SAN FRANCISCO --- In its final home competition of the 2012-13 season, SF State wanted to go out on top. The Gators posted a 24-16 win over the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 19-ranked Menlo College.to improve to 8-7 on the season. With the loss, Menlo drops to 8-6 in dual competition.

Six Gators came up victorious on the night, with two picking up wins by fall. Isaiah Hurtado and Conrad Snell each pinned their opponents, both of which occurred in the first period of action. Thomas Martin and Naveed Bagheri--two of four seniors honored before the meet--grabbed wins in their respective weight classes, along with Vicente Aboytes and A.J. Simon.

Starting at the 184 weight class, Calvin Nicholls came up short against Menlo's Erick Parsons to give the Oaks an early 4-0 lead. However, Martin cut the lead to just one team point in the next match over Jose Chacon at 197. After a scoreless first period, Martin picked up his first point in the second period with an escape. Martin almost pinned Chacon in the third period, but Chacon evaded the fall, giving Martin a two-point near fall instead. While positioned on top, Martin accumulated riding time to finish with a 4-0 decision victory to jump into double digit wins at 10-18.

Menlo took the next two matches at 285 and 125 to take a 13-3 lead after four matches. At 133, Hurtado tallied four takedowns and a three-point near fall in the first period of action before finally pinning Zachary Johnson's shoulders at 1:35, adding six more points to the Gators' total. The pin marks the fourth time this year Hurtado has won by fall and improved his record to 17-5.

Still trailing 13-9 on the scoreboard, Bagheri--the fourth-best wrestler at 141 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. II--faced Kyle West. Bagheri grabbed an early takedown, but West picked up an escape to only trail 2-1 after the first three minutes. West tied the match at 2-2 with another escape in the second period. Heading into the final two minutes of the match, Bagheri chose to start in the down position and successfully completed a two-point reversal to take a 4-2 lead. West found another escape, but with riding time, Bagheri held onto the 5-3 decision, improving to 21-5 on the season.

Heading into the 149 matchup, SF State still trailed to Menlo, but was closing in on the Oaks at 13-12. Snell took on Christian Franks and knocked the Oak to the mat for a two-point takedown in the first period. Just seconds later, at 1:04, Snell pinned Franks to put the Gators in the lead at 18-13.

Aboytes took to the mat at 157, hoping to extend SF State's lead even further. Aboytes picked up a two-point takedown and a two-point nearfall in the first period, but Samuel Duchene escaped his grasp to put the score at 4-1 after the first three minutes. Aboytes grabbed an escape of his own and added a riding time point to take the match 6-4.

Senior Isaiah Jimenez battled in a close contest against Eric Lopez, but came up short of the win ending his unbeaten streak at 14 matches. Jimenez, who ranks sixth in Div. II wrestling at 165, held on to a close matchup, surrendering just three points to the Oaks with Lopez's decision victory.

As the final two wrestlers took to the mat at 174, desperation kicked in for Menlo. The Oaks needed Joel Veloni to pin Simon in order to take the team win, but Simon held firm on the mat. The two grapplers battled in a scoreless first period before Simon grabbed the first point of the match with an escape in the second period. Coming down to the last two minute period, Veloni chose to take the bottom position and managed to escape Simon's grasp, but not before Simon had picked up a minute of riding time. With the extra point of riding time, Simon held on to the 2-1 decision, giving SF State the 24-16 victory over Menlo.

The Gators have one more dual left in the regular season before post-season action begins. SF State heads to Stanford University on Saturday to take on the NCAA Div. I team at 3:30 p.m. The Gators will then have a week to prepare for the Super 4 Regional/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship Meet held Feb. 22-23.

Complete Results