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Wrestling Looking Forward to Big Weekend

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield wrestling team is looking forward to a busy weekend against some difficult competition.  The Roadrunners will take on West Virginia and Utah Valley on Friday evening in Orem, Utah before flying home to take on in-state, conference rival Stanford on Sunday afternoon in the Icardo Center.  The Cardinal are currently ranked 22nd in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.  

"We have a tough weekend ahead of us," said CSUB Head Coach Manny Rivera.  "We're looking to bounce back after the loss against Northern Colorado.  We're really capable of having a really good weekend.  We just have to get back on the horse and figure it out."

Series History - West Virginia
This will be just the third meeting between the Roadrunners and the Mountaineers.  CSUB won the first meeting in 1999 and scored a narrow 19-18 victory two years ago in the Icardo Center.  Current Roadrunners, Russell Rohlfing, Jacob Thalin and Bryan Battisto were all victorious in CSUB's win, with Rohlfing earning a major decision at 141 pounds.  

Series History - Utah Valley
The Wolverines have beaten CSUB in the last two seasons, scoring a 21-17 win in 2017 and adding a 20-15 victory last year.  The Roadrunners' last dual victory over Utah Valley came in 2016, when they defeated the Wolverines 27-19 in the Icardo Center.  Overall, Utah Valley owns a 3-2 advantage in the five meetings.  

Last season, Sean Nickell was the only returner that was victorious against Utah Valley.  He shutout Durbin Lloren 8-0 to win the bout by major decision.  Bryan Battisto, Jacob Thalin and Dominic Ducharme all suffered narrow defeats, falling by a combined nine points. In 2016, it was Battisto and Russell Rohlfing winning their bouts against the Wolverines.

At 174 pounds, Kimball Bastian and Bryan Battisto have wrestled twice in their careers and could do so again on Friday.  Bastian defeated him 5-2 last season and 6-3 this year at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.  

Series History - Stanford
CSUB has dominated the all-time series with the Cardinal, leading 27-12 after 39 meetings.  Stanford has controlled the series as of late though, winning seven of the last nine duals.  The `Runners haven't defeated Stanford at home since the 2012-13 season when they won 24-13.  

In last season's dual between the two conference rivals, Dominic Ducharme and Russell Rohlfing scored victories at 184 and 141 pounds, respectively.  Two seasons ago, it was Rohlfing and Carlos Herrera that had their arms raised against the Cardinal.  

The 149 pound match could be intriguing if both Rohlfing and Requir van der Merwe go at it on Sunday.  At the Southern Scufflle, van der Merwe dominated the redshirt junior, winning by technical fall 16-0.

`Runners Maintain National Rankings 
Sean Nickell and Russell Rohlfing have maintained their national rankings for the second consecutive week.  Rohlfing is still ranked 16th in the country by The Open Mat and 18th by FloWrestling at 149 pounds, while Nickell is rated 20th by InterMat. 

Nickell has won seven of his last nine matches to enter Friday's tri-dual with Utah Valley and West Virginia with a 16-7 record overall.  The redshirt senior is 2-0 in Pac-12 duals and leads the team with 28 team points scored after posting a 7-2 record in dual action.  All seven of his losses this season have come against ranked opponents. Rohlfing is also hot, winning seven of his last 10 matches and sporting a dual record of 7-1.  For the year, he has 13 wins to just six losses.  The redshirt junior is also 2-0 in conference action and all but one of his losses are to opponents that have been ranked at some point this season. 

Nickell Cracks Top 40
Redshirt senior Sean Nickell has entered the top 40 in school history in wins after his 5-0 decision on Sunday against Northern Colorado.  Nickell has racked up 76 victories so far in his career, tying Tony DeSouza and Mike Mendoza for 38th in school history.  With three victories over the weekend, he could climb as high as 32nd with 79 wins.  The two-time NCAA qualifier is 16-7 so far this season, including five wins by major decision and three by technical fall.  As a redshirt sophomore he produced 23 victories and had 24 last year.   Redshirt junior Russell Rohlfing should be the next Roadrunner to crack the top 50.  In just two and a half seasons, he has registered 68 victories.  The last `Runner to enter the top 40 was Coleman Hammond last season. Hammond ended his career last season with 87 wins to place 26th all-time.  

Action in Orem will get under way at 2:00 p.m. PT when the Roadrunners take on West Virginia.  CSUB will follow by taking on the Wolverines at approximately 4:00 p.m.  Utah Valley was recently ranked 23rd in the country, but dropped out of the rankings last week.  Sunday's dual against the Cardinal will being at 2:00 p.m.  Below are probable lineups for all four squads.  

Probable Lineups
CSU Bakersfield (4-5, 1-1 Pac-12)
Wt. ^Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Eddie Flores Fr. 3-5
133 -/20/- Sean Nickell R-Sr. 16-7
141 Noah Blakley-Beanes R-Jr. 9-5
OR Carlos Herrera R-Jr. 7-12
149 18/-/16 Russell Rohlfing R-Jr. 13-6
157 Wyatt Gerl Jr. 6-11
OR Josh Annis R-Jr. 5-6
165 Jacob Thalin R-Jr. 10-10
174 Bryan Battisto R-Sr. 5-8
OR Reed South Sr. 11-5
184 Dominic Ducharme R-So. 8-7
197 Mark Penyacsek R-Jr. 8-10
285 Jarrod Snyder R-So. 8-7
OR Josh Loomer R-Fr. 0-1
^ Indicates rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/The Open Mat

West Virginia Mountaineers (2-11, 2-4 Big 12)
Wt. ^Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Joey Thomas R-Fr. 11-12
133 16/15/14 Matthew Schmidt R-So. 11-2
141 Caleb Rea Fr. 13-7
OR Luke Martin Fr. 8-9
149 -/16/20 Christian Monserrat R-Sr. 15-5
157 Zachary Moore R-Jr. 9-11
OR Hunter Jones R-So. 9-9
165 19/19/19 Nick Kiussis So. 16-5
174 James Wujek Fr. 1-9
184 Jackson Moomau Fr. 3-12
197 Noah Adams R-Fr. 10-10
285 Bradon Ngati Jr. 9-8
^ Indicates rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/The Open Mat

Utah Valley Wolverines (8-7, 0-1 Big 12)
Wt. ^Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Josh Jensen Sr. 7-11
133 Dylan Gregerson Fr. 4-3
OR Isaiah Delgado Fr. 6-8
141 9/12/11 Matt Findlay R-So. 13-1
149 Landon KNutzen R-So. 9-10
OR Cameron Haddock Fr. 10-5
157 Spencer Heywood R-Fr. 4-11
165 9/11/11 Demetrius Romero R-Jr. 18-2
OR Koy Wilkinson R-So. 11-4
174 13/13/14 Kimball Bastian R-Jr. 10-7
OR Kyle Snelling R-Fr. 3-4
184 Will Sumner R-Sr. 14-6
197 Ashton Seely R-Fr. 9-9
OR -/-/16 Tanner Orndorff R-Jr. 11-9
285 16/12/16 Tate Orndorff R-Fr. 16-4
OR Benjamin Andrew R-So. 10-5
^ Indicates rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/The Open Mat

Stanford Cardinal (5-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
Wt. ^Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Gabriel Townsell Jr. 12-6
133 Mason Pengilly R-Sr. 6-3
OR Anthony Le So. 5-6
141 Brandon Kier Jr. 1-1
149 15/15/15 Requir van der Merwe R-So. 15-6
157 Paul Fox R-Sr. 16-6
165 Dominick Mandarino So. 19-5
OR Jared Hill R-So. 8-7
174 Rico Stormer Gr. 14-7
184 Colbey Harlan Fr. 10-8
OR Austin Flores R-Jr. 5-4
197 8/9/7 Nathan Traxler R-So. 19-4
285 Haydn Maley R-Fr. 17-7
OR Trevor Rasmussen R-Jr. 8-5
^ Indicates rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/The Open Mat
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Players Mentioned

Coleman Hammond

Coleman Hammond

149
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Josh Annis

Josh Annis

157
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

174
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Noah Blakley-Beanes

Noah Blakley-Beanes

141
5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Dominic Ducharme

Dominic Ducharme

184
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Carlos Herrera

Carlos Herrera

141
5' 6"
Redshirt Junior
Josh Loomer

Josh Loomer

197
6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
Sean Nickell

Sean Nickell

133
5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Mark Penyacsek

Mark Penyacsek

197
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

141
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Coleman Hammond

Coleman Hammond

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
149
Josh Annis

Josh Annis

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
157
Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
174
Noah Blakley-Beanes

Noah Blakley-Beanes

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
141
Dominic Ducharme

Dominic Ducharme

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
184
Carlos Herrera

Carlos Herrera

5' 6"
Redshirt Junior
141
Josh Loomer

Josh Loomer

6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
197
Sean Nickell

Sean Nickell

5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
133
Mark Penyacsek

Mark Penyacsek

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
197
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
141
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