California Baptist University
Menlo Open
Manning Up In Menlo
1/3/2015 7:38:00 PM | Wrestling
ATHERON, Calif. – California Baptist University was back in action, its first of 2015, Saturday at the Menlo Open after nearly a month off from competition.
With seven wrestlers and none of their regular dual starters in action, the 15th-ranked Lancers in NCAA Division II put together a fine showing and placed fifth out of nine teams with 77 points. CBU had four top-four finishers at the event at Menlo College, including a bracket winner, as Harlan Kistler won the 184-pound division with a perfect 4-0 run on three decisions and a pin. Kistler was named the tournament's most outstanding upper weight wrestler.
Bradley Christensen finished runner-up in 165 with a 2-1 record, while David Irish took third in the 197 bracket with a 3-1 record and Dakota Thayer finished 3-2 at 141 for fourth place.
Kistler pinned the University of Alberta's Makato Honda-Mcneil to open his day, two minutes, 22 seconds into his first match. He advanced to the semifinals with a comfortable 8-2 decision over Paul Bracamonte, but it was a dramatic finish from there. Kistler moved into the championship bout with a 3-2 win over Simpson's Marcus Zachary and then knocked off Menlo's Nick Karis by the same score, 3-2, to secure the title.
After a first-round bye, Christensen pinned Omar Benevides at the 2:07 mark and the shut out Southern Oregon's Luke O'Connor, 6-0. Christensen squared off with Eric Lopez of Menlo in the finals and finished second overall after dropping a hard-fought match, 17-5.
Irish pinned Fresno State's Adam Wong at the 2:04 mark to move into the championship semifinals and then dropped a 5-1 decision to Southern Oregon's Charles Johnson to drop to the consolation side of the bracket. He moved into the third-place match with an injury default and then pinned Southern Oregon's Bradley Hyatt at the 2:44 point to secure a bronze performance.
Thayer was dealt a tough blow and fell to York College's Alberto Jaramillo, 8-4, in his opener. He rebounded with three-straight wins. He defeated Christian Mac Brayne, 7-3, and then held off Trevor Hancock of Southern Oregon, 5-3, to earn a rematch with Jaramillo. Thayer had the last laugh with a 7-5 decision, but then fell to York's Josh Lopez, 4-0, in the third-place match.
Joshua Ho-Lopez and Daniel Urban also competed and went 2-2 for CBU in the 125 and 174-pound divisions, respectively. Bradley Beaudette also competed at 184 for the Lancers Saturday. Ho-Lopez advanced to the 125-pound semis, with a pin of Richard Thompson at the 6:20 mark and 5-4 decision over Southern Oregon's Coleman Johns, but lost his next two matches. Urban won his first two consolation matches – a 2:37 pin of Alberta's Hiddie Van Der Kamp and 8-4 decision on Simpson's Matt Tsarnas.
CBU has a big week coming up, as it opens its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season on Friday with a trip to Colorado Mesa, with its conference-opening dual starting at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Lancers face RMAC foes Western State Colorado and Colorado-State Pueblo, as well as nonconference, NCAA Division I opponents Grand Canyon and Air Force. Â
Full Brackets
Team Scores
Players Mentioned
