Lancers Nearly Sweep on Senior Day

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – In its one and only chance of the season, California Baptist University wanted to impress its fans on Saturday, as the 14^th-ranked Lancers hosted Simon Fraser.

Four CBU wrestlers: Kurtis Becker, Bradley Christensen, Jacob Waste and Paul Head celebrated their Senior Day, as the Lancers won nine of 10 matches in a 40-3 win over the Clan in their last regular-season event of the year. CBU concludes the season with a 9-8 dual record headed into the NCAA Division II Super Region IV Tournament in Golden, Colo., Feb. 24-25. Simon Fraser ends its regular season with a 1-8 record.

"I could tell by the way the guys wrestled today, it was really key to be at home," Coach Lennie Zalesky said.

The Lancers will look to build on their runner-up finish at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships last week, as well as their No. 2 showing at the Super Regional last season. CBU can then move onto the NCAA Division II Championships March 10-11, where it took sixth in 2016.

"The team performed really well, we showed a lot of grittiness out there, finding ways to win no matter what," Waste said. "It's a good stepping stone in the last two weeks before regions. We know what we can work on and we did great today."

The Lancers won the first nine matches of the dual on Saturday, with five going for bonus-point victories, including three technical falls, a pin and major decision.

It was Armand Molina who secured the upset of the day for CBU. The redshirt freshman appeared in just his second match of the season and defeated Cruz Velasquez, the 10^th-ranked 133-pounder in all of Division II, on a 6-4 decision.

"Armand had only wrestled one match before today this season and beat a top-ranked guy," Zalesky said.

It started out close, but the Lancers' lightweights Mario Barrios (125) and Molina claimed decision victories of 9-3 and 6-4, respectively, to take a 6-0 lead. A forfeit win to CBU's Kyle Takahama at 141 put the Lancers up 12-0 three matches into the action.

Daxton Gordon started a wave of bonus-point wins with a major decision over Taber Spray, 15-5, at 149 pounds. Greg Gaxiola produced a technical fall over Tanner Spray, 19-1, at 157 to push CBU's lead to 21-0.

At 165, Christian Smith made a comeback impossible for the Clan when he posted a first-period pin on Cody Osborne to make it 27-0 in favor of CBU with four matches remaining.

Rankings wise, the seventh and eighth-ranked 174 pounders squared off in CBU's Nolan Kistler and Simon Fraser's Reid Watkins. Kistler made the gap between two appear much bigger with a 19-2 technical fall over Watkins.

Nick Fiegener, the third-ranked 184 in D-II, grabbed a 19-1 technical fall over Josh Kim. Waste, the top-ranked 197 in Division II, ensured his hand was raised on his Senior Day when he defeated Morgan Smith – the No. 5 197 in the Super Region – on an 8-2 decision to cap the scoring for the Lancers at 40 points.

RESULTS

No. 14 California Baptist University 40, RV Simon Fraser 3

125 – Mario Barrios (CBU) dec. Oscar Bulaqui (SFU), 9-3 –– CBU 3-0
133 – Armand Molina (CBU) dec. #10 Cruz Velasquez (SFU), 6-4 –– CBU 6-0
141 – Kyle Takahama (CBU) forfeit win –– CBU 12-0
149 – Daxton Gordon (CBU) major dec. Taber Spray (SFU), 15-5 –– CBU 16-0
157 – Greg Gaxiola (CBU) tech fall Tanner Spray (SFU), 19-1 –– CBU 21-0
165 – Christian Smith (CBU) pin Cody Osborne (SFU), first period –– CBU 27-0
174 – Nolan Kistler (CBU) tech fall Reid Watkins (SFU), 19-2 –– CBU 32-0
184 – #3 Nick Fiegener (CBU) tech. fall Josh Kim (SFU), 19-1 –– CBU 37-0
197 – #1 Jacob Waste (CBU) dec. Morgan Smith (SFU), 8-2 –– CBU 40-0
285 – Sean Molle (SFU) dec. Paul Head (CBU), 10-7 –– CBU 40-3

Schedule

Lancers Nearly Sweep on Senior Day

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Players Mentioned

Mario Barrios

Bradley Christensen

Nick Fiegener

Greg Gaxiola

Daxton Gordon

Paul Head

Nolan Kistler

Armand Molina

Christian Smith

Kyle Takahama

Jacob Waste

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