LIVERMORE, Calif. — The San Francisco State wrestling team returned to the mat for the first time in 615 days. The Gators hosted Western Colorado outdoors, under the lights of Granada High School Football Field. Plenty of fans came out to support SF State's return but the Gators fell 34-8 to the visiting Mountaineers.
The Gators fell behind early after dropping the first four weight classes, two of which came to nationally-ranked opponents, and never recovered from the early deficit.
Mason Boutain, now wrestling at 157 pounds, picked up where left off from 2019 with a dominant performance. He scored a tech fall in just 1:49. At 174 pounds,
Tyee Ducharme built an early lead but couldn't hold on and eventually dropped his bout 12-7.
Hamzah Alsaudi scored the Gators' other three points with a 10-8 decision at 184 pounds.
Gage Mettler went down 2-0 and pulled to within a point with an escape but ultimately fell 5-3.
"All-in-all I'm so grateful and so excited that we're competing again. This is our first step in our journey back to NCAAs in March," said Head Coach
Jason Welch. "In particular,
Mason Boutain did a great job with the tech fall. A couple of guys gave great, hard performances. Hamzah made his debut at 184 and
Gage Mettler, he lost but he worked super hard. He's been off the mat for two years."
On Sunday, November 7, the Gators will head to Atherton for the Menlo Open. The event is closed to spectators but will be broadcast on
trackwrestling.com.
