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David Dennis / All-Star Sports Photography

Wrestling Written by James Tsitakis-Cecil

CSUB Wrestling Attends Second Annual Chippewa Challenge

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Cal State Bakersfield wrestling team will go into this weekend with a great desire to get back on the winning path and regain a foothold on its record after three straight losses to ranked opponents. The next matchup is a particularly special circumstance: a one-day quad-meet featuring teams that currently have head coaches who were mentored by Central Michigan's coach Tom Borrelli. While the Chippewa Challenge is aptly named in honor of Borelli, the venue shifts between each of the schools involved, changing with each passing year. This year, the Roadrunners travel to North Carolina for Campbell's hosting of the meet, with the `Runners having every intention of defeating their foes and righting the ship to get back on track early in the season.

Upcoming Schedule
  • at Chippewa Challenge, Jan. 22
    • 8am vs Central Michigan
    • 10am at Campbell
    • 12pm vs American
 `Runner Notes
  • This will be the final early season non-conference meet before Bakersfield comes up against Pac12 opponents. There will be one last non-conference dual, but not until nearly the end of the season.
  • CSUB managed to jump out to an early 9-3 lead against No. 28 Air Force with key decisions from Chance Rich, Angelo Martinoni, and Josh Brown. However, the Falcons rallied to score 27 unanswered points, winning the bout 30-9.
  • This is the second year of the four-year Chippewa Challenge tradition. Last year, Central Michigan hosted the quad-meet, with CSUB winning one of its three duals that day, against American. Beating the Eagles gave Head Coach Luke Smith his very first dual victory.
  • Through the three duals, every wrestler on the team won at least once, with returners Josh Brown and Angelo Martinoni taking home two victories. Martinoni's projected opponents against Campbell and American are wrestlers who he defeated in last year's challenge.
Projected Matchups for 8am vs Central Michigan

 
Cal State Bakersfield
125: Eddie Flores or Richard Casto-Sandoval
133: No. 20 Chance Rich
141: No. 27 Angelo Martinoni
149: Josh Brown or Johnathon Viveros
157: Brock Rogers
165: Braden Smelser
174: Albert Urias
184: Jacob Hansen
197: Mateo Morales
285: Jake Andrews
 		 Central Michigan
125: Sean Spidle
133: Vince Perez
141: Jimmy Nugent or Ja'Kerion Merrit
149: Johnny Lovett or Mason Shrader
157: Corbyn Munson
165: Tracy Hubbard or Chandler Amaker
174: Alex Cramer or Spencer Steiner
184: Ben Cushman
197: Cameron Wood or Cade Dallwitz
285: Bryan Caves
 

















Projected Matchups for 10am at Campbell
 
Cal State Bakersfield
125: Eddie Flores or Richard Casto-Sandoval
133: No. 20 Chance Rich
141: No. 27 Angelo Martinoni
149: Josh Brown or Johnathon Viveros
157: Brock Rogers
165: Braden Smelser
174: Albert Urias
184: Jacob Hansen
197: Mateo Morales
285: Jake Andrews		 Campbell
125: No. 25 Anthony Molton or Zak Thompson
133: No. 29 Domenic Zaccone or Gabriel Hixenbaugh
141: No. 32 Shannon Hanna
149: Chris Rivera
157: Hagen Heistand
165: Brant Cracraft
174: Patrick Adams
184: No. 28 Caleb Hopkins
197: No. 29 Levi Hopkins
285: No. 13 Taye Ghadiali or Chad Nix



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Projected Matchups for 12pm vs American
 
Cal State Bakersfield
125: Eddie Flores or Richard Casto-Sandoval
133: No. 20 Chance Rich
141: No. 27 Angelo Martinoni
149: Josh Brown or Johnathon Viveros
157: Brock Rogers
165: Braden Smelser
174: Albert Urias
184: Jacob Hansen
197: Mateo Morales
285: Jake Andrews		 American
125: Maximilian Leete
133: Jack Maida or Raymond Lopez
141: Ethan Szerencsits or Elijah White
149: Devon Capato or Garrett Washington
157: Jack Nies or Patrick Ryan
165: Caleb Campos or Breon Phifer
174: Lucas White
184: Colin Shannon or Carsten Rawls
197: Connor Bourne or Liam Volk-Klos
285: Will Harrell or Isaac Righter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Scouting the Chippewas
  • Central Michigan (3-5, 2-1 MAC) is led by 32nd-year head coach Tom Borrelli.
  • One of the most decorated and renowned coaches in collegiate wrestling's history, Borrelli not only mentored all of the head coaches of his upcoming opponents at the Chippewa Challenge, but he also has led the Chippewas to 14 MAC regular season titles, including an incredible run of 11-straight 1st place MAC tournament finishes from 2002-2012.
  • While Central Michigan has, indeed, experienced a tough beginning to its season, the Chippewas have primarily lost to Power-5 conference schools, and have won their three most recent duals coming into the challenge. This bout against CSUB should be an interesting one for both sides, with the Chippewas out to prove something and the `Runners looking to win their first dual of the season.
Scouting the Fighting Camels
  • Campbell (8-7, 1-0 SOCON) is led by third-year head coach Scotti Sentes.
  • In a record-setting first two seasons, Sentes has led the Fighting Camels to two straight ranked seasons, with eight individual wrestlers in their conference championships last year alone.
  • With an extensive dual schedule already underway, Campbell has only dropped duals against either Power-5 schools or ranked opponents. Being ranked themselves, the Fighting Camels sport six ranked wrestlers in their projected lineup.
  • Losing to Campbell 30-9 in last year's challenge, Bakersfield returns just one winning wrestler from that matchup. Angelo Martinoni will come up against No. 32 Shannon Hanna, who Martinoni managed to pin last time.
Scouting the Eagles
  • American (4-7, 2-3 EIWA) is led by second-year head coach Jason Borrelli, son of CMU's Tom Borrelli.
  • The Eagles have easily experienced the toughest season of the three other teams at the meet, losing quite a few games to much weaker opponents than the ranked foes that CSUB, Central Michigan, and Campbell have come up against. American is currently on a 3-dual losing skid, including a shutout 48-0 loss to Columbia.
  • Although CSUB still cannot drop its guard against American, the Eagles are the only team at last year's challenge that the `Runners beat, 35-6. This marked coach Smith's first dual win in the program.
  • In last year's dual between CSUB and American, the Eagles' only points came via forfeit, while the `Runners were able to tally three tech falls and a pin.
How to Follow the `Runners
  • Bakersfield's dual against Campbell will be streamed live on ESPN+
  • Links to video, live results, tickets, and more are available at GoRunners.com/Live
CSUB Wrestling Tickets
  • Fans can purchase Season Tickets or Single-Game Tickets for CSUB home wrestling duals ahead of time at GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661-654-BLUE or 661-654-GOLD.
  • Tickets will also be available for purchase at the box office on the day of home events.
~GoRunners.com~
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Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Jake Andrews

285
6' 3"
Sophomore
Josh Brown

Josh Brown

149
5' 8"
Redshirt Senior
Eddie Flores

Eddie Flores

125
5' 5"
Redshirt Junior
Jacob Hansen

Jacob Hansen

184
6' 0"
Senior
Angelo Martinoni

Angelo Martinoni

141
5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Mateo Morales

Mateo Morales

197
6' 1"
Sophomore
Chance Rich

Chance Rich

133
5' 7"
Redshirt Junior
Brock Rogers

Brock Rogers

157
5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
Braden Smelser

Braden Smelser

165
6' 1"
Sophomore
Albert Urias

Albert Urias

174
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Johnathon Viveros

Johnathon Viveros

157
5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Jake Andrews

6' 3"
Sophomore
285
Josh Brown

Josh Brown

5' 8"
Redshirt Senior
149
Eddie Flores

Eddie Flores

5' 5"
Redshirt Junior
125
Jacob Hansen

Jacob Hansen

6' 0"
Senior
184
Angelo Martinoni

Angelo Martinoni

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
141
Mateo Morales

Mateo Morales

6' 1"
Sophomore
197
Chance Rich

Chance Rich

5' 7"
Redshirt Junior
133
Brock Rogers

Brock Rogers

5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
157
Braden Smelser

Braden Smelser

6' 1"
Sophomore
165
Albert Urias

Albert Urias

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
174
Johnathon Viveros

Johnathon Viveros

5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
157
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