BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A pair of Top 25-ranked wrestling teams came to CSU Bakersfield's campus on Friday night as the Roadrunners found themselves in two tight battles. To start the tri-dual, CSUB fell behind No. 18 Pittsburgh in the final bout and lost 21-18. Later in the evening, a final-bout pin was not enough against No. 25 Wisconsin as the `Runners came up short, 22-18.

"Overall, we wrestled poorly against Pittsburgh," said Manny Rivera, Head Coach of the `Runners. "To be honest, we threw that dual away. We were cruising, then we had some letdowns. Some of those guys need to figure some things out. At 165, 157, we have some older, experienced guys who are losing and that's what cost us that dual. The good thing is, I really believe they are going to get it figured out and this should be a good motivator."

Rivera continued to talk about his team's improved effort against the Badgers: "Wisconsin was a tougher team than Pittsburgh was and we wrestled better. I think we can still wrestle better than we showed. There were some solid moments, but we have a ways to go still."

CSUB vs. Pitt

Sergio Mendez and Brendan Price were tied 5-5 after the first period of the 125-pound bout, but more than a minute of time on top helped Mendez take an 8-5 lead after the second. Price chose bottom in the final period and Mendez stayed in control for the whole period to secure a 9-5 victory.

Redshirt junior Sean Nickell (133) took an early 4-0 lead on a takedown and a two-point nearfall. A four-point nearfall gave Nickell an 8-0 advantage at the break the native of Bakersfield surged to a second-period tech fall, 15-0.

Tied after the first period, Nick Zanetta (141) of Pitt got a takedown in the second period to go up 2-0 before Russell Rohlfing's escape made it a 2-1 score after two periods. A thrilling third period finished with a late escape by Rohlfing to tie the match and narrowly avoid giving up the riding time point. In overtime, Rohlfing's takedown sealed the match and gave the `Runners an 11-0 lead on the Panthers.

At 149, Robert Lee rode a strong performance from start to finish for an 8-1 decision over Bakersfield's Kalani Tonge. Pittsburgh earned its first three points of the match with the win.

Taleb Rahmani (157), ranked No. 15 in the nation, stuck `Runner Coleman Hammond at 3:35 to bring Pitt within just two points of Bakersfield. After Lorenzo De La Riva (165) went down via tech fall to Jake Wentzel, the Panthers had their first lead of the dual, 14-11.

At 174, redshirt junior Bryan Battisto outlasted Tommy O'Brien for a 4-2 decision as CSUB tied the match up at 14 points apiece. Gregg Harvey then earned a 15-9 decision over CSUB's Dominic Ducharme as Pitt regained the lead, 17-14.

CSUB's No. 10 Matt Williams (197) overpowered his opponent, Kellan Stout for a major decision, 11-3, putting the `Runners back ahead, 18-17.

In the deciding match, No. 8 Ryan Solomon got on top of Jarrod Synder early and rode out the match to a 10-0 major decision, giving Pittsburgh a 21-18 win over the `Runners in a very tightly contested match.

125 Sergio Mendez (CSUB) def. Brendan Price (Pitt) by decision (9-5). CSUB 3-0 Pitt

133 Sean Nickell (CSUB) def. Jake Cherry (Pitt) by tech fall (15-0). CSUB 8-0 Pitt

141 #19 Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) def. Nick Zanetta (Pitt) by decision (7-5, OT). CSUB 11-0 Pitt

149 Robert Lee (Pitt) def. Kalani Tonge (CSUB) by decision (8-1). CSUB 11-3 Pitt

157 #15 Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) pinned Coleman Hammond (CSUB) (3:35). CSUB 11-9 Pitt

165 Jake Wentzel (Pitt) def. #17 Lorenzo De La Riva (CSUB) by tech fall (15-0). Pitt 14-11 CSUB

174 Bryan Battisto (CSUB) def. Tommy O'Brien (Pitt) by decision (4-2). CSUB 14-14 Pitt

184 Gregg Harvey (Pitt) def. Dominic Ducharme (CSUB) by decision (15-9). Pitt 17-14 CSUB.

197 #10 Matt Williams (CSUB) def. Kellan Stout (Pitt) by major decision (11-3). CSUB 18-17 Pitt

285 #8 Ryan Soloman (Pitt) def. Jarrod Snyder (CSUB) by major decision (10-0). Pitt 21-18 CSUB

CSUB vs. Wisconsin

At 125, Mendez and Ethan Rotondo were scoreless after one period. Action started to pick up in the second period as Rotondo got a bit too aggressive. Mendez, a redshirt senior, made a savvy move and pinned the Badger at 4:33 to give CSUB a 6-0 lead.

Nickell (133) used an early takedown to get a lead on Michael Cullen of Wisconsin. Cullen got called for multiple stall warnings as Nickell rode it out to a 6-0 decision. CSUB led 9-0 at that point in the match.

A late four-point nearfall helped Wisconsin's Eli Stickley (141) take a major decision over Rohlfing, 13-2, giving the Badgers their first four points of the match.

Zander Wick (149) gave the Badgers another major decision, this time over Tonge, as CSUB held on to a narrow lead at 9-8.

In the second-most exciting match of the evening, a flurry of reversals led to a high score between Hammond and the Badgers' Jared Scharenbrock at 157. Wisconsin's wrestler was on top of Hammond in the final moments of the match and Bakersfield's redshirt senior nearly earned a defensive pin on two different occasions, but Scharenbrock escaped to hold on for an 11-8 win.

At 165, a matchup of two ranked wrestlers went the way of Wisconsin as No. 12 Evan Wick defeated No. 17 De La Riva, 7-1. Battisto put up a good fight, but Ryan Christensen earned a tech fall, 15-0, in the 174 bout. After No. 11 Ricky Robertson won by decision (7-2) over Ducharme (184), Wisconsin had clinched the dual at 22-9 with two bouts to go.

Williams (197) improved to 6-0 on the year, taking down another ranked wrestler in No. 16 Hunter Ritter. Williams' 197 decision (4-1) brought the match score to 21-12.

Making his season debut, Mark Penyacsek seemed outmatched after weighing in at 197. The redshirt sophomore was called upon to face the Badgers' heavyweight, Ben Stone. Unfazed, Penyacsek came out strong and used his speed and agility to surprise Stone with a defensive pin at 3:19. The six points brought the final score to 22-18 as CSUB fell just short again.

The Roadrunners (2-4) will have one day off before returning to the Icardo Center to host the Roadrunner Open. The tournament is set to kick off on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m.

125 Sergio Mendez (CSUB) pinned Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin) at 4:33. CSUB 6-0 Wisconsin

133 Sean Nickell (CSUB) def. Michael Cullen (Wisconsin) by decision (6-0). CSUB 9-0 Wisconsin

141 Eli Stickley (Wisconsin) def. #19 Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) by major decision (13-2). CSUB 9-4 Wisconsin

149 Zander Wick (Wisconsin) def. Kalani Tonge (CSUB) by major decision (10-1). CSUB 9-8 Wisconsin

157 Jared Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) def. Coleman Hammond (CSUB) by decision, 11-8. Wisconsin 11-9 CSUB

165 #12 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) def. #17 Lorenzo De La Riva (CSUB) by decision (7-1). Wisconsin 14-9 CSUB

174 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) def. Bryan Battisto (CSUB) by tech fall (15-0). Wisconsin 19-9 CSUB

184 #11 Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin) def. Dominic Ducharme (CSUB) by decision (7-2). Wisconsin 22-9 CSUB

197 #10 Matt Williams (CSUB) def. #16 Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin) by decision (4-1). Wisconsin 22-12 CSUB

285 Mark Penyacsek (CSUB) pinned Ben Stone (Wisconsin) at 3:19. Wisconsin 22-18

~GoRunners.com~