ATHERTON, Calif. — The San Francisco State wrestling team began 2018 on the right note with a second-place showing at the Menlo College Open that featured a first-place individual finish by Nathan Cervantez at 133 pounds.

As a team, the Gators finished with 126.5 total points, just two behind Southern Oregon. Kurtis Clem and Austin Solari both recorded second-place finishes while Brandon Vu, Mason Boutain, Justin Pichedwatana, and Sam Alnassiri all finished their respective weight classes with third-place finishes.

"All in all, I think we hit a turning point as a team today. I feel that we've found a purpose and are coming together as a team," said Head Coach Jason Welch. "We've really been putting in the work and we are seeing the first results of that. I am most proud of the new level of tenacity and conditioning that we have now."

Cervantez dominated the 133 lb. bracket with a major decision and two pins to improve to 11-2 on the season. Clem picked up his first two wins of the season with a pair of decisions. Solari earned a 4-2 decision over teammate Jordan Gurrola, who competed unattached. Solari snuck by with a 3-2 decision over Andrew Ramirez (Southern Oregon) and fell in the 141 lb. championship bout to SOU's Devin Poppen.

Boutain began his day with a pin, then dropped to the consolation bracket after he was pinned. He would have faced redshirt teammate Thomas Turcol in the third-place bout but Turcol forfeited the contest. After recording a total fall in his first bout, Pichedwatana fell by major decision but bounced back with a pin in the seventh minute and won by injury. Alnassiri earned a 6-4 decision over teammate Ricardo Jaramillo, who wrestled unattached. He dropped a 5-3 decision to eventual bracket champ Dominic Balmer of Cal State Bakersfield, then won by pin in his last two bouts.

Up Next
SF State will head to the Nebraska for the UNK Midwest Duals on Saturday, Jan. 13. The Gators will test themselves versus No. 23 Lindenwood, Colorado Mines (RV), Central Oklahoma, and No. 7 Colorado State Pueblo.
 

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125
Brandon Vu lost 8-4 to Robert Garcia (Unattached)
Brandon Vu won by forfeit over Landon Obra-Nakata (Pacific) - Third Place

133
Nathan Cervantez won by MD 12-1 over Elias Hernandez (Menlo)
Nathan Cervantez won by fall (2:38) over Kale Evenson (Southern Oregon)
Nathan Cervantez won by fall (2:13) over Matt Peterson (Southern Oregon) - First Place

141
Austin Solari won 4-2 over Jordan Gurrola (Unattached)
Austin Solari won 3-2 over Andrew Ramirez (Southern Oregon)
Austin Solari lost 4-0 to Devin Poppen (Southern Oregon) - Second Place

Joshua Villaflor lost by fall (0:19) to Devin Poppen (Southern Oregon)
Joshua Villaflor won by TF 19-1 over Sebastian Marin (Menlo)
Joshua Villaflor lost 8-4 to Andrew Ramirez (Southern Oregon)

149
Kurtis Clem won 9-5 over Benjamin Gacayan (Simpson)
Kurtis Clem won 8-4 over Adrian Gomez (California Baptist)
Kurtis Clem lost 9-5 to Jack Ramalia (Unattached) - Second Place

Nick Valadez won 6-4 over Jeffrey Uyesaka (Menlo)
Nick Valadez lost 5-0 to Jack Ramalia (Unattached)
Nick Valadez won by MD 14-2 over Benjamin Gacayan (Simpson)
Nick Valadez lost by MD 16-6 to Brawley Lamer (Unattached)

157
Mason Boutain won by fall (0:30) over Noah Wengler (Pacific)
Mason Boutain lost by fall (1:24) to Hunter Hodges (Southern Oregon)
Mason Boutain won by TF 19-0 over Killian Vendler (Cal Poly)
Mason Boutain won by MD 18-4 over Ethan Woods (Unattached)
Mason Boutain won 11-5 over Kevin James (Menlo)
Mason Boutain won by forfeit over Thomas Turcol (Unattached) - Third Place

165
Romeo Medina-Ontiveros won 4-3 over Brandon Dallavia (Stanford)
Romeo Medina-Ontiveros lost 2-1 to Jacob Thalin (Cal State Bakersfield)
Romeo Medina-Ontiveros won by MD 14-3 over Joe LaRosa (Unattached)
Romeo Medina-Ontiveros won by fall (6:38) over Beau Colobini (Unattached)
Romeo Medina-Ontiveros lost by fall (7:00) to Josh Annis (Unattached)

174
Justin Pichedwatana won by TF 21-5 over Iokepa Aken (Pacific)
Justin Pichedwatana lost by fall (0:56) to Brandon Martino (Unattached)
Justin Pichedwatana won by fall (7:00) over Maleselino Salt (San Francisco State)
Justin Pichedwatana won by injury (0:00) over Calvin McKinnis (Southern Oregon) - Third Place

Maleselino Salt lost by MD 11-0 to Calvin McKinnis (Southern Oregon)
Maleselino Salt lost by fall (7:00) to Justin Pichedwatana (San Francisco State)

184
Kevin Henry lost by MD 9-1 to Matt Penyacsek (Cal State Bakersfield)
Kevin Henry won 9-5 over Noe Garcia (Unattached)
Kevin Henry lost 6-0 to Isaac Rangel (Unattached)

Elias Rosales lost by MD 10-0 to Judah Duhm (Stanford)
Elias Rosales lost 3-2 to Reed South (Cal State Bakersfield)

197
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285
Sam Alnassiri won by 6-4 over Ricardo Jaramillo (Unattached)
Sam Alnassiri lost 5-3 to Dominic Balmer (Cal State Bakersfield)
Sam Alnassiri won by fall (4:16) over Nic Iversen (Cal Poly)
Sam Alnassiri won by fall (4:28) over Jarrod Snyder (Cal State Bakersfield) - Third Place