THIS WEEK
A quintet of Roadrunners will take on the nation's elite and vie for All-American status at the 2010 NCAA Division I National Championships, held Mar. 18-20 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MARCH 18
Session One – 11 a.m. (CST)
Session Two – 6:30 p.m. (CST)

FRIDAY, MARCH 19
Session Three – 9:30 a.m. (CST)
Session Four – 6 p.m. (CST)

SATURDAY, MARCH 20
Sessions Five – 10 a.m. (CST)
Session Six – 6:30 p.m. (CST)

NCAA NOTES
Bakersfield returns to the NCAA Championships for the 37th consecutive year...the first NCAA Championship was in 1928...rank in a tie for 16th for most NCAA champions with nine...Riley Orozco and Mitch Monteiro are making their third trip to the NCAA Championships while Elijah Nacita is competing for the second time. Frank Lomas and Michael Larson are first-time qualifiers.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Bakersfield's highest finish at the NCAA Championships is third place in 1996.
• The Roadrunners have four top-10 finishes all-time and eight top-25 finishes.
• With five national qualifiers this year, the Roadrunners have qualified at least three wrestlers to the nationals every season since 1985.
• Bakersfield also sent wrestlers to the Division I championships when the school was Division II and earned 20 of its 43 total All-American honors during that time.

CSUB ALL-TIME RESULTS
• 2009: 36th (16.0 points)
• 2008: 53rd (2.0 points)
• 2007: 44th (7.0 points)
• 2006: 47th (4.5 points)
• 2005: 22nd (27.0 points)
• 2004: 29th (15.5 points)
• 2003: 39th (7.5 points)
• 2002: 52nd (3.0 points)
• 2001: 28th (12.5 points)
• 2000: 23rd (20.5 points)
• 1999: 8th (58.5 points)
• 1998: 11th (42.5 points)
• 1997: 8th (43.5 points)
• 1996: 3rd (66.0 points)
• 1995: 28th (13.0 points)
• 1994: 49th (4.0 points)
• 1993: 54th (2.5 points)
• 1992: 36th (5.5 points)
• 1991: 9th (38.5 points)
• 1990: 12th (30.5 points)
• 1989: 28th (14.5 points)
• 1988: 53rd (2.0 points)

WHAT'S AT STAKE
The five Roadrunners (Mike Larson, Frank Lomas, Mitch Monteiro, Elijah Nacita and Riley Orozco) competing this week will be in the hunt for NCAA All-American status. CSUB's last All-American was Brandon Halsey (197 pounds), who placed seventh at the 2009 NCAA Championships. The Roadrunners have only gone nine seasons since 1977 without a Division I All-American.

CSUB KEEPS QUALIFIERS STREAK ALIVESince 1974, the second season of the wrestling program at Bakersfield, the Roadrunners have had a qualifier to the NCAA Division I Championships every year. And since 1976, Bakersfield has had at least two qualifiers to the championships. The Roadrunners have also qualified at least three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships every year since 1979.

THE LAST TIME AROUND
Two of Bakersfield's five NCAA qualifiers are returning for the third time. Mitch Monteiro and Riley Orozco both qualified in 2008 and 2009. Elijah Nacita is making his second appearance after earning his first qualification in 2009. Frank Lomas and Mike Larson are both making their first trip to nationals.

LOMAS AGAINST THE FIELD AT 125
Frank Lomas is 4-11 in 2010 against the NCAA Championships field. He has wins over Navy's Aaron Kalil, Virginia's Ross Gitomer and two over Boise State's Alan Bartelli.

NACITA AGAINST THE FIELD AT 141
Elijah Nacita is 5-9 in 2010 against the NCAA Championships field. He has wins over Cal Poly's Filip Novachkov, VIrginia's Derek Valenti and three over Arizona State's Chris Drouin.

LARSON AGAINST THE FIELD AT 184
Mike Larson is 1-7 in 2010 against the field at the NCAA Championships. His lone victory was his 3-2 decision over Geisen at the Pac-10 Championships.

OROZCO AGAINST THE FIELD AT 197
Riley Orozco is 3-6 in 2010 against the field at the NCAA Championships. He has one win over Old Dominion's Jesse Strawn and two wins over Boise State's Matt Casperson.

MONTEIRO AGAINST THE FIELD AT HWT
Mitch Monteiro is 10-4 in 2010 against the field at the NCAA Championships (including the NWCA win over Zabriskie). He has beaten Minnesota's Ben Berhow, UC Davis' Ricky Alcala (twice), Indiana's Nathan Everhart, Rider's Eddie Boras, Oklahoma's Nathan Fernandez, Cal State Fullerton's Kurt Klimek, Oregon State's Clayton Jack and Boise State's Sam Zlystra.

'RUNNER REPORT
The Roadrunners placed fifth at the Pac-10 Championships in Davis on Feb. 26-27. Riley Orozco and Mitch Monteiro win individual titles at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively. Redshirt freshman Mike Larson claimed a runner-up finish at 184 pounds, Elijah Nacita was fourth at 141 pounds and Frank Lomas was fifth at 125 pounds.

DUAL STREAK COMPLETE
Riley Orozco rolled through the dual portion of the 2010 schedule with a perfect 9-0 record. The junior 197-pounder had five decisions, two major decisions, one technical fall and a pin for his nine wins.

RILEY ON A ROLL
Junior Riley Orozco is on a roll entering the 2010 NCAA Championships this week. Not only did he go perfect in dual competition this season, but he carries a 13-match win streak into this week's action. He has only lost six matches all season, and just twice did losses come back-to-back.

NEAR DEJA VU
Elijah Nacita's path through the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions was a near replica from a year ago when he lost his opening match, then won eight straight consolation matches, including a third-place win over Cal State Fullerton's Adin Duenas. This year, No. 4 seeded Nacita dropped his opening match once again, then earned six straight wins to reach the third place match and face Duenas once again. While he could not complete the comeback this year, conceding a tight 2-1 decision to Duenas, Nacita picked up two technical fall wins, including one over MSU Mankato's Robbie Fisher, who beat him in the opening round, and No. 1 seed Filip Novachkov of Cal Poly. Nacita's 6-4 decision over Novachkov avenged a 7-5 loss to the Mustang from just five days prior.

LAST MINUTE ADDITION, LAST SECOND WIN
Senior heavyweight Mitch Monteiro was a last minute add to the line-up at the 44th NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 22, but that gave him no disadvantage over his opponent. Monteiro, then ranked No. 6, used a takedown in final seven seconds of the match to earn a 4-3 win over then No. 2 David Zabriskie of Iowa State.

ANOTHER NWCA ALL-STAR WIN
Mitch Monteiro was the first Roadrunner to be selected as an NWCA All-Star since Stephen Neal earned the honor in 1999. Neal was a three-time NWCA All-Star selection, and won all three bouts. CSUB has now had 15 all-time selections to the event and has been victorious in all but one bout.

NEED MORE INFO?
For all of the most up-to-date information about CSU Bakersfield wrestling and all other Roadrunner sports, check out the CSUB Athletics Web site at: www.GoRunners.com.