Grand Sweep
1/4/2014 10:44:00 PM | Wrestling
GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – For the second match in a row, California Baptist University took down another NCAA Division I opponent Saturday.
The Lancers, who are ranked 17th in Division II, enjoyed a clean sweep in their three matches at the Grand Canyon Duals, even while dropping a weight class. It was a busy day for CBU, as four other wrestlers took part in the Menlo Open at Menlo College.
CBU started its day in Arizona with an impressive 27-15 victory over Division I host Grand Canyon after having defeated Division I foe Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in its last match Dec. 16, 19-18. The Lancers then handily defeated MSU Moorhead, 32-12, and Simon Fraser, 38-10.
“We definitely have some confidence," head coach Lennie Zalesky said. "We were just the aggressors today and wrestled hard. We really did well; Grand Canyon is always a really tough, good team."
Six Lancers enjoyed perfect individual days, as Bryden Lazaro (125), Taylor Hall (133), Bradford Gerl (141), Brady Bersano (157), Alec Smith (165) and Caleb Gerl (184) each won all three matches. Hall won all of his bouts with pins, while Bersano enjoyed three major-decision victories.
Two-time winners for CBU included Kenneth Tribble, who had a technical fall and decision win, and Alex Anunciation, who posted a decision and forfeit victory.
No win was bigger Saturday than Lazaro's 6-2 decision over Simon Fraser's Skylor Davis, who is ranked at the top of his weight class in Division II, according to www.TheOpenMat.com. It was an upset win for Lazaro, who came into the day ranked seventh.
At Menlo, two Lancers placed in the top four of the tournament. Dakota Thayer enjoyed a team-best third-place finish at 141 pounds, while Zachary McKenna took fourth at 125.
“We had some really good wins from our young guys,” assistant coach Arsen Aleksanyan said. “The young group wrestled really hard, we had a lot of upset wins in the tournament.”
Thayer opened with a 6-4 win over Jaxson Ward of Southwestern Oregon Community College, and then dropped a one-point decision to San Francisco State's Alex Williams, 3-2.
Thayer went on to win all four of his consolation matches to secure a bronze effort in the bracket. He opened with a 10-4 victory over Southwestern Oregon Community's James Bowers and then picked up a 13-1 major decision and narrow 4-2 win over SF State's Dylan Furtado and Anthony Figureroa, respectively. He earned another major decision win over the Gators' Jerry De La Rosa, 11-4, in the third-place bout.
McKenna opened with a 5-1 win over Menlo College's Edgar Paez and then fell to SF State's Marc Collier, 9-6. McKenna bounced back with a 3-0 victory against Southwestern Oregon Community College's Chris Ungerecnt before having to withdraw from a rematch with Paez in the final period of the third-place bout with an injury.
Paul Miller and Miguel Gallegos both won a match at 141. Both defeated Joel Palabrica, as Miller enjoyed an 8-6 decision and Gallegos earned a 13-1 major.
CBU returns home Friday when it hosts Menlo for a non-conference dual at 7 p.m. before it opens Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Jan. 18 at the UNK Midwest Duals. The Lancers will face RMAC's Western State and Adams State to open the tournament.
