PRESCOTT, Ariz.  -- Vanguard men's wrestling opened the season on Saturday at the Embry Riddle Mile High Open in Arizona and Sunni Motas had a great showing as he placed fourth in the 165-pound bracket.
 
"It was great to see our guys competing for the first time this year," said Head Coach Caleb Flores.  "We did a lot of good things and saw some things we need to work on as a team.  We are looking forward to getting back to work this week as we get ready to take on Air Force on Saturday."
 
What Happened?  Motas opened against Westcliff's Thomas Venezia and the Lion was too much for Venezia, as he earned 13 points over three periods to advance with a 13-1 win.  His next foe was Mack Bray of Snow College and Motas slammed Bray for two takedowns in the opening period.  Ahead 6-2, Motas won the second period 7-3 and took the bout 17-9 to advance.  That made his next opponent Javani Majoor and all the action happened in the middle frame.  Motas made an escape and 40 seconds later took Majoor to the mat for the only takedown of the meeting.  Majoor got an escape but that was it, as Motas won 4-1.  Needing a win to reach the title fight, Motas drew Keller Rock of ERAU in the semifinal and though he put his all into the first period, Rock made a pin to advance. 
 
Motas faced Edward Ramirez of Doane (Neb.) in his first consolation bracket fight and Ramirez had an escape in the second period to lead 1-0.  But Motas started the third with a takedown and wrestled smartly to advance with a 3-2 decision.  The result elevated him to the bronze medal tussle and there Motas faced Banks Norby of Western Wyoming.  Banks led 4-1 in the second frame when Motas executed a takedown to tie things up.  Unfortunately, Norby got a takedown and an escape to take the bout 8-5, but Motas had earned a well-fought fourth-place finish.
 
Mason Hernandez was also in the 165-pound event and he controlled his fight against Shane Bertero of ERAU.  Hernandez stole the first takedown and added one more before he made a pin of Bertero to advance.  Hernandez then featured against Maclaine Percivel of Western Wyoming and despite his best effort, Hernandez would fall 14-2.  He attempted to recover against Kody Hahn of Doane and he looked promising in the middle period, as Hernandez got an escape and a takedown to lead 4-1.  But Han had the better finish, as he netted the next six points for a 7-4 decision victory.
 
VU had two wrestlers at 133 pounds and Robert Villegas started off against Austin Kelly of Western Wyoming.  Villegas got an escape in the first and a takedown in the second, but he could not overcome Kelly, who won 18-4.  He then faced an unattached wrestler in Kacey Curtis and Villegas scored the first takedown in the meeting.  But Curtis won the second period 7-1 and took the contest 9-4.
 
Hector Hernandez could not pin Andrew Ramierez but he otherwise controlled the bout, as he won 5-0.  Though he wrestled hard against Gunnar Ortiz of Valiant, Ortiz netted a 10-0 technical fall decision to advance.  Bouncing back in the consolation bracket, Hernandez took some anger out on Jordan Free of Snow, as he made two four-point moves before completing the pin in the second period.  He tried to replicate that against Sean Archuleta of Arizona Christian but Archuleta had other ideas, making a pin in the first period to advance. 
 
Both Rafa Marquez and Caidence Turner entered the 157-pound bracket for VU and Marquez hit plenty of moves against Jaricho Haarala of UT Tech, as he won the opening frame 7-0.  He then got two more takedowns on his way to a 17-9 major decision victory.  He then faced Western Wyoming's Hixon Canto but could not get much going, as Canto made a pin in the first period.  Marquez squared off against Joshua Padilla of Hope International in the consolation bracket and though he fought hard off the line, Padilla would make a pin in the first period to advance.
 
Francisco Ayala spoiled Turner's VU debut, as Ayala won 16-0.  He did pick up his first win as a Lion against Sam Humphrey of ERAU, as Turner scored the first nine points of the bout.  Humphrey won the third frame 5-4, but Turner had done enough to easily win 13-5.  He then had the lead after two periods against Padilla, as Turner made a four-point move in the second period.  But Padilla managed to steal the win with a pin in the third frame to advance and knock out his second Lion in a row. 
 
The Blue and Gold had Marquize Brown and Keagen Kroeger entered at 174 pounds and Brown made quick work of Gary Smith of ACU in his first matchup.  He tallied a takedown and a nearfall before sticking Smith to the mat for a pin.  ERAU's Daniil Gorshokov was the next man up in the bracket and Brown almost had the victory early on, as he racked up a takedown and another nearfall to lead 7-0 after two minutes.  However, Gorshkov was not done and he outscored Brown 21-1 the rest of the match. 
 
Kroeger had a go at Gatlin Wilson of Western Wyoming but could not score a takedown, as Wilson won 16-2.  Kroeger was able to manage Rusten Lymen of Snow, as he tallied 13 points on Lyman before Lyman could make a takedown of his own, allowing Kroeger to win 13-7.  The bracket then pitted both Kroeger and Brown against each other and in the battle between Lions, Brown would gather a 15-0 technical fall victory.  Brown had to face Ledger Petracek of Menlo in the next round and the Oak got the only takedown of the encounter in the first period.  Brown tried to return the favor, but Petracek would make a pin to advance.
 
The final Lion by weight was Roman Torres, as the VU heavyweight tangled with Eli Criblez of Doane.  Torres held his own, but Criblez eked out a 4-1 win with three penalty points and a bonus point for riding time.  Torres then won his next two bouts, starting with one against Kort Wilkinson of Western Wyoming.  The Lion made the lone takedown in the middle frame to win 3-2 to set up a date with Angelo Franco of Doane.  Torres easily pushed the Tiger away, winning 10-2 at the final horn. His next opponent was Zion Longsine of ACU and despite Torres doing his best, Longsine would advance with a 6-0 decision.
 
 
What's Next?  The Lions host the Air Force Academy on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.