Saturday, November 4
Riverside, Calif.
12:30 PM
California Baptist University
28
vs
12
Embry-Riddle
Photo by: Andrew Shortall
Dominating the Mounties and Eagles
11/4/2017 7:51:00 PM | Wrestling
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — No. 3-ranked California Baptist University opened the new 2017-18 season with two solid wins Saturday, defeating Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 28-12 and Mt. San Antonio College 37-9.
The Lancers start the year with a 2-0 dual record, while ERAU – the No. 8 team in NAIA – begins 1-1 and Mt. SAC opens at 0-2.
"It feels good," said Coach Lennie Zalesky on the two wins. "I was looking to see how the guys wrestled and different little things. I think we had mostly good things, but there's some things in there we definitely need to work on, especially before next weekend. It's always good to get a couple matches underneath your belt and get the singlet on, get a few takedowns and score a little bit to gain a little confidence since we wrestle pretty tough competition from here on out."
After starting both duals down 9-0, CBU quickly turned things around to beat both teams.
Peter Cunningham grabbed a major decision over the Eagles' Cameron Huizar, 18-4, and then beat Mt. SAC's Joseph Dominguez 6-2 at 141. Against Huizar, Cunningham grabbed six two-point takedowns and was close to pinning the Eagle in a four-point nearfall.
It was closer in the bout with Dominguez, with both grapplers grabbing escapes. Cunningham then came alive, taking down his opponent and picking up a two-point nearfall, before riding time sealed the 6-2 victory.
Andrew Schulte made his debut for the Lancers at 149 and grabbed two big victories, despite weighing in closer to 141. Schulte opened with a 16-4 major decision over ERAU's David Salazar and followed with a two minute, 42 second pin of Manuel Salcedo from Mt. SAC.
"It feels really good to have that comradery of winning with your teammates," said Schulte. "I feel humbled and honored to be a part of this program. I was able to be as aggressive as I wanted to be, which is something I wasn't able to do last week [in our intrasquad scrimmage]."
"Andrew did a really good job, he looked good," said Zalesky.
Slater Johnson (157 pounds) also grabbed a pin on the day, putting ERAU's shoulders to the mat with 52 seconds left in the first period. He followed with an 8-2 decision over Mountie Joseph Valdez. Johnson had two takedowns and a two-point nearfall in the win.
Fifth-ranked Christian Smith picked up a major over Mt. SAC's Apollo Santos, 14-3, after a decision victory over Taylor Owens from Embry-Riddle, 10-3. In Smith's major decision, it looked like the 165-pounder might pin the Mountie, but Santos was barely able to keep his shoulders off the mat to only give up a four-point nearfall. Over three minutes of riding time gave Smith the 14-3 victory.
Nolan Kistler didn't give up a single point in his major decision over Embry-Riddle's Kody Davis, 13-0. The top-ranked wrestler in NCAA Division II at 174 opened the bout up with a takedown less than 15 seconds into the bout and chose bottom to start the second period. He quickly reversed the hold and then followed with a nearfall to take a commanding 8-0 lead. He sealed the deal with another takedown in the third, before riding time was added onto his score.
Kistler followed with a 9-1 victory over Hector Vargas from Mt. SAC, scoring over two and a half minutes of riding time.
Nick Fiegener, who also ranks No. 1 in his weight class, dominated his competition at 184. In his first bout, Fiegener didn't allow a point to ERAU's Payton Mair, winning the matchup 8-0 with over five minutes of riding time.
"It's always fun to wrestle at home, especially when you win," said Fiegener. "I performed pretty well, but I was a little disappointed. I would have preferred to get two techs or two pins, but I try to push myself for the big wins."
The redshirt junior followed with a tech fall in 6:33. Fiegener started with a takedown just five seconds into the bout and nearly pinned Luis Melecio of Mt. SAC, with Melecio barely keeping a gap between his shoulder blades and the mat. It was one of three four-point nearfalls Fiegener accumulated during the bout, resulting in the 18-3 technical fall victory.
Heavyweight Zach Schrader capped the day for the Lancers in both duals with two wins on the day. He grabbed a 6-3 victory over ERAU's TJ Hall and battled it out with Mt. SAC's Joshua Sapien. In the nightcap against Sapien, it was close all the way to the end, but Schrader put the bout to an end for good with 24 seconds left in the third, pinning Sapien's shoulders to the ground (6:36).
CBU looks to build on the two team wins as it heads to Stanford next week for a tough competition against the No. 21 team in NCAA Division I.
"Today was definitely a confidence booster," said Fiegener. "We're going into Stanford next week so it'll be nice to carry some momentum into a pretty tough Division I team."
The Lancers start the year with a 2-0 dual record, while ERAU – the No. 8 team in NAIA – begins 1-1 and Mt. SAC opens at 0-2.
"It feels good," said Coach Lennie Zalesky on the two wins. "I was looking to see how the guys wrestled and different little things. I think we had mostly good things, but there's some things in there we definitely need to work on, especially before next weekend. It's always good to get a couple matches underneath your belt and get the singlet on, get a few takedowns and score a little bit to gain a little confidence since we wrestle pretty tough competition from here on out."
After starting both duals down 9-0, CBU quickly turned things around to beat both teams.
Peter Cunningham grabbed a major decision over the Eagles' Cameron Huizar, 18-4, and then beat Mt. SAC's Joseph Dominguez 6-2 at 141. Against Huizar, Cunningham grabbed six two-point takedowns and was close to pinning the Eagle in a four-point nearfall.
It was closer in the bout with Dominguez, with both grapplers grabbing escapes. Cunningham then came alive, taking down his opponent and picking up a two-point nearfall, before riding time sealed the 6-2 victory.
Andrew Schulte made his debut for the Lancers at 149 and grabbed two big victories, despite weighing in closer to 141. Schulte opened with a 16-4 major decision over ERAU's David Salazar and followed with a two minute, 42 second pin of Manuel Salcedo from Mt. SAC.
"It feels really good to have that comradery of winning with your teammates," said Schulte. "I feel humbled and honored to be a part of this program. I was able to be as aggressive as I wanted to be, which is something I wasn't able to do last week [in our intrasquad scrimmage]."
"Andrew did a really good job, he looked good," said Zalesky.
Slater Johnson (157 pounds) also grabbed a pin on the day, putting ERAU's shoulders to the mat with 52 seconds left in the first period. He followed with an 8-2 decision over Mountie Joseph Valdez. Johnson had two takedowns and a two-point nearfall in the win.
Fifth-ranked Christian Smith picked up a major over Mt. SAC's Apollo Santos, 14-3, after a decision victory over Taylor Owens from Embry-Riddle, 10-3. In Smith's major decision, it looked like the 165-pounder might pin the Mountie, but Santos was barely able to keep his shoulders off the mat to only give up a four-point nearfall. Over three minutes of riding time gave Smith the 14-3 victory.
Nolan Kistler didn't give up a single point in his major decision over Embry-Riddle's Kody Davis, 13-0. The top-ranked wrestler in NCAA Division II at 174 opened the bout up with a takedown less than 15 seconds into the bout and chose bottom to start the second period. He quickly reversed the hold and then followed with a nearfall to take a commanding 8-0 lead. He sealed the deal with another takedown in the third, before riding time was added onto his score.
Kistler followed with a 9-1 victory over Hector Vargas from Mt. SAC, scoring over two and a half minutes of riding time.
Nick Fiegener, who also ranks No. 1 in his weight class, dominated his competition at 184. In his first bout, Fiegener didn't allow a point to ERAU's Payton Mair, winning the matchup 8-0 with over five minutes of riding time.
"It's always fun to wrestle at home, especially when you win," said Fiegener. "I performed pretty well, but I was a little disappointed. I would have preferred to get two techs or two pins, but I try to push myself for the big wins."
The redshirt junior followed with a tech fall in 6:33. Fiegener started with a takedown just five seconds into the bout and nearly pinned Luis Melecio of Mt. SAC, with Melecio barely keeping a gap between his shoulder blades and the mat. It was one of three four-point nearfalls Fiegener accumulated during the bout, resulting in the 18-3 technical fall victory.
Heavyweight Zach Schrader capped the day for the Lancers in both duals with two wins on the day. He grabbed a 6-3 victory over ERAU's TJ Hall and battled it out with Mt. SAC's Joshua Sapien. In the nightcap against Sapien, it was close all the way to the end, but Schrader put the bout to an end for good with 24 seconds left in the third, pinning Sapien's shoulders to the ground (6:36).
CBU looks to build on the two team wins as it heads to Stanford next week for a tough competition against the No. 21 team in NCAA Division I.
"Today was definitely a confidence booster," said Fiegener. "We're going into Stanford next week so it'll be nice to carry some momentum into a pretty tough Division I team."
Players Mentioned
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/ Wrestling/ Wrestling
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/ Wrestling157/165
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285
/ Wrestling/ Wrestling
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