KEARNEY, Neb. — With a pair of wrestlers recording top-three finishes at the NCAA Division II Super 6 Region Championships, San Francisco State will return to the national stage yet again.
Outside of the 2016-17 season, the Golden Gators have now sent a wrestler to Nationals every year since 1964-65. This season, SF State will be represented by two of their All-RMAC Team selections, 133-pounder
Jordan Gurrola and 184-pound
Justin Pichedwatana. As a team, the Gators finished seventh out of 10 teams with six Gators contributing to the team score.
Gurrola (20-7) will make his second nationals appearance after advancing in 2015. This is especially impressive given that Gurrola didn't compete after that appearance until getting back into the circle this season. The redshirt senior found himself having to win every bout after dropping a decision in sudden victory to Chadron State's Brandon Kile. He fought his way back through the consolation bracket with a decision over Western State's Cody Fatzinger, then upset No. 4 Darek Huff of Adams State with a fall in 5:31. Gurrola had another go at Kile in the third-place match and topped him 5-1 to punch his ticket to nationals.
Pichedwatana (24-11) started off his day with a major decision, then suffered a pin in the quarterfinals. He won his consolation bouts by major decision and by fall. He punched his ticket to Cleveland with a 6-3 win over Isaac Deaton.
Maxamillian Schneider (11-4) narrowly missed a trip to nationals, finishing in fourth place. The Gators' All-RMAC First Team selection won his quarterfinal opener with a major decision, then dropped a 7-3 decision in his semifinal. He advanced to the third-place match with a tech fall in his consolation semifinal but was caught and pinned by Colorado Mesa's Jason Buhr.
Isiah Alva finished in fifth place with a 2-2 day.
Brandon Vu's college career came to an end with a six-place finish. He began the day with an 11-8 decision but dropped his next three bouts to finish at 15-15 on the season.
Brandon Vu, 125 - 6th place, 6.0 team points
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Won by decision over Trent Piatt (#11 Western Colorado), 11-8
Semifinal - Jonathan Andreatta (RV Adams State) won by decision, 7-3
Consolation Semifinal - Matthew Lavengood (RV Colorado Mines) won in sudden victory, SV-1 5-3
5th Place Match - Trent Piatt (#11 Western Colorado) won by fall (4:22)
Jordan Gurrola, 133 - 3rd place, 12.5 team points
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Brandon Kile (RV Chadron State) won in sudden victory, SV-1 7-5
Cons. Round 2 - Bye
Cons. Round 3 - Won by decision over Cody Fatzinger (#11 Western Colorado), 6-4
Cons. Semi - Won by fall (5:31) over Darek Huff (RV Adams State)
3rd Place Match - Won by decision over Brandon Kile (RV Chadron State), 5-1
Joshua Villaflor, 141
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Jason Hanenberg (#11 Western Colorado) won by decision, 10-4
Consolation Round 2 - Chance Karst (RV Chadron State) won by fall (2:17)
Isiah Alva, 149 - 5th place, 9.0 team points
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Jasiah Williams (#8 CSU Pueblo) won by decision, 8-4
Consolation Round 2 - Bye
Consolation Round 3 - Won by decision over Nickalas Babcock (#3 Nebraska Kearney), 7-6
Consolation Semi - Noah Ottum (RV Colorado Mines) by decision, 3-2
5th Place Match - Won by forfeit over Jasiah Williams (#8 CSU Pueblo)
Mason Boutain, 157
Championship Round 1 - Ryan Rochford (RV Adams State) won by decision, 3-1
Consolation Round 1 - Bye
Consolation Round 2 - Jake Otuafi (RV Chadron State) won by fall (2:50)
Maxamillian Schneider, 165 - 4th place, 12.0 team points
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Won by major decision over Kenneth Yara (New Mexico Highlands), MD 17-3
Semifinal - Koery Windham (RV Adams State) won by decision, 7-3
Consolation Semifinal - Won by tech fall over Hunter Mullin (#11 Western State), TF-1.5 7:00 (21-6)
3rd Place Match - Jason Buhr (RV Colorado Mesa) won by fall (2:20)
Kurtis Clem, 174 - 0.5 team points
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Brandon Supernaw (#11 Western State) won by major decision, MD 13-2
Consolation Round 2 - Won by decision over Lance Kilgore (New Mexico Highlands), 11-7
Consolation Round 3 - Isaac Lopez (RV Adams State) won by decision, 8-4
Justin Pichedwatana, 184 - 3rd place, 15.5 team points.
Championship Round 1 - Won by major decision over Denzell Morrow (New Mexico Highlands), MD 10-2
Quarterfinal - Nolan Krone (RV Colorado Mesa) won by fall (2:41)
Consolation Round 2 - Bye
Consolation Round 3 - Won by major decision over Doug Peyser (Simon Fraser), MD 15-2
Consolation Semifinal - Won by fall (4:05) over Connor Ventura (RV Colorado Mines)
3rd Place Match - Won by decision over Isaac Deaton (#3 Nebraska Kearney), 6-3
Andrew Herrera, 197
Championship Round 1 - Bye
Quarterfinal - Trey Schlender (#3 Nebraska Kearney) won by tech fall, TF-1.5 3:34 (20-0)
Consolation Round 2 - Bye
Consolation Round 3 - Jacob Feldman (RV Colorado Mines) won by decision, 6-2
Kevin Henry, HWT
Championship Round 1 - Julian Sanchez (New Mexico Highlands) won by decision, 6-1)
Consolation Round 1 - Bye
Consolation Round 2 - Jarrod Hinrichs (#3 Nebraska Kearney) won by major decision, MD 14-4
Gurrola and Pichedwatana will pack their bags for Cleveland. The NCAA Division II National Championships begin Friday, March 8 at the Wolstein Center.
