Image Credit Bob Palermini, www.palermini.com
Southern Oregon Wrestling
Recently, the Raiders men’s wrestling team hosted a conference dual against Simpson and Embry-Riddle in Riehm Arena. The conference doubleheader brought some success and failure for the Raiders men’s team. The men’s team dominated Simpson but lost the momentum of the night to Embry-Riddle. The win and loss brought the Raiders to 4-5 in conference
Simpson Dual
The night started off with an aggressive performance from Pancho Barrera in the 125-pound category. Barrera, who is ranked 14th nationally, won the match by major decision. Following Barrera, the next four matches were won by fall. Justin Coon, a junior for the Raiders, won the 133-pound matchup. Anthony Perez, a sophomore, won the 141-pound category. Travis Thorpe, a redshirt freshman, won the 149-pound category. And Aaron Gandara, a sophomore, won the 157-pound category. Andres Ramirez, a sophomore, won the 165-pound category by forfeit along with John White, a freshman, in the 197-pound category. Ayden Wolgamot won the 174-pound category. Fabian Miranda-Walls, a sophomore, finished the winning streak for the Raiders with a pin in the 184-pound category. The last match of the night was with Jacob Bernstein in the 285-pound category. However, Bernstein could not get the one-up on Simpson’s Jacob Vincent. The Raiders finished the night against Simpson with a 49-6 win.
Embry-Riddle Dual
The Raiders started the night off strong against Simpson but they quickly lost the momentum to Embry-Riddle. However, Pancho proved his national ranking with a quick pin, and following his performance Evan Potter, ranked 15th nationally, won by decision. Unfortunately, Nick Peterson, a sophomore, lost the 141-pound round and six more Raiders followed his loss: Thorpe (149), Gandara (157), Ramirez (165), Wolgamott (174), Miranda-Walls (184), and White (197). However, Bernstein at 285-pounds ended the night with a win against Embry-Riddle’s, third-ranked in conference, Garette Branson. The final score of the night was 29-12.
The next Home matchup for the men’s Raiders is on February 4th and 5th. The matchup will be two conference duals against Corban University and Eastern Oregon University, which are also the last two of the season before the Cascade Conference Championships.
