By: Ryley Collom, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Digital Media
EDWARDSVILLE/RENO--- The California Baptist University wrestling team had a busy Sunday of wrestling, including a double dual in Edwardsville, Illinois, and six wrestlers competing unattached at the Reno Tournament of Champions.
CBU split the double dual in Edwardsville, losing to SIUE 20-15 and defeating Kent State by a score of 29-19. The win over Kent State was the third road dual victory for CBU on the season, bringing their total record to 3-4.
CBU vs. SIUE:
The Lancer's first dual of the afternoon came against Mid-American Conference foe the SIUE Cougars. The Lancers started the afternoon off hot with wins in the 125 and 133 lb weight classes to take the early 6-0 lead. Elijah Griffin and Hunter Leake were the winning wrestlers in those bouts, and neither allowed a single point for their opposition in 1-0 and 3-0 wins, respectively.
The Cougars would respond with three straight bout wins to take the team score lead 11-6. Mateo De La Pena ended the slide for the Lancers with a critical 4-2 decision victory, highlighted by a first-period takedown. In the 174lb match, Justin Phillips had an early lead but could not hang onto it and lost in overtime 9-6 to give the Cougars a 14-9 lead.
At 184 lbs, Nathan Haas registered a pair of takedowns to earn the largest match disparity for the Lancers in the dual at 8-3 in favor of Haas. Eli Sheeren made it back-to-back match wins for CBU after pulling off a walk-off takedown in overtime. The Cougars would win the heavyweight match via a forfeit after Chris Island was hurt in the previous dual.
SIUE 20 CBU 15
Location: Edwardsville, Illinois
125: Elijah Griffin (CBU) over Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) via decision 1-0
133: Hunter Leake (CBU) over Marcel Lopez (SIUE) via decision 3-0
141: Danny Martinez (SIUE) over Emilio Trujillo (CBU) via major decision 11-2
149: Caleb Tyus (SIUE) over Dayne Morton (CBU) via decision 5-1
157: Brady Woodcock (SIUE) over Chaz Hallmark (CBU) via major decision 12-3
165: Mateo De La Pena (CBU) over Bradley Gillum (SIUE) via decision 4-2
174: Dominic Lopez (SIUE) over Justin Phillips (CBU) via decision 9-6 (SV-1)
184: Nathan Haas (CBU) over Deron Pulliam (SIUE) via decision 8-3
197: Eli Sheeren (CBU) over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) via decision 4-1 (SV-1)
285: Bryson Buhk (SIUE) over CBU via forfeit
CBU vs. Kent State:
The Lancers won the back half of the double dual in Edwardsville by dominating the Kent State Golden Flashes 29-19. CBU won six of the eight matches played, conceding the other two due to medical forfeits.
Griffin got the party started for CBU by pinning his opponent in the first period. Griffin registered five takedowns in the match and only surrendered escape points. Leake gave CBU a 10-0 lead after securing a dominating major decision victory over his opponent.
Dayne Morton continued the impressive display for the Lancers and pinned his opponent for his first dual victory as a member of the Lancers. Morton recorded four takedowns in the match before submitting his opponent.
Justin Phillips and Nathan Haas earned back-to-back victories for CBU in the dual to wrap up the afternoon and give CBU the 29-19 win.
Griffin, Leake, and Haas went undefeated on the day and earned the Lancers 23 points in total on the day.
CBU 29 Kent State 19
Location: Edwardsville, Illinois
125: Elijah Griffin (CBU) over Adan Benavidez (Kent State) (Fall 2:16)
133: Hunter Leake (CBU) over Matt Ellis (Kent State) via major decision 14-2
141: Billy Meiszner (Kent State) over Emilio Trujillo (CBU) via major decision 17-5
149: Dayne Morton (CBU) over Kaden Setzer (Kent State) (Fall 2:45)
157: Chaz Hallmark (CBU) over Keegan Knapp (Kent State) (Fall 2:00)
165: Aaron Ferguson (Kent State) over Mateo De La Pena (CBU) (Injury 1:32)
174: Justin Phillips (CBU) over Mitchell Broskie (Kent State) via major decision 11-1
184: Nathan Haas (CBU) over Kyle Snider (Kent State) via decision 8-1
197: Blake Schaffer (Kent State) over Eli Sheeren (CBU) via decision 11-6
285: Josh Boggan (Kent State) over CBU via forfeit
RENO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS:
At the 2023 Reno Tournament of Champions, six Lancer wrestlers competed unattached. Kainoa Medina and Colton Silva were the top performers at the tournament, both reaching the round of 16. Medina registered a pin and a major decision before falling in the consolation bracket of eight. Silva earned a decision victory in the round of 32, but lost in the consolation round of 16.
Matthew Buck, Spencer Von Savoye, Yoshiya Funakoshi, and Timothy Cowan were the other CBU wrestlers who competed in Reno.
NEXT: The next action for the Lancers will be at the Midlands Invitational on Northwestern's campus on December 29 and 30.
