Twenty-seven of the nation's top wrestling programs will send their starters to the Cliff Keen Invitational, including four of the six Pac-12 schools. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Stanford will join the Roadrunners in Las Vegas.

CSUB enters the weekend on a roll, after seeing nine student-athletes place at their home invitational a week ago. Bakersfield native, Albert Urias led the way with a championship at 174-pounds.

Urias is one of three redshirt sophomores with a chance to impact the national rankings with a strong showing in Vegas. He'll battle 15 ranked opponents in the 174-pound weight class.

#14 Chance Rich and #32 Angelo Martinoni will also face competitive fields of ranked foes. Martinoni enters the weekend with a 6-1 overall record, including a 2-0 dual meet performance, while Rich is set to make his 2021-22 season debut after advancing to the NCAA Round of 16 a year ago. 

THIS WEEK…

* Nine Bakersfield wrestlers captured placements at the annual Roadrunner Invitational, held Nov. 21 at the Icardo Center. Redshirt sophomore Albert Urias (174) led the way with a tournament title, while Eddie Flores (125), Angelo Martinoni (141) and Josh Brown (149) all finished second and Brock Rogers (157), Augustine Garcia (165) and Jacob Hansen (184) all placed third. Cade Lucio (149, 4th) and Braden Smelser (165, 6th) also placed at the event.

* Albert Urias (174), Augustine Garcia (165) and Josh Brown (149) each have a pair of top-three tournament finishes this season, after placing at the Menlo Open on Nov. 7 in addition to their performances at the Roadrunner Open.

* Redshirt sophomore Chance Rich (133) is expected to make his season debut at the Cliff Keen Invitational after missing the first three weeks of the season with a lower body injury. Rich currently ranks #14 in Intermat's National Rankings and boasts a 7-11 career record against ranked opponents, after finishing 6-4 versus ranked foes in 2020-21.

* Angelo Martinoni (141) dropped his first bout of the season in the championship round of the Roadrunner Invitational, falling to 6-1 on the year. He's the lone `Runner to post an undefeated dual record to date and enters the Cliff Keen Invitational ranked #32 in the Intermat rankings.

* Redshirt junior Josh Brown (149) won his first career dual meet bout with a 12-6 decision over Utah Valley's Alex Emmer in Riverside, Calif.

* The Roadrunners could see several familiar faces in Las Vegas, with seven teams on their 2021-22 schedule also participating in the prestigious invitational. Pac-12 rivals Cal Poly, Oregon State and Stanford will be in attendance, alongside non-conference foes, Michigan, Utah Valley, Northern Colorado and California Baptist.

* Bakersfield sent three wrestlers to the 2021 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., including returnees Chance Rich (133) and Angelo Martinoni (141), to extend its streak of sending at least one competitor to nationals to 47-consecutive seasons. Senior Dominic Ducharme (184) also qualified after winning the Pac-12 Tournament in the weight class.

* Chance Rich (133), Angelo Martinoni (141) and Josh Loomer (184, 2020) give CSUB three NCAA Qualifiers on its 29-man roster. Rich advanced to the round of 16 in 2021, while Martinoni finished with a record of 1-2 in his weight class. Loomer won the 184-pound, Pac-12 Championship in 2020, but did not compete at nationals due to the COVID-19 cancellation.

* 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.

* Decorated CSUB alum Stephen Neal is set to be inducted into the university's Alumni Hall of Fame in February of 2022. Neal was a four-time All-American and a two-time NCAA Champion as a heavyweight from 1996-99. He went on to win the 1999 World Championship, before winning three Super Bowl rings over 10 seasons as an offensive guard for the New England Patriots.

* Seven of Bakersfield's 13 dual opponents are ranked in the top-25, or receiving votes, in the NWCA Coaches' Poll, highlighting a challenging dual meet slate designed to test and develop the `Runners on the road to the Pac-12 & NCAA Championship Tournaments.

* 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.

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