PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- After three dual victories, Vanguard men's wrestling spent most of the day at the individual-based Mile High Open hosted by Embry-Riddle of Arizona. The Lions finished with six top-three finishers and picked up a few other top-eight placers to cap a successful weekend in Arizona.
What Happened?
Zach Stone (FR/Yorba Linda, CA) was defeated by a large margin in his first match in the 125-pound bracket, but he responded well by pinning Hayden Hurd of Arizona Christian. Still grooving, he followed that up by pinning Julius Kohn of New Mexico Highlands, but could not keep the good times rolling from there, as he was then pinned by Nathan Rizek of Doane (Neb.). Dominic De'Altonaga (SO/Poway, CA) had two narrow victories to start his day in the bracket, picking a 4-1 win against Russell Nickerson of Doane and a sudden-victory takedown of Landon Smith of Embry-Riddle. Unfortunately, he came up short in the semifinals against Naythan Galbiso to send the Lion to the consolation side of the bracket. But he did not let that haunt him, as he pinned Hunter Bennett of Doane and got the victory over Rizek to place third in the division.
Julian Leon (FR/Fontana, CA) was the only VU wrestler at 133-pounds but he started the bracket by going 3-0, beginning with a 7-3 win over Roberto Cordova of Doane. He then picked up a big 14-4 win over Kasey Curtis of Snow and knocked out Terrell Kinlicheenie of Arizona Christian with a slim 3-1 decision. But just as he got the only takedown of the ACU wrestler, Daniel Vargas of Doane did the same against Leon, taking the decision 3-1, as Leon finished second in the bracket.
Steven Kroesen (JR/Laguna Hills, CA) had a disappointing start to his day, as he got bounced by Noah Valenzuela of Grand Canyon University. That left Kroesen with a big task to finish on the podium, yet he did just that. He made two pins, one technical fall victory, and a 9-6 decision victory over ERU's Carson Coy to reach the third-place bout. There, he faced Rico Robles and showed the ACU wrestler no mercy, as he dominated the match 17-0 to finish third.
The 149-pound bracket featured four Lions, with Michael Leininger (JR/Rancho Bernardo, CA) opening his account with a pin. However, he then lost his next two via pins to end his event 1-2. Philip Saucedo (FR/Riverside, CA) lost both of his bouts, as he could not get going in the morning. Ricardo Valdez (FR/Barstow, CA) took a big 10-3 decision victory to start his bracket and then got another 11-6 win to advance to a meeting with Nathan Lendt of Doane. But Lendt would pin Valdez, sending him to the consolation side. Valdez did not quit and took a pin and a 6-2 victory to get to the third-place match. It would not go his way though, as Jonah Chew of ERU claimed third. Gabriel Cortez (JR/Covina, CA) suffered an early setback, but then rattled off four solid victories before falling to Chew. Cortez would end sixth, as he conceded the fifth-place match to Quentyn Frank of Doane.
The 157-pound bracket featured Joey Navarro (FR/Holtsville, CA) and Ruben Rodriguez (FR/Chula Vista, CA). Rodriguez won 16-0 in his first match but then was pinned in his second by NMH's Evan Kilgore. Rodriguez would stay the course and collect a pin and a technical fall decision to reach the fifth-place encounter, where he took down Junior Camarillo of Ottawa (Kan.). Navarro took two big wins to start but lost a close fight with Gabe Kieth of Doane. Navarro would beat Rodriguez to reach the third-place bout, but he would be pinned there by Carlos Meza of Sierra College to finish fourth.
Omar Rosas (SO/El Centro, CA) started with a loss to begin his day at 165-pounds but rallied quite spectacularly, as he rolled off four pins in a row to reach the third-place meeting. There, Rosas struggled against Tyler Diaz of Simpson and almost had the Red Hawk a couple of times, but Diaz made a late take down deep in the third period to claim third with a 6-4 decision, leaving Rosas in a well-earned fourth-place finish.
Gerardo Hernandez (SR/Mission Viejo, CA) carried the torch at 174-pounds and he almost raised it to the top step of the podium. He claimed back-to-back 5-3 decision victories to reach the first-place fight against Chinges Tsermaa of Doane. Hernandez made two escapes but Tsermaa made the only takedown of the bout to win 3-2, as Hernandez had to settle for second.
Baron Gaunt (SO/Torrance, CA) starred at 184-pounds and he also reached the title fight by winning his first free matches 16-1, the second one via pin, and the third 10-0. He then squared off against Michael Densmore of ERU and only got one escape, as he lost 4-1 to finish second.
Isaiah Hernandez (SO/Selma, CA) and Steven Solis (FR/Heber, CA) both competed in the 197-pound bracket and Hernandez opened with a 3-1 victory. Unfortunately, he then lost to Bradley Antesberger of Doane to move to the third-place side of the bracket. Hernandez beat Anthony Taylor of Ottawa with a pin but then was pinned by Zachary Ferris of NMH. Solis made a pin of Myles McGary of GCU to start the day, but then lost 11-1 to Brodie Scott of ERU. He would end his event earlier than expected, as Jayden Johnson of NMH pinned Solis in his next bout.
Roman Torres (FR/Selma, CA) lost his first match as a Lion 3-1 to Wyatt Nelson of ACU, but got his first pin in his next fight against Nicholas Lilomaiava of Ottawa. But Torres would then bow out of the heavyweight bracket against Zion Longsine of ACU. Mike Ruiz (SO/Orange, CA) had sent Longsine there, as Ruiz defeated the ACU wrestler 5-1. He then made a takedown in sudden victory to overcome Samuel Peterson of Doane, putting him in the title match. Ruiz and Brandon Antesberger remained equal on the scoreboard at 4-4 after regulation, but Antesberger made a near-fall takedown in sudden victory to take the gold, as Ruiz finished second in the bracket.
What was Said? "Our guys wrestled extremely well today," said Head Coach Caleb Flores. "Most of our placers beat nationally ranked opponents throughout the tournament. We still have a lot to work on as we move forward to next weekend's tournament."
What's Next? The Blue and Gold will travel to Georgia and participate in the Life Open.
