Bakersfield, CA- While most people are preparing to enjoy Thanksgiving break, Menlo Men's Wrestling made the trip down to Bakersfield, CA to participate in the highly competitive Roadrunner Open hosted by California State University, Bakersfield. The Oaks took to the mats against multiple NCAA Division I opponents such as Stanford University, Oregon State and California Baptist University. It was a solid showing by the Oaks with Jovan Garcia and Antonio Dacosta leading the way as the teams top finishers for the day!
Oak Placers:
Jovan Garcia (133) - 3rd Place
The 2023 NAIA All-American had a busy day having competed in five total matches on his way to securing a third place finish. In his first match Garcia defeated Cal State University Bakersfield's Romeo McNeal with a dominant, 18-3 score resulting in a tech fall. He would then go on to defeat California Baptist University's Yoshiya Funakoshi and Embry-Riddle's Allan Hendricks both by tech falls to earn a place in the third place match. With a spot on the podium on the line Garcia would face Santino Sanchez from Cal State University. It would be a tightly contested match with Garcia pulling out the win thanks to a 4-2 decision in his favor!
Antonio Dacosta (285) - 3rd Place
Antonio Dacosta entered the Roadrunner Open as the 8th ranked wrestler in the 285 weight class in the NAIA. He put together another strong outing across five matches to earn a third place finish while defeating a handful of Division I opponents. Dacosta got things going with a 6-1 decision over Eric Mittlestead. He then defeated Max Acciardi out of California Baptist University by a major decision followed by a victory over Cal Poly's Luke Meyer with a fall at the 1:53 mark. Lastly, he secured his third place finish with another win over California Baptist University by defeating Christopher Island with a fall at 2:16.
Other Placers:
Rysan Leong and Kanaipono Tapia took 5th place in the 165 and 157 weight classes respectively. Leong picked up wins over a pair of PAC-12 opponents from Oregon State giving the Oaks some momentum over a "Power 5" program. He first beat Isaiah Anderson by a major decision of 22-10. He also took down Cole Zoller via a 7-0 decision. Tapia also picked up a handful of victories with his second and third wins of the day coming via a 17-1 tech fall over Randall Lockwood of Vanguard University and a fall at 4:07 against Devyn Flores-Che from Cal State University Bakersfield.
Isaiah Morales went on to take 6th place in the 184 weight class but unfortunately had to withdraw from the 5th place match due to a medical forfeit. Regardless, the sophomore still got the day started with a fall at 1:22 against Cal State University Bakersfield's Jaden Sanchez.
Up Next…
The Oaks will enjoy some time off with Thanksgiving right around the corner before heading down to Costa Mesa, CA to take on both Vanguard University and Arizona Christian University on December 2nd!