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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Mark Penyacsek
Larry Slater

Wrestling

CSUB Seeking California Sweep

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield wrestling team will be back in action on Saturday when the Roadrunners make the day trip to Riverside for a dual with California Baptist. 
 
Saturday will be the regular season finale for the Roadrunners and just the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Championships remain.  If they are victorious, the seven dual victories will be the most under three-year head coach Manny Rivera after CSUB won five times in 2017 and six times in 2018. 
 
CSUB has also beaten all five California schools on its 2018-19 schedule.  The Roadrunners will cement their claim as the top wrestling school in The Golden State with a win over the Lancers. 
 
Series History
The Roadrunners have never lost to the Lancers in the five meetings between the two programs.  In the last meeting between the two schools, which was on November 6, 2016, CSUB defeated California Batpist by a 29-12 score in the season opener.  The dual was also the first in head coach Manny Rivera's career with the Roadrunners.  Carlos Herrera picked up a 9-3 victory over Armond Molina at 133 pounds and Russell Rohlfing earned a 17-7 major decision over Anthony Racobaldo at 141.
 
Russell Rohlfing will be looking to exact some revenge on Daxton Gordon at 149 pounds on Saturday.  Gordon posted a 15-3 major decision over Rohlfing earlier this season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. 

Probable Lineups
 CSU Bakersfield (6-9, 2-2 Pac-12)
Wt. ^Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Eddie Flores Fr. 4-10
133 22/19/17 Sean Nickell R-Sr. 21-8
141 Noah Blakley-Beanes R-Jr. 9-5
OR Carlos Herrera R-Jr. 10-15
149 19/-/- Russell Rohlfing R-Jr. 15-10
OR Kalani Tonge R-So. 7-5
157 Wyatt Gerl Jr. 8-14
165 Jacob Thalin R-Jr. 12-14
174 Bryan Battisto R-Sr. 8-10
OR Reed South Sr.     11-5
184 29/-/- Dominic Ducharme R-So. 20-11
197 Mark Penyacsek R-Jr. 9-15
285 Jarrod Snyder R-So. 10-11
^ Indicates rankings by NCAA/FloWrestling/InterMat

California Baptist Lancers (2-4)
Wt. Rank Name Yr. Record
125 Antonio Saldate Fr. 3-6
133 Vincent Zavala R-So. 3-7
141 Adam Velasquez So. 0-0
149 Daxton Gordon R-Jr. 8-7
157 Jaron Pagduan Jr. 1-7
165 Jacob Cooper Jr. 0-3
174 Bryce Buckley Jr. 1-1
184 Garrett Strang R-So. 3-4
197 Ali'i Loyola R-Fr. 7-8
285 Zach Schrader R-So. 10-11

Going for the Sweep
With Saturday's victory over No. 25 Fresno State, CSUB completed the trifecta, sweeping all three of the state of California's Division I wrestling programs.  The Roadrunners tamed Cal Poly 24-11 on January 11 and scored a 20-13 upset over No. 22 Stanford on January 27. The Lancers are currently in their first year of a four-year transition into Division I athletics and with a victory, CSUB will have defeated all four California schools on the 2018-19 schedule.  To start the season, the Roadrunners knocked off Division II San Francisco State 34-3 and NAIA Life Pacific 38-6. 
 
Nickell Holding Strong in the Rankings
CSUB redshirt senior Sean Nickell is rated 17th by InterMat for the third consecutive week and held steady at 19th in the FloWrestling ratings.  Nickell is the only wrestler ranked in the top 20 by the various rankings outlets.  After last week's loss at Arizona State, Russell Rohlfing has dropped out of the FloWrestling Top 20.  
 
Three `Runners Ranked in Coaches' Poll
Sean Nickell, Russell Rohlfing and Dominic Ducharme all appeared in the second installment of the coaches' panel rankings.  Nickell is rated as the 22nd wrestler in the country at 133 pounds, while Rohlfing is the highest-rated among the trio at No. 19.  Dominic Ducharme snuck in at the back end of the rankings at No. 29 at the 184-pound weight class. 
 
The Roadrunners also boast some solid computer numbers as the initial RPI rankings were released.  Nickell was rated No. 10, with Ducharme checking in at No. 17.  Russell Rohlfing and Jacob Thalin were rated at No. 27 and Carlos Herrera was rated 32nd. 
 
New Pac-12 Rankings Released
FloWrestling's most recent conference rankings have the Roadrunners in some favorable positions as they begin to look toward the Pac-12 Championships at the beginning of March.  Sean Nickell was ranked first at 133 pounds for the second consecutive poll, while Dominic Ducharme also tops the 184 pound class.  Nickell, Ducharme and Jarrod Snyder have all gone 4-0 during the conference dual season. 
 
Despite going undefeated through the league, Snyder is rated second behind Oregon State's Amarveer Dhesi.  Dhesi is a former All-American and the two have yet to do battle this season.  Two of Snyder's four conference victories came in sudden victory and his other two victories came in the closing seconds.  For the `Runners to finish where they expect, Snyder will need to continue to wrestle at his peak. 
 
Jacob Thalin and Bryan Battisto were also ranked second in the poll.  Battisto is rated behind returning national champion Zahid Valencia at 174 pounds, while Thalin is rated behind the Sun Devils' Josh Shields, who is a consensus top-five wrestler in the country. 
 
Carlos Herrera, Russell Rohlfing and Mark Penyacsek were both ranked third in the league, while Eddie Flores and Wyatt Gerl were ranked fifth.      
 
Nickell Continues Rise Up Career Charts
Redshirt senior Sean Nickell's 80th victory had to have been extra special for the Bakersfield native.  Not only did Nickell's victory over Fresno State's Gary Joint helped preserve a CSUB victory over the Bulldogs, but it tied him with his high school coach Andy Varner for 31st on the school's all-time wins list.  The redshirt senior won over Josiah Kline in Tempe last weekend and has his sights set on Adam Fiero next, who racked up 82 career wins.  The two-time NCAA qualifer leads the team with 21 victories this year and is an impressive 12-3 in duals. 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

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
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
Jarrod Snyder

Jarrod Snyder

285
6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
Reed South

Reed South

174
5' 11"
Senior
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

165
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

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
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
Jarrod Snyder

Jarrod Snyder

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
285
Reed South

Reed South

5' 11"
Senior
174
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
165
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