Bakersfield, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield wrestling team makes its long-awaited return to dual meet competition this week, with a four match-road swing through the Midwestern United States. The Roadrunners will face #13 Iowa State on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific, in a contest scheduled in the wake of the canceled Northern Colorado dual, before participating in a quad meet at Central Michigan, that also features Campbell and American.
Bakersfield has not competed in a dual meet format since a Nov. 19 loss to Utah Valley in Riverside, Calif., 54 days prior to this week's contest in Ames, Iowa. In that time, CSUB has seen scheduled duals at Pac-12 rival Little Rock and at home against Northern Colorado canceled due to opponent's COVID-19 protocols.
The `Runners trail the all-time series with Iowa State (5-0-1) and American (2-1-0), and will compete against Campbell for the first time in school history. The head coaches of all four programs competed collegiately at Central Michigan, including CSUB bench boss Luke Smith, a 2008 graduate of CMU and former assistant Coach with the Chippewa. Smith was the 2004 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and a four-time NCAA Qualifier during his career in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
CSUB is 0-2 in dual meets this season.
UPCOMING…
Wednesday, Jan. 12 - at Iowa State (Ames, Iowa), 5:30 PM PT | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 16 – at Central Michigan (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), 8:00 AM PT | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 16 – vs. Campbell (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), 10:00 AM PT | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 16 – vs. American (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), 12:00 PM PT | Watch | Live Stats
FOLLOW THE `RUNNERS…
Stay connected with Roadrunner Wrestling on the road, and all season long by following the program on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
BAKERSFIELD'S PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP…
| WT |
NAME |
YEAR |
HOMETOWN (LAST SCHOOL) |
| 125 |
Eddie Flores |
rSO |
Covina, Calif. (Northview HS) |
| 133 |
Chance Rich |
rSO |
Valencia, Calif. (Valencia HS) |
| 141 |
Angelo Martinoni or |
rSO |
Orangevale, Calif. (Folsom HS) |
|
Louie Ramos |
JR |
Selma, Calif. (Fresno City College) |
| 149 |
Josh Brown |
rJR |
Anaheim, Calif. (Cerritos College) |
| 157 |
Brock Rogers |
rFR |
Corcoran, Calif. (Corcoran HS) |
| 165 |
Augustine Garcia |
JR |
Madera, Calif. (Fresno City College) |
| 174 |
Albert Urias |
rSO |
Bakersfield, Calif. (Ridgeview HS) |
| 184 |
Jacob Hansen |
JR |
Simi Valley, Calif. (Moorpark College) |
| 197 |
Josh Loomer |
rJR |
San Bernardino, Calif. (Cajon HS) |
| |
Mateo Morales |
FR |
Fresno, Calif. (Fresno State) |
| 285 |
Jacob Sieder |
rSR |
Torrance, Calif. (South) |
|
Jake Andrews |
FR |
Bakersfield, Calif. (Frontier HS) |
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION...
Iowa State enters the week ranked #13 in the National Wrestling Coaches' Association poll with a 4-1 dual meet record. The Cyclones have posted victories over Army, California Baptist, Northwest Kansas Technical College and #15 Purdue, while dropping a rivalry meet with top-ranked Iowa. ISU projects to send seven-ranked wrestlers to the mat against CSUB, including the top-ranked grappler at 157-pounds in David Carr (9-0).
Central Michigan is 2-2 overall with wins over Binghamton and Rider and losses to ranked foes Lehigh (#17) and Iowa (#1). The Chippewa are led by three ranked wrestlers, including a pair in the Top-5. Drew Hildebrand its 7-0 and ranked 5th at 125-pounds, while Matt Stencel is the #4 heavyweight with an identical 7-0 record. Dresden Simon is #11 at 141-pounds.
Campbell is 4-2, following a 47-3 drubbing of Bellarmine on Jan. 9. The Camels also boast victories over Montreat, Virginia and #16 Lehigh, with both losses coming against ranked opponents, #21 Oregon State and #14 North Carolina. At 149-pounds Josh Heil is a three-time Southern Conference wrestler of the week. Heil is a perfect 8-0, with a 4-0 mark in dual meets. Three additional Camels, Caleb Hopkins, Chris Korber and Austin Murphy, were all named to the SoCon Pre-Season Team.
American has limped to a 1-5 record under former Stanford Head Coach Jason Borrelli, with a win over Duke and losses to Sacred Heart, Virginia, George Mason, Rutgers and Hofstra. Freshman Max Leete leads the Eagles with a 13-4 record and a 3-0 dual mark.
ROADRUNNER NOTES...
* Redshirt sophomores Chance Rich (#17, 133) and Angelo Martinoni (#22, 141) remain ranked among the top-33 in their respective weight classes by InterMat. Thirty-three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Championships.
* Bakersfield spent much of the first semester wrestling shorthanded, but returns multiple reinforcements ahead of the season's second half. Redshirt Sophomore Chance Rich battled injury throughout the first half, seeing action just six times and posting a 5-1 record. CSUB also welcomes back 2020 Pac-12 Champion Josh Loomer at 197 pounds and heavyweight Jacob Sieder. Loomer is 4-4, including a sixth-place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions, since his return, while Sieder is expected to make his season debut on the upcoming road trip after posting a 4-3 mark, and a fourth-place finish at the Pac-12 Tournament, in 2020-21.
* Albert Urias advanced to the championship quarterfinals at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., before finishing the event with a 2-2 record. Urias' two wins give him 17 for the season and match his career high from the 2019-20 campaign. Urias finished that season 17-16, including a 4-6 dual record. The Bakersfield native is 17-7 this season and boasts a team-best 37 career victories.
* Josh Brown (18 wins), Albert Urias (17 wins) and Angelo Martinoni (15 wins) are all closing in on 20 wins for the season. The last Roadrunner to win 20 bouts in a year was 2020 Pac-12 Champion Russell Rohlfing who won 21 in 2020 and finished his career with 86 victories.
* Angelo Martinoni has won six straight dual meet bouts dating back to a February 8, 2020 match-up with Stanford's then third-ranked Real Woods.
* CSUB boasts five wins by fall in less than a minutes time. Angelo Martinoni and Josh Brown are tied for the team's fastest pin of the season in just 0:34.
* 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. Then senior Dominic Ducharme also participated in the event.
* 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.
* Eight of Bakersfield's 14 dual opponents are ranked in the top-25, or receiving votes, in the latest NWCA Coaches' Poll. Those eight programs include four Pac-12 rivals, with Arizona State (#6) and Cal Poly (#25), while and Oregon State sit just outside the poll. The Roadrunners dropped their season opener at #4 Michigan and will also face #13 Iowa State this Wednesday, before visiting foes Central Michigan (RV) and Campbell (RV) on Sunday, Jan. 16.
* 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.
NEXT UP...
The Roadrunners return to the Icardo Center on Sunday, Jan. 23, when they kick off Pac-12 competition against highly-ranked Arizona State at 2:00 p.m.
