Wrestling | 2/1/2016 5:04:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO– The SF State Gators wrestling team will have their final three home competitions this weekend, February 6-7. SF State will host Simon Fraser and No. 11 Colorado Mesa in a pair of NCAA Division II Super Region IV duals on Saturday, February 6 at 1pm and 3pm. Then beginning at 9am this Sunday, February 7, SF State will host the 40
th Annual California Collegiate Wrestling Open at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.
Prior to the dual with Simon Fraser on Saturday, the Gators will recognize their three senior grapplers in
Gabe Fuentes,
Tavis Ino and
Calvin Nicholls.
SF State is coming off a strong showing at the 2015-16 RMAC Wrestling Championships this past Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Gators finished in 7
th place out of 9 teams with Cal Baptist capturing the conference title. They had six wrestlers that placed in the top six in their respective weight class.
Sam Alnassiri (285) and
Fern Giron (133) each placed third while
Johnny Costa (184) and
Tyson Kuahine (165) each placed fifth. Placing sixth were
Tavis Ino (157) and
Mike Marshall (174).
Giron captured third by winning by a thrilling 4-2 sudden victory decision over Cal Baptist's Anthony Racobodo, who was ranked fifth in last week's Super Region IV poll. With the win, Giron improved to 12-7 on the season and he avenged an earlier 8-5 loss to Racobodo in Riverside on January 23. The freshman grappler is currently sixth in the region.
Alnassiri advanced to the third place match with his second win by fall at 3:55 over Chadron State's Cooper Codgill. Then in the third place match, Alnassiri defeated Adams State's Tuli Laula, who is currently ranked fifth in the region, by a 6-4 sudden victory decision. The redshirt junior, who is currently ranked third in the region, is now 17-9.
Costa went 3-2 this past weekend to place fifth and is now 8-13 on the year. Kuahine went 2-2 to place fifth at the RMAC Championships and is now 13-12. Ino went 1-3 to place sixth and is now 13-16 while Marshall also went 1-3 to place sixth and is now 14-18. Just like Alnassiri and Giron, Ino is ranked in the top six in the region and is currently fifth. The Gators are 4-6 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC in dual meets this season. They are 3-2 against NCAA Division II competition as they defeated Southwest Minnesota State, Central Oklahoma and Adams State.
The Gators will open up their weekend on Saturday with a pair of duals against the Simon Fraser Clan (3-4) and Colorado Mesa Mavericks (6-1).
Simon Fraser, who is tied for 12
th in the region, is coming off a strong showing at the Clackamas Open as they had grapplers win the open in Tyler McLean (165) and Sean Molle (285). The Clan went 1-1 in their last two duals defeating Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 27-19 and losing 27-20 to Warner Pacific. Last year, the Gators defeated Simon Fraser 43-6 in San Francisco. This year's dual will start at 1pm this Saturday also in San Francisco.
The Gators will then host Colorado Mesa, who is currently 11
th in the nation and third in the region. The Mavericks (6-1) have two grapplers that are in the top 6 in the nation in Daniel Salazar (second, 141) and Drew Schumann (6
th, 149). Six of the Mavericks are also in the top six in their respective weight classes in Jonathan Stelling (third, 125), Salazar (first, 133), Schumann (second, 149), Jason Bohr (4
th, 157), Justin Hoffschneider (first, 165) and Marcus Haughian (6
th, 197).
Colorado Mesa is coming off a strong showing at the RMAC Championships as they placed third with 8 grapplers placing in the top six including two champions in Stelling and Schumann. They also had three runner-ups in Salazar, Bohr, and Zak Slotten (184). SF State lost 35-7 to Colorado Mesa last season in Grand Junction, Colo.
Then this Sunday, February 7 beginning at 9am, the Gators will host the 40
th Annual California Collegiate Open. Weigh-ins for this open will begin at 7am Sunday morning. For more information, please contact Coach
Lars Jensen at 415-338-2301.
There will be grapplers from the West Coast including from SF State, Simon Fraser and Menlo. The at last year's Open, the Gators had two wrestlers that finished in third place in Alnassiri and Costa.
After this weekend, the Gators will have more dual of the 2015-16 season and it will be on Thursday, February 11 in Atherton, Calif., against NAIA national powerhouse Menlo College at 7pm.
That'll be the Gators' last regular season competition heading into the NCAA Division II Super Region IV Championships on February 26-27 in Gunnison, Colo., at the Paul Wright Gymnasium on the campus of Western State Colorado. SF State will see the same competition they saw at the RMAC Championships along with Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney, Simon Fraser, Fort Hays State and Newman.
At the regionals, the Gators will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships on March 11-12 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
Information on California Collegiates-----
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.
