Returning All-American Tanner Fischer Leads SOU
Southern Oregon Picked To Win Inaugural Men’s Wrestling Championship
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Southern Oregon University men’s wrestling program edged out the University of Providence by one point in the first ever Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) coaches poll in the newly sponsored sport.
SOU received four first place votes and a total of 58 points. The Raiders are coming off of a 5
th place finish at the 2017 NAIA National Championships in which four grapplers earned All-American honors including returners Hunter Hodges (157) and Tanner Fischer (197).
The University of Providence also received four first place votes and a total of 57 points to claim the second spot in the poll. The Argo’s placed 14
th at the 2017 NAIA National Championships with two All-Americans.
Menlo is picked third with 49 points followed by Montana State University-Northern (40) in fourth, Embry- Riddle Aeronautic University (32) in fifth, Eastern Oregon University (27) in sixth, Warner Pacific College (16) in seventh and Simpson University (9) in the final spot.
Sixty NAIA institutions will sponsor wrestling as a varsity program during the 2017-18 season. Although CCC wrestling is new, the schools participating have a rich history of success. Montana State Northern leads the way with 6 national titles (1991,1992,1998, 1999,2000, 2004) along with 4 runner-up finishes (1990,1993,2002,2016). Southern Oregon boasts 4 national titles (1978,1983,1994, 2001) and 6 runner-up finishes (1986,2009,2010,2012,2013,2015). Menlo (2004), Embry Riddle (2007) and Providence (2014) each have a runner-up trophy. The schools also have a combined 91 individual champions in various weight classes including; SOU (36), MSUN (32), ERAU (8), Menlo (7), UP (4), EOU (1) and WPC (1).
Southern Oregon will be the site of the first ever CCC Men's Wrestling Championships February 17, 2018. The 61st Annual NAIA National Championships will be held March 2-3 in De Moines, Iowa in 2018.
2017-18 CCC Men’s Wrestling Coaches' Preseason Poll
|
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
Southern Oregon (4) |
58 |
| 2. |
Providence (4) |
57 |
| 3. |
Menlo |
49 |
| 4. |
Montana Northern |
40 |
| 5. |
Embry-Riddle |
32 |
| 6. |
Eastern Oregon |
27 |
| 7. |
Warner Pacific |
16 |
| 8. |
Simpson |
9 |
The NAIA men’s wrestling preseason poll will be released October 18th.