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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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2017NCAA
Justin Hoch | jhoch.com

Wrestling

Wrestling Hits the Road for Elite Competition

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield wrestling team will travel to Kent, Ohio on Friday for the Frenzy at the Field House where the Roadrunners will do battle with Kent State University, No. 3 University of Iowa and No. 18 University of Wisconsin.  CSUB will then travel to the University of Pittsburgh, who is receiving votes in the USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 25 rankings for another dual Saturday. 

CSUB (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) will look to continue the momentum they built last Thursday when they dominated Life Pacific and San Francisco State to start the season. 

"I think it's a very exciting opportunity for us to compete against some tough teams, a couple from the Big Ten, one from the MAC and one from the ACC, but especially Iowa who we haven't dueled in 35 years," said CSUB head coach Manny Rivera.  "It's great to face them head-to-head.  Last year we wrestled Wisconsin and Pitt and lost in some tight duals.  Kent State is always a quality program as well. We are looking forward to the opportunity."

Friday's Frenzy at the Fieldhouse, which will be broadcast live on FloWrestling, will begin with CSUB against Kent State 4:00 p.m. ET.  The Golden Flashes received a vote in the preseason USA Today/NWCA rankings, but dropped totally out of the rankings after the first weekend of competition.  Redshirt senior Kyle Conel is Kent State's top wrestler who had a magical run to a third-place finish at 197 pounds at last season's NCAA Championships.  Conel is ranked second in the nation this year by both FloWrestling and InterMat. 

The Hawkeyes, winners of 23 national titles and one of the most storied programs in college wrestling history, enter Friday's dual ranked No. 3 in the country in the USA Today/NWCA Top 25 poll.  Iowa is led by defending national champion at 125 pounds Spencer Lee.  Lee is the consensus No. 1 wrestler in the class and believed to be one of the top pound-for-pound wrestlers in all of college wrestling.  Lee is one of two returning All-Americans in the Hawkeyes' projected lineup, as Alex Marinelli placed sixth last season at 165.  Marinelli is also rated fourth in both polls to begin his sophomore season.  Overall, Iowa has seven wrestlers ranked in the top 15 in their respective weight classes and also return national qualifiers Austin DeSanto and Cash Wilcke. 

The final two matches of the four-dual trip will also be hotly contested and CSUB will be looking for a little revenge.  The Badgers squeaked out a 22-18 victory over the `Runners in the Icardo Center last season, while the Panthers narrowly defeated CSUB 21-18 on the same evening.  Both programs have new head coaches this season, with Chris Bono leading Wisconsin and Keith Gavin manning the helm at Pitt. 

Bono's Badgers were ranked No. 19 to start the season and bumped up a spot after the first weekend of the season.  Half of Wisconsin's lineup is ranked nationally, led by 141-pound Tristan Moran at No. 13.  Ryan Christensen at 174 pounds and Connor Brown at 125 pounds are both ranked by InterMat and FloWrestling, while 149-pound Cole Martin and 157-pound Zander Wick qualified for the NCAA Championships last season. 

Pitt received five votes in the latest national rankings.  Taleb Rahmani, a 157-pound redshirt junior is ranked 10th in the nation by InterMat, while redshirt freshman Nino Bonaccorsi is well thought of and rated 16th by InterMat.

CSUB's Sean Nickell, rated as high as 13th in the country by FloWrestling, will have his hands full over the two days.  Nickell will do battle with Iowa's No. 9/No.10 Austin DeSanto, who qualified for national's last season as a freshman at Drexel and Pitt's Micky Phillippi, who is rated 14th by The InterMat.

New starters Alex Hernandez-Figueroa and Wyatt Gerl will have their mettle tested this weekend as well.  Hernandez-Figueroa, starting at 125, will square off with nationally-ranked Lee and Brown.  Gerl may have the toughest task this weekend as he will likely do battle with three ranked opponents.  Iowa's Kaleb Young is rated as high as 15th, Wick is ranked 18th and Rahmani is 10th. 

Action at Kent State begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday and CSUB's dual with Pitt will start at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. 

CSUB's projected lineup is below:
125: Alex Hernandez-Figueroa
133: Sean Nickell
141: Carlos Herrera/Noah Blakley-Beanes
149: Russell Rohlfing
157: Wyatt Gerl
165: Jacob Thalin
174: Bryan Battisto
184: Dominic Ducharme
197: Mark Penyacsek
285: Jacob Sieder
 
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Players Mentioned

Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

174/184
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Noah Blakley-Beanes

Noah Blakley-Beanes

133
5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
Dominic Ducharme

Dominic Ducharme

184
6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
Alejandro Hernandez

Alejandro Hernandez

125
5' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
Carlos Herrera

Carlos Herrera

141
5' 6"
Junior
Sean Nickell

Sean Nickell

133
5' 7"
Redshirt Junior
Mark Penyacsek

Mark Penyacsek

184
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

141
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
Jacob Sieder

Jacob Sieder

285
6' 4"
Sophomore
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

157
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
174/184
Noah Blakley-Beanes

Noah Blakley-Beanes

5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
133
Dominic Ducharme

Dominic Ducharme

6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
184
Alejandro Hernandez

Alejandro Hernandez

5' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
125
Carlos Herrera

Carlos Herrera

5' 6"
Junior
141
Sean Nickell

Sean Nickell

5' 7"
Redshirt Junior
133
Mark Penyacsek

Mark Penyacsek

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
184
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
141
Jacob Sieder

Jacob Sieder

6' 4"
Sophomore
285
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
157
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