Michigan. Sentes defeated Mendoza 8-3.

Andrew Balch (So., Clovis, Calif., Buchanan HS) began his tournament with a match against No. 3 Adam Hall of Boise State where he lost 11-4. Balch won four straight matches in the consolation bracket on Friday (correction to Friday's story). Balch began Saturday with a medical default victory over No. 11 Peter Yates of Virginia Tech. In the consolation semis, No. 20 DJ Meagher of Cornell handed Balch a 9-1 defeat. No. 12 Colton Salazar of Purdue defeated Balch 5-2 for eighth place.

In other Roadrunner action on Saturday, Cornell's Frank Perrill (No. 19) defeated Tyler Iwamura (So., San Diego, Calif., Santa Fe Christian HS) in the consolation bracket at 125 pounds. No. 16 Elijah Nacita (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield HS) lost his consolation round match at 141 pounds to Cornell Chris Villalonga 7-1.

In the team race, CSUB tied for eighth with Purdue (68.5).   No. 1 Cornell took home the top team honors with 140 points.  

"We competed well this weekend," said CSUB Head Coach Mike Mendoza.  "We showed overall improvement as a team."

The Roadrunners return to the mats for a pair of home duals next weekend.  CSUB hosts No. 6 Minnesota on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 11 a.m.   On Sunday, Dec. 12, the Roadrunners host San Francisco State (No. 18 in NCAA Division II) for a 2 p.m. tilt.

~www.GoRunners.com~


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Players Mentioned

Jose Mendoza

Jose Mendoza

133
5' 5"
Freshman
Andrew Balch

Andrew Balch

157
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
Trevor Hall

Trevor Hall

165
5' 11"
Senior
Tyler Iwamura

Tyler Iwamura

125
5' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
David Morgan

David Morgan

285
6' 2"
Redshirt Senior
Elijah Nacita

Elijah Nacita

141
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Jose Mendoza

Jose Mendoza

5' 5"
Freshman
133
Andrew Balch

Andrew Balch

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
157
Trevor Hall

Trevor Hall

5' 11"
Senior
165
Tyler Iwamura

Tyler Iwamura

5' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
125
David Morgan

David Morgan

6' 2"
Redshirt Senior
285
Elijah Nacita

Elijah Nacita

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
141
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