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.
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