Wrestling | 1/11/2017 2:49:00 PM
KEARNEY, Neb..--- The San Francisco State Gator wrestling team will return to the mat this Saturday, January in Kearney, Neb., as they will participate in the UNK Midwest Duals on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The Gator grapplers will face No. 7 Northern State, Newman, Central Missouri and No. 18 Augustana.
SFSU (2-7) just returned from its trip to Fort Wayne, Ind., where the Gators participated in the NWCA National Duals. The Gators faced three top-20 teams in No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 8 McKendree and No. 14 Tiffin. In their loss to the defending national champions, the Gators picked up wins from
Dylan Furtado (149) and
Tyson Kuahine (165). Furtado recorded his third win by fall on the year at the 5:33 mark of his match. Kuahine won by an 18-1 technical fall decision, which was his second win by technical fall this season.
Then against the No. 8 Bearcats, SFSU picked up wins from
Matt Gamble (125),
Nathan Cervantez (133) and
Mitchell Owens (184). Gamble defeated then No. 10 Weston Bealer by a 7-2 decision while Cervantez won by an 8-3 decision over No 9 Naquan Hardy. At 184, Owens recorded his team leading fifth win by fall at the 2:02 mark of his match.
SFSU picked up four wins in its match against No. 14 Tiffin. Gamble (125), Cervantez (133), Kuahine (165) and
Ricardo Jaramillo (285) all picked up victories against the Dragons. Gamble won by 11-5 while Cervantez picked up a 6-3 decision. Then at 165, Kuahine won by a 17-6 major decision and then at 285 Jaramillo won his match of the season with a win at 1:53.
The Gators will open up their participation in the Midwest Duals against No. 7 Northern State (2-3). The Huskies have five grapplers that are in the top-12 in the nation in their respective weight classes. Tyler Stenberg is second at 149, Blake Perryman is sixth at 157, Sean Havlovic is seventh at 165, Richard Casillas is ninth at 125 and Joe Gomez is 11
th at 197. Gomez was an All-American last season and the National Champion Runner-up.
SFSU will then face Newman (0-1) in its next match. Newman's Tyler Mies (149) is 11
th in the nation. The Gators will then face Central Missouri State (4-1). They will end their participation in the UNK Midwest Duals taking on No. 18 Augustana (SD). The Vikings (6-2) have two grapplers in the top-10 in Aero Amo (third-184) and Michael Louiman (eighth-285).
After this weekend, the Gators will be off until January 27-28. The Gators will host two nationally ranked opponents on the 27. SFSU will face No. 9 Cal Baptist at 1pm and then No. 19 Simon Fraser at 2:30pm. The Gators will then host the California Collegiate Open on January 28 at 9am.
MATCH NOTES:
GATORS: San Francisco State is 2-7 in its dual season as the Gators 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 on Dec. 2 in Ashland, Ore., a 25-15 win over Southern Oregon who was No. 6 in the nation in NAIA at the time. SFSU also defeated Simpson 41-10 on December 10 in Redding, Calif. The Gators then lost to their three top-25 opponents 37-11 to No. 1 St. Cloud State, 30-12 to No. 8 McKendree and 27-16 to No. 14 Tiffin.
FOUR OF HIS LAST FIVE: Both
Matt Gamble and
Nathan Cervantez each have won four of their last five matches heading into the Gators' four matches this Saturday. Gamble is now 7-7 while Cervantez is 7-5.
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 Marshal (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.
.500 OR BETTER: Six Gators have recorded .500 records or better this season led by
Nathan Cervntez's 7-5 record. Tyson Kuahine is 6-6 while three other grapplers are each .500 in Mitchell Owens (8-8), Matt Gamble (7-7), Christian Ramos (4-4) and Thomas Turcol (4-4).
WINS BY FALL: Ten Gators have recorded at least one win by fall this season led by
Mitchell Owens with five.
Dylan Furtado,
Landon Myers and
Joshua Villaflor each have three wins by fall while
Matt Gamble has two.
Nathan Cervantez,
Ricardo Jaramillo, Romeo Medina and
Thomas Turcol each have one.
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.
UNK MIDWEST DUALS: Two of the top-25 teams that the Gators will face this weekend in the UNK Midwest Duals. SFSU will face No. 7 Northern State and No. 18 Augustana along with Central Missouri State and Newman.
UP NEXT: After this weekend, SFSU will return home to host No. 9 Cal Baptist and No. 19 Simon Fraser on January 27. The Gators will then host the California Collegiate Open on January 28.
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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.
