SAN FRANCISCO --- In its home opener, San Francisco State hosted No. 6-ranked Grand Canyon and Simpson University, walking away with a split on the day. The Gators came up short against the Antelopes, 27-16, but grabbed a 33-12 victory over the Red Hawks to go 1-1.

SF State now boasts a 7-6 dual record, standing at an even 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after the loss to the RMAC's leading sqaud GCU. Four grapplers remained undefeated for the Gators after the pair of duals, led by Vicente Aboytes at 157, who was the only Gator to grab a pin against the nationally-ranked 'Lopes--his third pin on the season. Isaiah Jimenez, Isaiah Hurtado and Naveed Bagheri also picked up two wins on the day.

To start the competition, Aboytes faced GCU's Ryan Miller at 157. Neither wrestler managed to sustain a point in the first period, but Aboytes picked up an escape and a two-point take down before finally pinning Miller at the 4:03 mark, giving the Gators a 6-0 lead.

Jimenez, who ranks seventh in the nation at 165, added another four points to the SF State total with a major decision win over Juan Carlos Maynes. Jimenez racked up seven takedowns over the span of the three periods, despite allowing Maynes to escape six times, to win the match 14-6.

Proving their one of the top teams in the nation and were not about to hand the dual over to the Gators, the 'Lopes took the next five matches, including two pins, to take a 24-10 lead over SF State. At 133, Hurtado stepped up to face Lino Estrada, resulting in a scoreless battle in the first period. Estrada grabbed three points in the second period, surrendering a two-point near fall to tgo ahead 3-2 heading into the last two-minute period. Determined to get some points for the Gators, Hurtado finished the match with an escape, another two-point near fall and a last-second takedown to win 8-4 by decision.

Down 24-13, SF State needed two pins from its last two wrestlers to snatch the dual away from GCU. Bagheri, who places third amongst the National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. II elite 141 wrestlers, came up short with a win by fall, instead taking a 5-1 decision win. Bagheri grabbed a takedown, an escape, a penalty point and a riding-time point to defeat Grand Canyon's Mike Hamel and put the score at 24-16 in favor of the 'Lopes.

In the last showdown of the dual, Bobby Ward kept Conrad Snell at bay to win by decision 6-2, ending the dual with a 27-16 final score to keep Grand Canyon's undefeated conference streak alive at 4-0.

Looking to bounce back from the loss against GCU, SF State took on Simpson in a rematch of an earlier 42-6 Gator win this year. Aboytes once again kicked off the dual, going head-to-head against Richie Ortiz at 157. Aboytes finished the match with three takedowns, a reversal, two penalty points and a riding time point to take the 11-4 decision victory. Jimenez followed with his second win of the day at 165, grabbing a 6-5 decision win over Brady Beamon off three takedowns to put the Gators up 6-0 on the scoreboard.

The Red Hawks cut SF State's lead in half with a 3-0 decision in the 174, but the Gators responded by winning the next two matches. Calvin Nicholls picked up a 6-2 decision over Christian White at 184 and Thomas Martin won by forfeit at 197.

Trailing 15-3, Simpson's heavyweight Austin Lobsinger stole a close 2-1 decision from Richard Segovia and Hayden Zimmerman picked up a forfeit win at 125 to put the Red Hawks only down by three points at 15-12.

While the score was close on paper, only one match remained as Simpson didn't have wrestlers for the 141 and 149 bouts, giving Bagheri and Snell six points a piece on forfeit wins. Hurtado added another six points after he pinned Chan Chao at 133, just 50 seconds into the contest. The win by fall, Hurtado's second pin this season, sealed the 33-12 victory for the Gators.

San Francisco State remains at home as it hosts California Baptist on Friday at 1 p.m., along with the California Collegiate Open tournament on Saturday.

Complete Results