Photo by: Lauren Garcia
Four For Fighting
2/27/2015 10:52:00 PM | Wrestling
PUEBLO, Colo. – With the addition of four new teams to the 2015 NCAA Division II Super Region IV Championships, California Baptist University knew this year would present an entirely new challenge than 2014.
Even so, CBU has hopes to send four wrestlers onto the NCAA Division II Championships through day one of the West Region tournament Friday at Colorado State-Pueblo. Jacob Waste, the top seed in the 184-pound bracket, has already stamped his ticket to the national tournament by going 3-0 Friday.
Already assured a spot in St. Louis, Missouri, Waste will look to go in as a regional champion. He will have to face Western State Colorado's Kyle Piatt – the seventh-ranked wrestler in the division – for that honor Saturday evening.
Fellow freshmen Nolan Kistler (157) and Christian Smith (174) kept their seasons alive Friday by advancing to the consolation semifinals, along with 197 Paul Head. All three need just two more wins to assure themselves a top-four spot in the region and a trip to nationals.
The Lancers, who are now receiving votes in the Division II poll, sit in fifth place through day one with 47.5 points. Seventh-ranked Nebraska-Kearney leads the 14-team tournament with 113 points, while No. 10 Colorado Mesa is in second (92.5), #8 Western State Colorado is in third (90.5) and unranked San Francisco State is in fourth (53). CBU leads 11th-ranked Central Oklahoma and #17 Fort Hays State in the standings.
Waste looked the part of a top seed Friday, opening with a pin of Colorado State-Pueblo's Riley Argyle at the 4:25 mark and then skunking SF State's Josh Kim, 10-0, in the quarterfinals. He may have been tested by SFSU's Johnathon Costa in the semis, but he still shutout his opponent, 4-0, to move into the championship match of his bracket.
Christian Smith opened up big with a 9-2 win over Simon Fraser's Morgan Smith, and then moved into the semifinals with a narrow 8-6 win over Fort Hays State's Josh Rodriguez. Tied at 5-5 going into the third period, he won the match with an escape and takedown in the final two minutes. He was dropped into the consolation semifinals with a loss to Colorado Mesa's Randy Boerner.
Kistler was dealt a tough draw at 157, but still started his day with an 18-1 technical of Newman's Floranda Parker in the first round. It put him in a quarterfinal match with top-seeded James Martinez of Colorado Mesa, who was given all he could handle by the Lancer freshman before he fell 6-3. Kistler got right back to work with an 11-3 major decision of Western State Colorado's Shawn Beiriger and a 6-0 shutout over Colorado State-Pueblo's Steven Kelly.
After a first-round bye, Head pinned Colorado School of Mines' Paul Wilson 51 seconds into the second period. In the semifinals, Head was edged by Nebraska-Kearney's top-seeded Romero Colton, 6-2. He will wrestle in the consolation semifinal Saturday.
David Dill started his day with a 5-2 decision over Adam's State's Austin Andrade and moved into the consolation bracket with a loss to CSUP's Niko Bogojevic. Dill moved into the consolation quarterfinals with a pin of Chadron's Jake Weber less than a minute into the bout. His season ended with a loss to Simon Fraser's Sean Molle, however.
Matt Hickman dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to San Francisco State's Dylan Furtado in the first round, but came back and earned the Lancers a 16-7 major decision over Chadron's Jake Anderson in consolation action. He added a pin of host CSUP's Dillon Karajanis less than a minute into the second period, but had his season end in a loss to Central Oklahoma's Spencer Rutherford.
Alec Smith (165) fought hard before dropping a 5-0 decision to top-seeded Chris Watson of Central Oklahoma in his first match. He bounced back with a 2-0 win over CMU's Jessie Hoffschneider but saw his season ended in a dramatic 6-5 loss to Adam's State's Justin Samora.
Christian Betancourt (125) opened his day with a thrilling overtime victory over Fort Hays State's Lawson Ludwin. The junior took a 2-1 lead in the first period with a takedown, but a late escape from Ludwin tied things up at 2-2 to set up overtime.
The first overtime period was scoreless, which led to Betancourt choosing bottom for the second extra frame and notching a reversal to end the match, 4-2. Betancourt's season would come to a close, though, as he lost his next two matches. Zach McKenna (133) and Peter Cunningham (141) also saw their years come to an end with a pair of losses Friday.
FULL RESULTS
Even so, CBU has hopes to send four wrestlers onto the NCAA Division II Championships through day one of the West Region tournament Friday at Colorado State-Pueblo. Jacob Waste, the top seed in the 184-pound bracket, has already stamped his ticket to the national tournament by going 3-0 Friday.
Already assured a spot in St. Louis, Missouri, Waste will look to go in as a regional champion. He will have to face Western State Colorado's Kyle Piatt – the seventh-ranked wrestler in the division – for that honor Saturday evening.
Fellow freshmen Nolan Kistler (157) and Christian Smith (174) kept their seasons alive Friday by advancing to the consolation semifinals, along with 197 Paul Head. All three need just two more wins to assure themselves a top-four spot in the region and a trip to nationals.
The Lancers, who are now receiving votes in the Division II poll, sit in fifth place through day one with 47.5 points. Seventh-ranked Nebraska-Kearney leads the 14-team tournament with 113 points, while No. 10 Colorado Mesa is in second (92.5), #8 Western State Colorado is in third (90.5) and unranked San Francisco State is in fourth (53). CBU leads 11th-ranked Central Oklahoma and #17 Fort Hays State in the standings.
Waste looked the part of a top seed Friday, opening with a pin of Colorado State-Pueblo's Riley Argyle at the 4:25 mark and then skunking SF State's Josh Kim, 10-0, in the quarterfinals. He may have been tested by SFSU's Johnathon Costa in the semis, but he still shutout his opponent, 4-0, to move into the championship match of his bracket.
Christian Smith opened up big with a 9-2 win over Simon Fraser's Morgan Smith, and then moved into the semifinals with a narrow 8-6 win over Fort Hays State's Josh Rodriguez. Tied at 5-5 going into the third period, he won the match with an escape and takedown in the final two minutes. He was dropped into the consolation semifinals with a loss to Colorado Mesa's Randy Boerner.
Kistler was dealt a tough draw at 157, but still started his day with an 18-1 technical of Newman's Floranda Parker in the first round. It put him in a quarterfinal match with top-seeded James Martinez of Colorado Mesa, who was given all he could handle by the Lancer freshman before he fell 6-3. Kistler got right back to work with an 11-3 major decision of Western State Colorado's Shawn Beiriger and a 6-0 shutout over Colorado State-Pueblo's Steven Kelly.
After a first-round bye, Head pinned Colorado School of Mines' Paul Wilson 51 seconds into the second period. In the semifinals, Head was edged by Nebraska-Kearney's top-seeded Romero Colton, 6-2. He will wrestle in the consolation semifinal Saturday.
David Dill started his day with a 5-2 decision over Adam's State's Austin Andrade and moved into the consolation bracket with a loss to CSUP's Niko Bogojevic. Dill moved into the consolation quarterfinals with a pin of Chadron's Jake Weber less than a minute into the bout. His season ended with a loss to Simon Fraser's Sean Molle, however.
Matt Hickman dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to San Francisco State's Dylan Furtado in the first round, but came back and earned the Lancers a 16-7 major decision over Chadron's Jake Anderson in consolation action. He added a pin of host CSUP's Dillon Karajanis less than a minute into the second period, but had his season end in a loss to Central Oklahoma's Spencer Rutherford.
Alec Smith (165) fought hard before dropping a 5-0 decision to top-seeded Chris Watson of Central Oklahoma in his first match. He bounced back with a 2-0 win over CMU's Jessie Hoffschneider but saw his season ended in a dramatic 6-5 loss to Adam's State's Justin Samora.
Christian Betancourt (125) opened his day with a thrilling overtime victory over Fort Hays State's Lawson Ludwin. The junior took a 2-1 lead in the first period with a takedown, but a late escape from Ludwin tied things up at 2-2 to set up overtime.
The first overtime period was scoreless, which led to Betancourt choosing bottom for the second extra frame and notching a reversal to end the match, 4-2. Betancourt's season would come to a close, though, as he lost his next two matches. Zach McKenna (133) and Peter Cunningham (141) also saw their years come to an end with a pair of losses Friday.
FULL RESULTS
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