COSTA MESA, Calif. – Vanguard Wrestling took advantage of the beautiful Southern California weather by hosting Simpson University outside on a warm December day. In a callback to a few outdoor events in the 1970's, the Lions took every COVID-19 precaution available to successfully host the dual.
"First of all I want to thank everyone that made this possible. A huge thank you to our University and our Athletic Administration who do a lot of unseen work to make this possible. It was just amazing to wrestle in December, outside, in perfect 70 degree weather; only in Southern California. It almost felt like normal, and great to see the smiles on everyone's faces," stated head coach Caleb Flores
The action started off with a bang as Nathan Yanez (SO/Eastvale, CA) quickly took a 15-0 victory over Nick Singer in the matchup of the 125-pound weight class. Keeping with the strong start, Steven Kroesen (SO/Laguna Hills, CA) pinned Eddie Esquivel in the second round to bring the game score to 11-0. The tide began to turn as a tightly contested 141 match up between Elian Murrilo and Micha Leininger (SO/Rancho Bernardo, CA) went the distance. With the bout knotted at 6-6 after a nifty reversal by Leinenger, Simpson quickly handled business in the overtime period to score their first points of the match.
In the 149 division, Adrian Marrufo rallied back to win the fight 11-6, a score that mirrored the game score after the fourth matchup. After the first period of the 157 bout, George Zuniga (FR/Selma, CA) found himself trailing by a 4-2 count. He stepped things up hastily in the second frame, earning a pin in the period and pushing the total score to 17-6 for the Pride.
"Honestly, first of all, I just wanted to say I'm super excited to be out here and it's great to be out here, and that we had this opportunity," said Ricky Padilla. I'm super proud of everyone; everyone fought hard. Even the guys that lost, I feel like they just have little things to improve on, and they'll get there to where they want to be."
Padilla, one of the fourth wrestlers ranked nationally for the Lions, did not waste much time to earn a victory over Conrad Lopez. The 165-pound affair was done in the first period off the pin, giving Vanguard a 23-6 edge for the match. Opening with a trio of reversals, Simpson's Layten Briggs held a 5-4 edge after the first period of play before Armon Fayazzi flips the script with a 6-5 advantage entering the final two minutes. He inflicts a plethora of damage with a major decision win – assuring the Blue and Gold of the match victory with a 28-6 combined score.
Baron Gaunt (FR/Torrance, CA) earned a walk-over victory in the 184 match up as Simpson elected to forfeit. Jacob Gonsalves nearly earns a major decision victory in two periods of play, but instead claimed it on the opening escape of the third period over Ryan Ortiz (FR/Orange, CA). The final fight of the day brought of the heavyweights for both squads. After a scoreless first two periods between Angel Mariscal and Josh Sapien, the RedHawks scored three points bringing the final margin to a 20-point victory for the Pride.
Coach Flores ended by saying, "Overall, our guys compete hard in every match and implemented a lot of things we are working on in practice. We have a lot to build off of, but it's nice start with a win."
The Blue and Gold successfully defended their victory over the RedHawks a year ago, and with the addition of a few new faces to the mat, increased their margin of victory from 24-15 to 34-14. They post an all-time record of 3-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference duals.
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