SAN FRANCISCO – The SF State Gators' wrestling will return to the mat this week with a pair of duals against Simpson University and Cal Poly. SF State will travel to Redding, Calif., for a 6pm starting non-conference dual this Thursday, Nov. 21. Then this Sunday at 1pm, the Gators will host the Cal Poly Mustangs at The Swamp.
These will be the Gators' first duals of the 2013-14 regular season. Last year, SF State finished their dual season with an 8-8 record including a 2-2 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
SF State is coming off back to back successful weekends at the Mike Clock Open and the Roadrunner Open.
On November 17 at the Mike Clock Open, the Gators placed seven wrestlers in the top 6 in their weight class this past Sunday in Forest Grove, Ore., led by Dylan Phillipy who finished in second place at 141. SF State also had two wrestlers that finished in third place at 133 and 149 in Isaiah Hurtado and Conrad Snell respectively. Hurtado went 6-1 including defeating Jake Hathaway (Oregon State) by a 5-4 decision in the third place match. Snell also went 6-1 and won his third place match by defeating Oregon State's Jared Reis by a 7-5 decision.
Three Gators finished in fourth place in Jordan Gurrola (125), Tavis Ino (157) and Andrew Reggi (197) while Anthony Figueroa (133) placed fifth. This was Gurrola and Ino's second top four finish as Gurrola finished in second and Ino placed fourth at the U21 Junior College/College Open on November 3 at SF State.
Then this past weekend, two Gator grapplers placed in the top four in their weight class in Andrew Reggi (197) and Daniel Flores (141). Reggi (7-3) was second as he 3-1 including two wins over wrestlers from Division I institutions. He lost in the finals to the 8th ranked wrestler in Division I in Maryland's Christian Boley. Flores placed fourth as he opened up the season 6-2. Of his six wins, three were against Division I competition.
SF State also had three wrestlers that finished their day on Sunday going 3-2 in Vicente Aboytes (165), Isaiah Hurtado (133) and Zach Jimenez (184). Aboytes is now 5-4 while Hurtado is 9-3 and Jimenez is 7-4.
The Gators' opponent on Thursday will be the Simpson Red Hawks. The Red Hawks are coming off a weekend which they had nine wrestlers placing at the Southern Oregon Open in Ashland, Ore. Junior AJ Valles captured the title at 133 as did Austin Lobsinger at 285.
SF State swept the season series from Simpson last year winning 42-6 on the road and 33-12 at home. The Gators will face the Red Hawks on January 11 at 1pm in San Francisco.
Cal Poly won its dual opener 25-6 at Bakersfield on November 7. Posting wins for the Mustangs were Schrabe Movahedi (165), Dominic Kasti (174), Sean Dougherty (184), Spencer Empey (285), Britain Longmire (125), Colt Shorts (141), Blake Kasti (149) and Maxamillian Schneider (157).
At this past weekend's Roadrunner Open, Schneider captured the open title at 157 as he improved to 6-0 on the season. Runner-ups for the Mustangs were Spencer Empey (285) and Blake Kastl (149). Empey is now 6-2 while Kastl is 4-1. The Gators lost 27-15 at Cal Poly last year in their only meeting.
Other Gators that have posted winning records this season are: Anthony Figueroa (10-6), Jordan Gurrola (9-5), Tavis Ino (8-6), Dylan Phillipy (5-3) and Conrad Snell (7-3).
After this weekend, the Gators will be off until December 6-7 when they participate in the Las Vegas Open. They will return to dual meet action in the New Year on January 3 at 3pm, when the Gators host Mercyhurst.
