PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- The second day of the Cascade Collegiate Conference men's wrestling tournament resulted in five NAIA National Championship qualifiers for the Vanguard program. Gerardo Hernandez (SR/Mission Viejo, CA) was the headliner for the Blue and Gold entering the event and he lived up to the hype, as the VU wrestler claimed the second CCC individual title in program history in the 174-pound division. Matthew Terrence (FR/Fresno, CA), Julian Leon (FR/Fontana, CA), Baron Gaunt (SO/Torrance, CA), and Jacob Potts (FR/Costa Mesa, CA) all placed in the top eight to qualify as for the National Championships as well. Three other Lions, including Steven Kroesen (JR/Laguna Hills, CA), who finished third, will have to wait until Tuesday to see if the ranking committee will give them an at-large bid for the Championships. The Lions finished seventh as a team, with Menlo claiming the team title.
What Happened?
125-Pound: Terrence and Brayden Boyd of Corban went at it to continue the action in the bracket and Boyd would make three takedowns in the first period to roll to a 6-3 lead. Boyd then pulled away in the second with a takedown and an escape en route to winning the match 9-4. Terrence then squared off against Landon Smith of Embry-Riddle with hopes of making the third-place bout. He turned that hope into a reality as he put up four points in the second period to jump ahead. Smith made a takedown to open the third, making the score 4-2, but Terrence made an escape and got a bonus point for riding time to advance with a 6-2 decision. However, he could not overcome Menlo's Riley Siason, who grabbed the bronze with an 11-4 victory over Terrence, who finished fourth.
133-Pound: Leon and Christopher Guizar of Simpson hit the mat and remained fairly even after two periods. Leon made the first takedown in the opening frame but Guizar made two escapes to tie the dual at 2-2 after two rounds. But Leon made the only takedown in the third to advance with a 4-2 decision win. He then saw Evan Potter of Southern Oregon and, unfortunately, Leon got rolled in the first period. He trailed 6-1 after three minutes of action and Potter picked up four more points in the second, eventually winning 17-2 to end knock out Leon, leaving him fifth in the bracket.
141-Pound: The second period doomed Kroesen against Carson Coy of Embry-Riddle, as the Eagle made a takedown in the middle frame. Kroesen was able to make an escape but Coy started in the down position to open the third and Kroesen could hold him down, as Coy wound up winning 3-1. Kroesen then had to face SOU's Derek Ramos for a shot at third and he got the first points in the bout with an escape in the second. He then nailed a takedown to jump ahead 3-1 before Ramos made another escape to make it 3-2. But the clock wound out and Ramos got an added point for riding time, pushing the contest to sudden victory. It took just over 40 seconds for Kroesen to find the opening and lunge in for the takedown, advancing to the third-place dual with a 5-3 victory. Facing Andrew Macias of Providence, Kroesen took the lead in the first with a takedown. Macias snuck away to take an escape and started the second with another escape to tie things at 2-2. Kroesen made another takedown but Macias turned that into a reversal to score two points himself. However, Kroesen then escaped, taking a slim 5-4 lead into the third period. Kroesen started in the down position and ended up making two escapes in the final frame to win 7-4 and finish third in the bracket.
149-Pound: Ricardo Valdez (FR/Barstow, CA) could not hold on in his match against Tomas Jacobo of Simpson, as he was pinned in the third period to end his tournament. Bryant Avila (FR/Rialto, CA) did not need a lot of time in his dual with Chad Muenzer of Eastern Oregon, as he was able to secure a pin in the first period. That brought Christopher Gaxiola of Menlo down as his next opponent and the Oak would have all the momentum in the bout. Gaxiola picked up points quickly, eventually winning 19-4, knocking Avila out of the tournament.
157-Pound: Ruben Rodriguez (FR/Chula Vista, CA) took on Vincent Cramer of Eastern Oregon and could not get going in the dual, eventually getting pinned in the third to end his run.
174-Pound: Hernandez battled Rylin Burns of Montana State-Northern and the two were about as evenly matched as you would expect in a semifinal. No one scored in the first and both were able to grab an escape during the second period, making the score 1-1 in the third period. But as time wound down, Hernandez spotted his chance and jumped in for the takedown. That gave him a 3-1 win, putting Hernandez in the title fight, where top-seeded NaKoda Siegel of MSUN awaited. Siegel collected an early takedown but Hernandez was able to garner an escape to trail 2-1 entering the second. Siegel started in the down position and sprung away from Hernandez to go up 3-1, but Hernandez shut him down the rest of the way. The Lion was able to make an escape starting from the down position himself in the third period and then made the winning takedown with six seconds left on the clock to pick up the title with a 4-3 decision victory. This is the second year in a row that VU has produced a first-place finisher after current assistant coach Armon Fayyazi grabbed the first CCC title in program history at last year's event.
184-Pound: Gaunt faced MSUN's Austin Vanek but succumbed to a pin in the first period. As a result, Gaunt once again faced German Munoz of Corban, who he beat 5-1 yesterday. Gaunt almost repeated his performance in the fight for seventh, netting a takedown, a reversal, and an escape to once again claim a 5-1 victory and end seventh in the bracket.
197-Pound: Potts was in a tussle with Victor Moore of Simpson on Saturday. Potts made the opening takedown and led 2-1 after one period. Moore made an escape to tie things in the second but Potts would otherwise keep him down, taking the bout 3-2 by earning the extra point for riding time. That brought SOU's Andrew Herrera into the picture and Potts got the first points of the dual with an escape in the second period. But Herrera had saved his best for last, making an escape and then a takedown with 24 seconds left in the period to win 3-1. That sent Potts to the fifth-place match against Jay Smith of Eastern Oregon. Neither wrestler was able to get a takedown but Smith picked up an escape in the second and a bonus point for riding time to take the bout 2-0, as Potts finished sixth in the bracket.
Heavyweight: Ruiz faced Ethan DeRoche of Providence and the two needed extra time to find a winner. DeRoche opened the scoring with an escape in the first and Ruiz snagged a 2-1 edge with a reversal in the third. But DeRoche then wriggled free to time things at 2-2. With neither holding the required edge in riding time, sudden victory was needed. Both wrestlers grappled for their tournament life, but it would be DeRoche who found a way, taking down Ruiz to advance 4-2.
What's Next? The qualified wrestlers will head to the NAIA National Championships on March 3-4 in Wichita, Kansas, while a couple of Lions will see if they can earn an at-large bid over the coming weeks.
