Wrestling | 12/7/2016 1:26:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco State wrestling team will finish off the 2016 calendar year with a non-conference dual at Simpson University this Saturday, December 10 at 2pm in Redding, Calif. The Gators are coming off a 25-15 win over Southern Oregon University, who at the time was ranked sixth in the nation in NAIA.
The Gators picked up wins last week from
Matt Gamble (125),
Nathan Cervantez (133),
Joshua Weinberg (141),
Tyson Kuahine (165),
Jesse Lyga (174) and
Mitchell Owens (!84). Gamble and Owens each won by fall as the Gators picked up the win.
San Francisco State has won the last four duals with Simpson including last year 26-18 win in San Francisco. The three previous wins by the Gators were by 40-3, 33-12 and 42-6 scores. After this weekend, the Gators will be off until January 5 when they participate in the NWCA National Duals at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
MATCH NOTES:
GATORS: San Francisco State is 1-4 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). They picked up their first win last week in Ashland, Ore., a 25-15 win over Southern Oregon who is No. 6 in the nation in NAIA.
THREE OF LAST FOUR: Mitchell Owens has won three of his last four matches with all three of his wins being by fall including last weekend's win over Southern Oregon's Max Hane in 6:26. His two other wins were at 0:35 over Cal Poly's Mitch Woods and at 0:39 over Purdeu's Blake Reid, both at the Roadrunner Open.
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.
LAST TIME: SFSU defeated Simpson last year 26-18 in San Francisco. Picking up wins for the Gators were
Brandon Vu,
Jordan Gurrola,
Joshua Weinberg,
Dylan Furtado and
Mike Marshall. This was the Gators' fourth straight win over the Redhawks.
.500 RECORDS: Five Gators have recorded .500 records this season led by
Mitchell Owens (6-6). Four other Gators are 4-4 each
Nathan Cervantez, Chrsitian Ramos,
Thomas Turcol and
Joshua Villaflor.
WINS BY FALL: Nine Gators have recorded at least one win by fall this season led by
Mitchell Owens with four.
Landon Myers has with three while Josh Villaflor and
Matt Gamble each has two. Five grapplers have recorded one win by fall in
Nathan Cervantez,
Dylan Furtado,
Jesse Lyga,
Romeo Medina and
Thomas Turcol.
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.
UP NEXT: The Gators will to the mat in the New Year when they participate in the NWCA National Duals in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the War 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.
