COSTA MESA -- Vanguard men's wrestling squared off against both Cal Baptist and Cascade Collegiate Conference foe Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Friday night and while the Lions had some bright spots, the visitors won both contests.  The Eagles took the first dual 37-9 and CBU took the second meeting 47-7, dropping the Lions to 0-2 in duals on the season, while ERAU goes to 2-1 and the Lancers improve to 2-2.
 
What Happened?  
VU 9   ERAU 37
Dominic De'Altonaga took on Jaren Kimura at 125 pounds to open the night and after a scoreless first, the VU wrestlers made it 3-1 during the second period with the only takedown of the contest.  He took a 4-0 lead into the third and while Kimura made an escape, De'Altonaga lunged in for one more takedown to win 7-1 and put VU up 3-0 in the dual.  The Blue and Gold then suffered two pins in quick succession, as Aidan Munoz (133 lb.) was taken down by Allan Hendricks and Mario Sandoval (141 lb.) was held down by Carson Coy.  But Bryant Avila gave the Lions a renewed hope against Anthony Pavlov-Ramirez in the 149-pound event.  Avila made the only takedown of the match in the second frame and got an escape and a bonus point for riding time to secure a 5-1 decision victory
 
Trailing 12-6, Ruben Rodriguez stepped up for the Lions at 157 pounds and he and Peyton Proper were even after one period.  Rodriguez then snagged the only takedown of the encounter in the second and tallied two more points en route to a 4-2 decision win.  Unfortunately, that would be the final win for Vanguard against ERAU, as the Eagles put up 18 points over the rest of the weight classes.  Julian Rosales was pinned by Keller Rock in the first period and  Marquize Brown was held down by Daniil Gorshkov despite a couple of bright moments from Brown, falling 9-1.  Joseph Dervartanian was pinned by Thomas Stadel in the second period after Dervartanian held the Eagle in check during the first frame.  Lastly, LeRoy Garibay was down 4-0 to Jett Swain at the end of the first before the Eagle pinned him in the second.
 
Alan Carrillo then made his VU debut in the heavyweight bout and he gave Corbin Hayes a good contest.  However, Hayes got the only takedown of the match and each wrestler made one escape, leaving Carillo on the wrong side of the 4-1 decision. 

 
VU 7   CBU 47
Munoz returned to his normal 125-pound class and took on Elijah Griffin and despite getting a few escapes, he could not get any attacks going and lost 18-3 to open the dual.  Sandoval responded for VU in an offensively-minded tussle against Yoshi Funakoshi in the 133-pound clash.  The two lunged at each other repeatedly and each wrestler would gain control, only to see the other wrestler wriggle free.  Sandoval was up 4-3 after one period but Funakoshi made a reversal in the second period to steal a 6-5 lead.  Sandoval turned the tables by making the lone takedown of the bout, getting an escape as well to win 8-6.
 
With VU open at 141 pounds, Avila got to work in the 149-pound battle as he squared off against Matthew Buck.  The Lion had a torrid first period, racking up a 17-4 lead after two and a half minutes.  Buck was able to escape to start the second and picked up a couple of points from there, but he could not overcome Avila, who went on to claim a 21-9 major decision victory.
 
But CBU would pull away after that, as Vanguard did not post another win.  Rodriguez put some pressure on Nolan Miller-Johnston but the Lancer pinned Rodriguez in the first period at 157-pounds.  At 165 pounds, Mateo De La Pena upended Julian Rosales in the first period and Brown managed only one escape against Justin Phillips at 174 pounds, losing 18-1.  Dervartanian was pinned by Nathan Hass in the first period and Garibay was also pinned in the first frame by Eli Sheeren.  Roman Torres and Chris Island closed the night out in the heavyweight class and Torres was able to get a couple of good shots in, but Island took the contest 7-0.

 
What's Next?  The Lions head up to Bakersfield for the Roadrunner Open on Sunday.