COSTA MESA -- The Vanguard men's wrestling program wrestled at home for the final time in the 2023-2024 season against the Gators of San Francisco State. The Gators would take all but two weight classes on the night, as the Lions would fall 33-10 in the meeting. The Gators are now 4-5 in duals this season and the Lions drop to 2-5.
What Happened? The Lions were open at 125 pounds to fall behind 6-0.
Julian Leon then had quite the close encounter with Tony Margiotta at 133 pounds, as the two scraped for the duration of three periods. Neither could get enough of an opening for a full takedown and Margiotta's lone escape to start the second allowed him to sneak away with a 1-0 win.
Down 9-0,
Malikhi Espiritu got the Blue and Gold their only win of the night, as he thrashed Michael McGruder in the 141-pound clash 14-4 to cut the gap to 9-4 in the dual. Things did not start off well for
Bryant Avila in the 149-pound bout, as he trailed 10-1 after two periods. But his opponent, Zane Stoddard, picked up a slight injury in the second period and he did not look himself in the third. As such, Avila started to make takedowns to surge back into competition. However, he had to let Stoddard up to get another takedown, giving the Gator a couple of escapes to stay just a few points ahead. Down 13-10 with seconds to go, Avila made a good move to earn the bout-tying takedown, but Stoddard did enough to delay the call and the horn sounded to allow the Gator to escape with the 13-10 decision win.
At 157 pounds, Basil Othman faced
Noah Elliott and while Elliot garnered two escapes and threw his weight around, Othman would prevail 12-2. Up 16-4 in the dual, Kyle Bothelho would take a 9-0 win over
Ruben Rodriguez at 165 pounds to make the advantage 20-4. Gage Mettler would do the same to
Marquize Brown, and though Brown would wrestle hard, he would lose 14-1.
Juan Zapien made his 2024 debut and had a shot against Kweli Hernandez-Maitre, as he played excellent defense. However, Zapien could not make a scoring move and would fall in the 184-pound matchup 2-0. Down 27-4 in the dual, the Lions made their final tally of the contest with
Isaiah Hernandez, who took the six points at 197 pounds because the Gators were open. Emilio Franco Sandoval would get the only pin of the night, as he upended
Roman Torres in the second period to make the final score SFSU 33, VU 10.
What was Said? "This was a great learning experience for our guys," said Head Coach
Caleb Flores after the end of the night's action. "We have a lot to work on before our next competition."
What's Next? The Lions will take some individuals out to the Missouri Valley Invitational to take on some of the best in the NAIA over January 19-20.
