California Baptist University
University of Northern Colorado
Leake, Kelly, Schmidt Claim Victories as CBU Battles Northern Colorado in Greely
1/24/2025 9:34:00 PM | Wrestling
GREELEY, CO--- The California Baptist University wrestling hit the road again on Friday evening as they traveled to Greely, Colorado, to take on the Northern Colorado Bears for a BIG 12 bout. The Bears came away with seven of the ten match wins and the 27-12 victory to defend their home mat.
The loss drops the Lancers to 5-6 on the season and 2-4 in BIG 12 competition. For the Bears, it was their first victory in BIG 12 action, and it moved them to 8-4 on the season.
The dual began at 125lbs with a two-time NCAA qualifier and 2023 BIG 12 Champion at 125lbs Stevo Poulin facing off against Mitchell Neiner for the Lancers. Poulin collected four early points for the Bears by earning the technical fall. In the next match, Hunter Leake would offset those bonus points from Northern Colorado with a technical fall of his own and a dominant showing over Mikai Alirez. Leake would surrender zero points in the bout and would round out his 16-0 victory with four nearfall points as the second period expired. The Bears would earn more bonus points at 141 lbs via one of the most dominant wrestlers in college wrestling in Andrew Alirez. Alirez was the 2023 National Champion at 141 lbs and is a three-time BIG 12 champion for the Bears. Alirez would collect another fall on his resume and put up six points for the home squad to bring the score to 11-5.
True freshman Paul Kelly would continue his impressive season with a 9-0 victory at 149lbs over Adam Busiello to get within two of the Bears on the team score. The Bears would collect seven points in the next two bouts to begin to distance themselves from the Lancers. Carter Schmidt would pull momentum back toward the Lancer's side at 174 lbs as he would pull off the exciting victory over Aydin Rix-McElhinney. Schmidt would collect a pair of clutch takedowns in the final few minutes to win the bout 8-6 and bring CBU within a manageable distance. The Bears would solidify their victory with wins in each of the final three matches via decision to round out the 27-12 win at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Results
CBU 12 Northern Colorado 27
125- #9 Stevo Poulin (NoCo) over Mitchell Neiner (CBU) via technical fall 18-3 (3:48)
133- Hunter Leake (CBU) over Mikai Alirez (NoCo) via technical gall 16-0 (5:00)
141- #2 Andrew Alirez (NoCo) pins Brady Hoshino (CBU) (Fall 0:31)
149- Paul Kelly (CBU) over Adam Busiello (NoCo) by major decision 9-0
157- #15 Vinny Zerban (NoCo) over Darren Green (CBU) by major decision 14-2
165- Clayton Ulrey (NoCo) over Daniel Manibog (CBU) by decision 4-2
174- Carter Schmidt (CBU) over Aydin Rix-McElhinney (NoCo) by decision 8-6
184- #28 AJ Heeg (NoCo) over #30 Nathan Haas (CBU) by decision 9-8
197- Andrew Donahue (NoCo) over Eli Sheeren (CBU) by decision 7-3
HWT- Jose Valdez (NoCo) over Tristan Kemp (CBU) by decision (SV-1 4-1)
NEXT: The Lancers will have a very short turnaround as they head to Laramie, Wyoming, for a dual against the Cowboys on Saturday, January 25, at 5 PM PT.
Players Mentioned
