* Head Coach Luke Smith enters his first season as the full-time `Runner bench boss, after serving as the Interim Head Man during an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. Smith posted an 0-2 dual record last season, as Bakersfield managed to compete in just one tri-meet for the year.

* Albert Urias (174) returns for his third-year as a starter in the CSUB line-up. The Bakersfield, Calif., is 25-20 over one-plus seasons in Blue & Gold and has gotten the call in the `Runners last 12 dual meet competitions. His 25 career victories are tops on the CSUB roster.

* Twelve Roadrunner wrestlers placed in tournament competition on the opening weekend of the season, led by Josh Brown (2nd, 149), Albert Urias (3rd, 174) and Augustine Garcia (3rd, 165) at the Menlo Open in Atherton, Calif.

* Lost season-opening dual meet at #4 Michigan, 39-3 w/ Angelo Martinoni providing lone win.

* Chance Rich (133) and Angelo Martinoni (141) remain Bakersfield's lone ranked wrestlers, checking in at #13 and #20, respectively, on Intermat's Individual weight-class rankings.

* Seven of Bakersfield's 13 dual opponents are ranked in the top-25, or receiving votes, in the NWCA Coaches' Poll (11/15). Those six programs include four Pac-12 rivals, with Arizona State (#7) and Stanford (#23) among the top-25, while Cal Poly and Oregon State sit just outside the poll. The Roadrunners dropped their season opener at #4 Michigan and will also fave foes Central Michigan (RV) and Campbell (RV) this season.

* Junior Augustine Garcia (165) will face his third top-ranked opponent of the season against Utah Valley. Garcia is 3-2 on the season, with his two losses - both narrow decisions - coming against Stanford's Shane Griffith (#1) and Michigan's Cameron Amine (#11). He's slated to do battle with UVU's Demetrius Romero (#8) at California Baptist.

* Junior Albert Urias (174) is 5-2 on the young season and now boasts a team-high 25 career wins. His 5-1 effort at the Menlo Open earned him a first-place finish. Urias has placed 4th at the Pac-12 Championships each of the last two seasons, and is expected to draw either FR Hunter Morse or rFR Kekana Fouret against Utah Valley.

* Seven `Runners hail from Bakersfield, Calif., representing four different high schools in one of the top wrestling communities in the state of California and the Western United States. The city boasts a USA Wrestling Regional Training Center and hosts the CIF Championships each year at Mechanic's Bank Arena. Seven more CSUB scholar-athletes hail from seven different high schools in California's Central Valley. Fresno State's decision to discontinue wrestling leaves CSUB as the lone DI program in the Central Valley.

* Roadrunner wrestlers have won nine NCAA Division I National Championships, including a pair of national titles from Dan Cuestas and Stephen Neal. CSUB also boasts 30 Division II National Champions in its program history. 

* Four-time All-American selection Stephen Neal highlights the list of 45 NCAA Division I All-Americans at CSUB. Roadrunner grapplers have also captured 87 Division II All-American honors. 

* CSU Bakersfield has sent 17 wrestling alumni to either the Olympic Games or the World Championship freestyle competition. Only eight schools nationally have sent more athletes. That number does not include the `Runners 10 alternate selections and three coaching nods. John Azevedo and Joe Gonzalez were also chosen for the 1980 Olympic Team, but did not compete due to the US boycott of the Soviet games.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES...

For the second-straight week, CSU Bakersfield will battle the Wolverines, this time heading south to Riverside, Calif., for a neutral site dual with Utah Valley University.

UVU is 3-1 on the young season, with three victories over non-division one opponents, Doane, Northwest Kansas Tech., and North Idaho College. The Wolverines also fell in their Big 12 opener against Northern Colorado, 19-15.

Taylor Lamont (#6, 125) and Demitrius Romero (#8, 165) give Utah Valley a pair of returning All-Americans and three-time NCAA Qualifiers. Second-year freshman Haiden Drury offers a third-ranked grappler (#28, 133) for the Wolverines. Drury is a transfer from Fresno State and placed 6th at the Big 12 Tournament a year ago.

UVU is also scheduled to wrestle host California Baptist following their dual with CSUB, before making the trek north to Bakersfield for Sunday's Roadrunner Open.

NEXT UP...