TEMPE, Ariz.—Bryce Hammond won his third 174-pound title in four years as CSU Bakersfield recorded a third place finish at the 2016 Pac-12 Championships Saturday.
Hammond defeated Arizona State's Preston McCalmon 10-0 in the first round before defeating Stanford's Keaton Subjeck 4-2 in the semifinals. Hammond pinned Boise State's Austin Dewey with 58 seconds remaining in the first period to claim the crowd. Hammond joins Jassen Froehlich (190, 1993-95) and Stephen Neal (285, 1996-99) as CSUB wrestlers to have won three Pac-12 Championships.
Three other Roadrunners earned runner-up finishes. Ian Nickell received a bye in the first round at 141 pounds. In the semis, Nickell defeated Colt Schilling of Cal Poly 9-2. By advancing to the finals against Joey McKenna of Stanford, Nickell clinched an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships. McKenna would defeat Nickell 6-1 for the league title.
Adam Fierro also got a bye at 165 pounds. He earned an automatic bid into the national championships when he shutout Seth Thomas of Oregon State in the semifinals. Fierro took on Stanford's Jim Wilson in the finals where Wilson defeated Fierro 2-1 in double overtime.
The 197-pound championship bout was the third time this season that Arizona State's Josh DaSilveira and Reuben Franklin would meet. DaSilveira's four-point near fall in the first period proved to be the difference as DaSilveira would defeat Franklin 6-5. Franklin, who entered the meet with the seventh best RPI at 197 pounds will likely get an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships when those bids are awarded Mar. 9.
Coleman Hammond went 2-2 to place fourth at 149 pounds. Hammond was in the top 33 in the final NCAA RPI poll, so he is likely on the bubble for an at-large bid to the national tournament.
Sergio Mendez (125), AJ Fierro (157), Jesus Ambriz (184), and Matt Williams (heavyweight) all posted fourth place finishes. Carlos Herrera (133) placed sixth.
CSUB scored 101 points in the best showing for the program at the Pac-12 Tournament since the 2008-09 season when the Roadrunners finished third. Oregon State won its fifth consecutive team title with 118 points. Arizona State finished second with 113 points. Stanford (100), Boise State (92), and Cal Poly (73.5) rounded out the team scoring race.
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