Bakersfield, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield wrestling looks to carry their mid-season momentum into a road dual at California Baptist on Friday, Feb. 4 at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, Calif. The Roadrunners have wrestled to their identity in recent weeks, beginning with a win over American at the Chippewa Challenge and continuing through a hard-fought loss in the Pac-12 opener with Arizona State. CSUB will turn to its toughness once more against the in-state rival Lancers, who enter the weekend winless.
Chance Rich, ranked #16 at 133 lbs, is expected to return to the Roadrunner line-up this weekend. Rich has battled injury much of the season, but still boasts a 5-1 record and will be a welcome addition to the Bakersfield line-up down the stretch.
He's joined in the Intermat rankings by #26 Angelo Martinoni. Martinoni is 18-9 on the year, including a 5-2 record in dual meets, and trails only Josh Brown (149) for the most wins by a Roadrunner this season. Brown boasts 20 wins against just 12 losses.
The spring semester returns of Josh Loomer (197) and Jacob Sieder (285) and the emergence of Jacob Hansen at (184) have paid significant dividends for CSUB. Hansen, Loomer and Sieder have each won two of their last three bouts.
Bakersfield is 7-0 all-time against the Lancers.
THIS WEEK…
Friday, Feb. 4 - California Baptist (Riverside, Calif.), 7:00 PM PT | Watch | Live Stats | Notes
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BAKERSFIELD'S PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP…
| WT |
NAME |
YEAR |
HOMETOWN (LAST SCHOOL) |
| 125 |
Eddie Flores |
rSO |
Covina, Calif. (Northview HS) |
| 133 |
Chance Rich or |
rSO |
Valencia, Calif. (Valencia HS) |
|
Aaron Ibarra |
FR |
Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti 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...
California Baptist enters the weekend with an 0-7 record following five straight road losses, culminating in defeats at Air Force (32-11) and Northern Colorado (25-14). Hunter Leake (133), AJ Raya (157), Frank Almaguer (165) and Caden Gerlach (184) all won two matches on the roadtrip to lead the Lancers. Gerlach and Raya lead the club with 14 wins this season. Gerlach boasts five dual victories, while Raya and Almaguer each have three.
The Roadrunners are 7-0 all-time against CBU, including a 31-9 victory in the two team's last meeting at the Icardo Center in 2020. Chance Rich and Albert Urias each won bouts in the 2020 dual meet.
ROADRUNNER NOTES...
* Angelo Martinoni (141) has won three straight dual meet bouts, to improve to 5-2 in duals this season. Martinoni is 18-9 overall and ranks #26 in the country per Intermat's National Rankings.
* #16 Chance Rich (133) is expected to return to the CSUB line-up at California Baptist. Rich has competed in just six bouts this season, winning five.
* Jacob Hansen (184) has won three of his last four bouts, outscoring his opponents 31-6 in that span and posting a pair of shutout victories. Hansen's only loss in that stretch was a narrow 3-0 loss to Campbell's #25 Caleb Hopkins.
* Thrust back into the line-up to solidfy the heavyweight position, senior Jacob Sieder faced three-straight ranked opponents to start the season 0-3. The 285-pounder has bounced back in a big way since, with two consecutive wins over opponents from Campbell and Arizona State.
* Josh Brown (149) leads the `Runners with 20 individual victories, becoming the first 20-win CSUB wrestler since Russell Rohlfing in 2020. Albert Urias (174) and Angelo Martinoni (141) are one and two wins shy of joining the 20-win plateau.
* Head Coach Luke Smith picked up the first dual meet victory of his CSUB career against American at the Chippewa Challenge, on the very same mats he dominated as four-time All-American at Central Michigan. The Roadrunners dominated the Eagles, winning all nine contested bouts, dropping only a forfeit at 133 pounds.
* CSUB alumni Jon Azevedo, Joe Gonzales, Adam Cuestas and Dan Cuestas were all inducted into the Jim Koch Division II Hall of Fame on Feb. 1, 2022. The quartet combined for four Division II National Titles with the `Runners.
* Bakersfield has wrestled hard against a difficult schedule all season long. Most recently, CSUB fell late to #8 Arizona State, 26-15, including a forfeit at 133 pounds. The `Runners have faced four ranked opponents so far this season.
* 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 will close out the season with four conference matchups in their final five duals of the year, beginning with a Feb. 10 trip to Stanford. Bakersfield will close out a busy week with a pair of duals on Feb. 13 at Cal Poly, battling the host Mustangs and visiting Air Force.
