Wrestling | 11/29/2016 7:07:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO—After more than a week off, the San Francisco State Gators will return to the mat this Friday, December 2 for a non-conference dual with Southern Oregon who is currently ranked sixth in the nation in NAIA. The two teams will face each other at 7pm at Ashland Middle School in Ashland, Ore.
The Gators are coming off a strong performance at the Roadrunner Open in which they had two placers in
Johnathon Costa and
Matt Gamble. Costa placed fourth at 197 by going 3-2 with all of his five bouts against NCAA Division I institutions. Gamble went 3-3 at 125 also against grapplers from NCAA Division I institutions.
Heading into its dual on Friday, San Francisco State is 0-4 as the Gators have four NCAA Division I institutions including two top 30 teams in No. 27 Indiana and No. 12 Rutgers. This will be their first dual against a non-NCAA Division I opponent.
Southern Oregon is 2-2 after going 1-1 last week with a 21-19 loss to Great Falls (Montana) and a 28-10 win over Eastern Oregon. The Raiders also defeated Warner Pacific 31-20 and lost 34-11 to nationally ranked Menlo College. Seven of the Raiders are ranked nationally by Tyler Cowger who is second in the nation at 149.
After this weekend, the Gators will return to the mat on Saturday, December 10 for a 2pm non-conference dual with Simpson University in Redding, California.
MATCH NOTES:
GATORS: San Francisco State is 0-4 in its dual season as they have lost to four NCAA Division I opponents in Cal Poly (36-7), No. 27 Indiana (39-7), Cal State Bakersfield (42-3) and No. 12 Rutgers (45-0). The Gators also have participated in two invitational in the SFSU Open (which they had eight placers) and the Roadrunner Open (two placers).
SFSU WINNERS: The Gators had four winners in their duals against Cal Poly and Indiana on November 3 Against the Mustangs, Kevin Gamble and
Nathan Cervantez picked up wins at 125 and 133. Then against the Hoosiers,
Joshua Weinberg and
Johnathon Costa recorded wins at 141 and 184. On November 11, Cervantez was the only Gator to pick up a win at 133 over Cal State Bakersfield.
8 PLACERS: San Francisco State had seven placers in the SFSU Open on November 6.
Mitchell Owens led the way with his runner-up finish at 184. The Gators had three third place finishers at
Thomas Turcol (149),
Landon Myers (157) and
Mike Marshall (184). They also had four fourth place finishers at
Christian Ramos (125), Josh Villaflor (133),
Jesse Lyga (165) and
Morris Wilner (184).
TWO MORE PLACERS: The Gators had two more placers at the Roadrunner Open in
Johnathon Costa and
Matt Gamble. Costa placed fourth and Gamble sixth.
8 RANKED: Eight Gators are ranked in the top eight in their respective weight classes in the d2wrestle.com NCAA Division II Super Region IV Pre-season rankings.
Sam Alnassiri is first at 285 followed by
Johnathon Costa who is fifth at 197.
Joshua Weinberg (141),
Dylan Furtado (149),
Landon Myers (157) and
Mike Marshall (174) are all sixth in the region. Two Gator grapplers are seventh in
Matt Gamble (125) and
Tyson Kuahine (165). As a team, the Gators are tied for sixth with Newman (KSC) in the preseason regional rankings.
#5 NATIONALLY: Sam Alnassiri is ranked fifth in the d2wrestle.com NCAA Division II National Pre-season poll. Last season, the senior finished third in the Super Region IV and RMAC Championships and qualified for the Nationals.
53 AND COUNTING: The Gators are looking to extend their streak to 54 of qualifying a wrestler for the NCAA Division II National Championships. This year's Championships are set for March 10-11 in Birmingham, Ala. The last time the Nationals were held in Alabama, the Gators finished in 10
th place. Naveed Bagheri was a National Champion at 141 and current assistant coach,
Isaiah Jimenez placed fifth at 165 to earn All-American honors.
LAST TIME: The last two time that the Gators and Southern Oregon has faced each other was on January 21, 2012, when the Raiders won 22-15 in Atherton, Calif. One of the winners for the Gators was current assistant coach,
Isaiah Jimenez by a 5-2 decision at 165.
.500 RECORDS: Four Gators have recorded .500 records this season led by
Landon Myers at 5-5. Three Gators are 4-4 in
Christian Ramos,
Thomas Turcol and Josh Villaflor.
WINS BY FALL: Nine Gators have recorded at least one win by fall this season led by
Mitchell Owens and
Landon Myers each with three while Josh Villaflor has two. Six grapplers have recorded one win by fall in
Nathan Cervantez,
Dylan Furtado,
Matt Gamble,
Jesse Lyga,
Romeo Medina and
Thomas Turcol.
UP NEXT: The Gators will travel to Redding, Calif, for a 2pm non-conference dual with Simpson University on Dec. 10 for their final dual of the 2016 calendar year. They will return to the mat in the New Year on January 5, when they participate in the NWCA National Duals in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
