• Cal State Bakersfield traveled to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 26 to face off against American, Campbell, and Central Michigan.
  • The 4th Annual Chippewa Challenge features three head coaches who all came from the Central Michigan coaching tree, including Cal State Bakersfield's Luke Smith.
• CSUB has returned to national recognition with four `Runners recently recognized by FloWrestling in the national rankings at some point this season: Richard Castro-Sandoval (125), Gerrit Nijenhuis (174), AJ Ferrari (197), and Jake Andrews (32).
• The Open Mat ranked Cal State Bakersfield #24 as a team coming into this weekend while InterMat had the Roadrunners at #26 and FloWrestling voted #25. 
• Former NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari is ranked the #13 Pound-for-Pound wrestler in the country by FloWrestling, which also ranks him #3 in the 197-pound weight class. InterMat and The Open Mat agree on the #3 ranking.
  • Ferrari is a perfect 12-0 on the season and has won 32-straight collegiate matches.
• Bakersfield native Jake Andrews is now 16-2 on the season. The `Runner heavyweight won the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honor on Nov. 26 and he is nationally ranked as high as #20 (The Open Mat).
• Redshirt senior Brock Rogers returned to action for the first time since an injury on opening weekend, posting a strong set of results in his return. Rogers is Bakersfield's active leader in career matches competed (91).

CSUB at Chippewa Challenge

• A year ago at the Chippewa Challenge, the `Runners went 0-3 and were outscored 115-14 as a team on their home mat.
  • Bakersfield showed notable improvement here in 2025 with a 2-1 record, falling just one point shy of an undefeated performance.
• CSUB (5-8) picked up a win in the first dual of the day, downing host American (7-6) 28-9 while winning the final five bouts.
• Trailing Campbell (7-7) 15-3, Bakersfield won four of the final five bouts but eventually fell 18-17.
• In the final match of the day, Central Michigan (4-8) led CSUB 20-10 with three bouts remaining, but Bakersfield's three big men took care of business, tying the score at 20-20. Bakersfield won the tiebreaker thanks to taking 6 of 10 bouts and finished with a 21-20 victory.
• Four `Runners went undefeated on the day with 3-0 records:
  • Guillermo Escobedo (165) tallied two decisions as well as a major.
  • Gerrit Nijenhuis (184) earned wins against two ranked foes, including a tech fall against #23 Caleb Campos (American).
  • #3 AJ Ferrari (197) posted a ranked win over #31 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) with two majors and a tech fall on Sunday.
  • #20 Jake Andrews (HWT) also earned a pair of ranked wins, including a sudden victory win against the #31 Bryan Caves (Central Michigan).
• Richard Castro-Sandoval (125) and Brock Rogers (149) went 2-1 on the day.
• Coen Quintana (174) went 1-1 his season debut representing the `Runners.
• The `Runners will begin February on the road for their first Pac-12 dual of the season, Feb. 2 at Oregon State, before returning home to host four events in a busy month.
• Join the `Runners for their next home duals. Get your tickets now at GoRunners.com/Tickets
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• The Roadrunners earned their second road win of the year at Fullerton
• Jemel Jones continues to thrive in the Roadrunner offense, improving his point per game average to 18.4
• CJ Hardy finishes the week with two double figure games, his first time since the beginning of this month versus UC Davis and Long Beach State
• Bakersfield is averaging 74.8 points per game as a team, their highest total since the 2015-16 season where they averaged 72.0 points per game

CSUB 71, CSUF 68

• The Roadrunners earned their second road victory of the season
  • First road win at Fullerton since joining the Big West, as well as since 2019
• Bakersfield was led by CJ Hardy (19) and Jemel Jones (22)
  • Jones finished with five rebounds, five assists, and a steal in addition to his 22 points
  • Hardy went 8-12 from the free throw line with five rebounds and three assists
• Bakersfield was down early 10-2 at the start of the game, the Roadrunners were able to go on a 21-8 run to put them ahead in the final minutes of the first half
• CSUB outrebounded Fullerton 43-35, helping the `Runners to 17 second chance points

CSUB 79, UCR 83

• Bakersfield dropped just their second home game of the 2024-25 season in a close loss to the Highlanders
• Three Roadrunners finished in double digits Jemel Jones (20), Corey Stephenson (17), and CJ Hardy (15)
• Riverside outrebounded Bakersfield 32-27 and scored 30 of their 83 points in the paint
• Barrington Hargress led the Highlanders with 22 points on 7-10 shooting

• The Cal State women’s basketball team wrapped up another week of conference play, ranking 4th in blocked shots and 5th in defensive rebounds per game in the Big West. Ary Dizon remains a standout, ranking 14th nationally and 1st in the Big West in both blocked shots (44) and blocks per game (2.32).

CSUB 58, Cal State Fullerton 63

• Ary Dizon posted a season-high 22 points against the Titans, adding three more blocks to her tally.
• After trailing by just one point at halftime, Bakersfield fought hard in the third quarter, outscoring Fullerton 14-9 to take the lead heading into the final frame.
• However, Bakersfield couldn't hold onto the advantage. Seven turnovers in the fourth quarter allowed Fullerton’s defense to stifle the ‘Runners, as they scored 22 points to steal the game.

CSUB 48, UC Riverside 60

• Bakersfield dominated defensively in the first quarter, limiting UC Riverside to just five points. The ‘Runners led at the half, 26-22.
• Riverside bounced back in the third, outscoring Bakersfield by 16 points, and Bakersfield couldn’t recover in the fourth.
• Trinity Slocum led Bakersfield with 11 points, one block, and four rebounds, continuing her strong comeback effort.