#10 MEN'S WRESTLING DOMINATES #11 SOUTHERN OREGON FOR 38-9 DUAL WIN
ATHERTON, Calif. – #10 Menlo College Men's Wrestling kicked-off the dual-heavy portion of its schedule on Friday night with an impressive 38-9 victory over the #11 Southern Oregon University Raiders. The Oaks used a pair of early wins and a clean sweep from 165 forward to earn the lopsided win. The win marks the third time in the last four meeting the Oaks have defeated the Raiders and the second time this year. Prior to the 2016 victory, the Oaks had lost 12 straight to SOU.
Menlo 125 pounder Mikel Perales picked up right where he left off after an impressive win at the Missouri Valley Open last weekend. In just his second official competition as an Oak, Perales made quick work of Trey Long, picking up and early take down and leading big heading into the second round. In that second round, he needed just an additional 43 second to notch the win via fall to put the Oaks up 6-0. Next up was #13 Ian Morken and he, too, put up an impressive performance. Morken scored his first points of the match with a take down as time expired in the first period and cruised from that point forward, tallying the 7-3 decision win to put the Oaks up 9-0.
At 141 pounds, Menlo's Devin Everk drew a tough matchup against #2 Devin Poppen. While Poppen appeared to be the favorite on paper, Everk came out of the gates guns blazing and nearly pinned the NAIA's #2 wrestler on two different occasions. He was unable to secure the pin and the match went on to the second round where Poppen eventually got the better of an exchange and pinned Everk at the 5:03 mark.
Menlo got back to its winning ways at 149 when #16 Terrill Sidner came out and dominated Cedar King to the tune of a 16-0 tech fall victory to swing momentum back in Menlo's favor. At 157, #4 Hunter Hodges and Menlo's Kevin James locked into a back and forth affair that was largely controlled by Hodges until a late push from James. That push fell just short as Hodges earned the 6-1 decision win to get his team back on the board with the score at 14-9. That would be as close as it got as Menlo absolutely dominated the heavier weight classes.
Jordan Bernal won a 10-7 decision to get things going then #2 Anthony Orozco produced a clinical win by fall over Cody Stahl in 6:37. #16 Bruce Valdez won at 184 by way of forfeit to bring up #18 Jovan Villalobos and Alejandro Sandoval. In a grueling match that went the distance, Villalobos edged Sandoval 3-1. At heavyweight, #3 Javier Gonzalez was up to his usual efforts and pinned Erik Schwark in the very first round, just 2:07 into the action. The pin was an exclamation mark on a dominant night on the mats with Menlo winning 38-9.
Menlo is now 4-0 in conference duals on the season with one more CCC dual next Friday at home against Simpson. The Oaks compete at the California Collegiate Open tomorrow in San Francisco then have two duals against Simpson and San Francisco State to wrap up the regular season. The first-ever CCC Championship tournament will take place at Southern Oregon on Feb. 17th.
#10 MENLO 38 , #11 SOUTHERN OREGON 9
125 – Mikel Perales p. Trey Long 4:23, 6-0
133 – #13 Ian Morken dec. Matt Peterson 7-3, 9-0
141 – #2 Devin Poppen p. Devin Everk 5:03, 9-6
149 –#16 Terrill Sidner tech fall Cedar King 16-0, 14-6
157 – #4 Hunter Hodges dec. Kevin James 6-1, 14-9
165 – Jordan Bernal dec. Micah Arakawa 10-7, 17-9
174 – #2 Anthony Orozco p. Cody Stahl 6:37 23-9
184 – #16 Bruce Valdez winner by forfeit 29-9
197 –#18 Jovan Villalobos dec. Alejandro Sandoval 3-1 32-9
285 –#3 Javier Gonzalez p. Erik Schwark 2:07, 38-9