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sean nickell
Larry Slater

Wrestling

Nickell Wins Pac-12 Title

TEMPE, Ariz. – For the third straight year, Sean Nickell is headed to the NCAA Championships.  The redshirt senior wrestler won the 133-pound weight class today at the Pac-12 Championships to secure the league's automatic berth by defeating Stanford's Mason Pengilly in the championship match.    

Nickell (24-8) won his second Pac-12 crown on Saturday and the 34th in CSUB's history.  The Bakersfield native also won the title in 2017 at 125 pounds.  With the victory, he becomes just the sixth wrestler in school history to win multiple Pac-12 titles.  He also becomes the first Roadrunner to qualify for three consecutive NCAA Championships since Coleman Hammond made three straight trips from 2016-18.  

"We are very proud of Sean," said CSUB Head Coach Manny Rivera.  "Not only did he claim another Pac-12 Championship, he made adjustments that will help him succeed at the NCAA Championships."

In the title match, the No. 16 Nickell scored a takedown with 11 seconds left in the first period to take a 2-0 lead.  He escaped to push the lead to 3-0 in the second and added a second takedown with 45 seconds left in the match.  Pengilly would bow out of the bout with 15 seconds remaining due to injury. 

Nickell reached the finals with a dominant 5-0 decision over Oregon State's Devan Turner.  Nickell produced the match's first takedown with eight seconds remaining in the first period.  The redshirt senior rode Turner for the entire second period and scored an escape and another takedown in the third to move into the finals. 

The Roadrunners finished fourth in the team standings and were boosted by runner-up finishes by Jacob Thalin and Bryan Battisto at 165 pounds and 174 pounds, respectively.  Thalin and Battisto ran into two of the nation's best in the finals.  Thalin lost to No. 4 Josh Shields and Battisto was defeated by reigning national champion Zahid Valencia, both of Arizona State. 

To reach the finals, Thalin squeaked by Oregon State's Aaron Olmos 3-2.  After a scoreless first period, the redshirt junior got on the board with an escape just seven seconds in the second frame.  Olmos knotted the score at 1-1 31 seconds into the third period, but Thalin clinched the match with a takedown with just 46 seconds left. 

In the semifinals, Battisto beat Stanford's Rico Stormer for the second time this season.  Battisto scored the first points of the match with a second period escape and led 1-0 entering the third period.  Starting neutral, Stormer took down Battisto to take a 2-1 lead, but the redshirt senior rallied with an escape and a takedown with 39 seconds remaining to retake a 4-2 lead he would not relinquish.  Stormer added a meaningless escape with just one second remaining to complete the scoring. 

Carlos Herrera, Russell Rohlfing and Dominic Ducharme all finished third for the `Runners.  The second-seeded Herrera was upset by Stanford's Brandon Kier in his first match of the morning, dropping a 3-2 decision to the third seed.  His two points came off a second period escape and a second stall call on Kier.  In the third-place match, Herrera avenged a loss to Arizona State's Cory Crooks with a 3-2 decision.  Crooks beat Herrera 9-1 three weeks ago on the same floor.  The redshirt junior had a takedown in the first period and escape in the third to earn the win.

Rohlfing's day began with a 10-5 defeat at the hands of No. 24 Joshua Marucia of Arizona State, but he rallied with an 8-1 decision over Oregon State's Josh Reyes.  Rohlfing led just 2-1 at the end of the second, but poured it on with an escape, a takedown, a two-point nearfall and a point for riding time in the final period. 

Both of the 184-pound Ducharme's bouts went into sudden victory.  Unfortunately, he was on the wrong end of a winning takedown against Stanford's Judah Duhm in the semifinals.  The redshirt sophomore battled back to beat the Sun Devils' Jacen Petersen in the third-place match by a takedown with just two ticks remaining on the clock.      

The Roadrunners couldn't have started the day much better after Eddie Flores scored his first bonus-point varsity victory with an 11-3 major decision over Cal Poly's Benny Martinez.  It was all Flores from the get go as the freshman led 4-1 after a pair of takedowns in the first period.  He added a reversal in the second and had a third takedown in the final period.  Flores finished in fourth after losses to No. 4 Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State and No. 25 Gabe Townsell of Stanford. 

Nickell will learn his fate in the bracket at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  The rest of the `Runners will wait for the announcement of the at-large spots on Tuesday afternoon to find out if they will join him on a flight to Pittsburgh, Pa., the site of the 2019 NCAA Championships. 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Coleman Hammond

Coleman Hammond

149
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

174
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
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
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

141
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

165
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Eddie Flores

Eddie Flores

125
5' 4"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Coleman Hammond

Coleman Hammond

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
149
Bryan Battisto

Bryan Battisto

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
174
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
Russell Rohlfing

Russell Rohlfing

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
141
Jacob Thalin

Jacob Thalin

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
165
Eddie Flores

Eddie Flores

5' 4"
Freshman
125
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