RESULTS
ATHERTON, CA – Men's Wrestling opened their season with a home dual against nationally ranked #15 Indiana Tech. 6 Oaks won their match tonight to secure the Oaks victory by a score of 21-13. Familiar names like #1 Rysan Leong, #3 Jovan Garcia, and #7 Antonio Dacosta took the mats tonight alongside some new Oaks like Kanai Tapia and Devin Shimabukuro who are looking to grind their way into the NAIA rankings!
Vet's Defend Their Rankings
The Oaks fell behind early in the dual after an Indiana Tech win at the 125 weight class. Menlo picked themselves up starting with #3 Jovan Garcia who faced off #10 Elijah Antony. Garcia dominated the match to a major decision victory (16-4). At 141 was Mikey Torres for Menlo taking on Connor Kimborough for the Warriors. Mikey scored a comfortable enough lead to win by a 7-1 decision.
The dual score was 13-4 when it was #1 Rysan Leong's turn to take the mat for his first appearance after winning the NAIA National title. Leong took on #25 Jonathan Kervin who was able to push the match into sudden victory. There, Rysan showed patience and technique to tie Kervin's feet together for a 3-point takedown to win by decision, 7-4. Rysan competed hard to show off his #1 ranking status off to his home crowd!
The final seasoned vet from Menlo's starting lineup was #7 Antonio Dacosta who clinched tonight's victory for the Oaks. Dacosta had no easy match as he faced off #13 Braydon Erb. Antonio earned a 3-point takedown in the third round to make the score 5-1. The win by decision would be enough to take the dual, 21-13!
New Oaks on the Mat
Devin Shimakuburo went up against Chase Pluhar in his debut as an Oak and won by a 7-4 decision. Devin arrives to Menlo as a sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii after competing at Augsburg University for a year. The Oaks are looking forward to seeing him on the mats more this year.
The score was 10-4 when another new Oak, Kanai Tapia, was facing off #3 ranked Nate Wheeler in his first Menlo mat appearance. The match was tied 4-4 going into the third round when Kanai was able to earn one more takedown to secure the upset victory! After this performance Kanai is bound to be in the NAIA top 25 in no time.
Finally, after being ranked #17 at 174 before even competing in an NAIA match, Ledger Petracek was ready to prove his name. Petracek was up against Landon Buchanan who put up a strong fight. Ledger's sneaky takedown in the end would earn a win by decision, 7-2. All 3 new Oaks showed great energy on the mats and will be some names to look out for throught the upcoming season!
Up Next….
Menlo hosts the Menlo Open on Saturday, November 4th all day inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion. There will be 12 visiting schools including Junior Colleges, NAIA, and NCAA Division I & II competition!