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Vanguard University

VANGUARD ATHLETICS
2023-24 MWR CCC Tournament

Men's Wrestling

CCC Tournament Halfway Done for Men's Wrestling

LA GRANDE, Ore. -- Vanguard men's wrestling finished day one at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships on Friday, and five wrestlers remain alive in the brackets.  The CCC Tournament is one of the toughest in the NAIA, but the conference was rewarded with 60 allocated slots for the NAIA National Tournament, the most in the country. With qualification up for grabs, here is how the Lions fared on the first day of competition in the double-elimination brackets.  Action resumes tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., with the championship bouts at 5:00 p.m. (All rankings are based on the final NAIA poll found HERE)
 
125 Pounds
Dominic De'Altonaga took on #18 Vonn Feen of Southern Oregon in his first match and though he made some good moves against the Raider, Fenn countered them all, as the SOU wrestler took a 7-0 decision victory.  De'Altonaga then faced Zach Mauras of Eastern Oregon and the Lion would find his form, battering Mauras and winning 16-8.  That set him up against #20 Brayden Boyd of Corban (Ore.) on Saturday.
 
133 Pounds
Mario Sandoval started his tournament with a pin of Francisco Contreras of Evergreen State College (Wash.), as it took only 49 seconds for Sandoval to end the bout in his favor.  His next opponent was #12 Braden Carson of EOU and the two did not give up many opportunities.  Unfortunately for Sandoval, Carson got the only takedown late in the third frame to sneak off with a 3-1 decision victory.  That pitted Sandoval against Isaiah Marquez of Arizona Christian and though he gave it his all, Sandoval would be pinned in the first period to end his run.
 
Julian Leon needed all of regulation time to beat Blake Runion of Corban in his first dual of the day.  Ahead 3-1 after the first period, Leon got a takedown in the second but saw Runion tie things at 6-6 with five second-period points.  Though Runion got Leon in his grasp, Leon was able to break free in the third to earn an escape, holding on for a 7-6 decision victory.  Leon battled #10 Simon Graeber of SOU next but he struggled to get a takedown.  Graeber got one early takedown and held on from there, as Leon fell 4-1.  Leon squared off against Christopher Guizar of Simpson in the consolation bracket and outscored Guizar in all but one period to win 16-9.  That sets Leon against #11 Jeremiah Steele of Menlo tomorrow.
 
141 Pounds
Malikhi Espiritu put on a clinic to start his tournament against Elian Murrillo of Simpson, winning 16-1.  He then tussled with #24 Bo Davis of Corban and Davis was ahead 10-3 after one period.  Though Espiritu won the third period 6-3, he could not complete the comeback, as Davis advanced with a 13-9 decision result.  To continue his run, Espiritu needed to beat #20 Christian Lopez of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and though he managed two escapes, he could not overcome the Eagle.  Lopez won 15-2 to knock Espiritu out of the competition.
 
149 Pounds
Bryant Avila was dominant on Friday, as he got two big wins to start his tournament.  He put Georgino Moraga of Montana State-Northern away with a 20-4 beat down and followed that up with a 15-4 rout of #20 Dougie Swanson of Providence (Mont.).  He will face #8 Jonah Chew of ERAU in the semifinal.
 
157 Pounds
Ruben Rodriguez faced #11 Aaron Gandara of SOU in his first contest of the day but though Rodriguez fought hard, Gandara emerged with an 11-0 victory.  Rodriguez then lined up against #13 Bridger Hall of Providence and though he gave it his all, Hall made a pin in the first period to knock Rodriguez out of the tournament.
 
165 Pounds
Sunni Motas would tangle with #24 Carlo Castagnaro of ACU and Motas would make only one escape, falling 10-1.  He bounced back against Matthew Bartlett of Corban in the consolation side of the bracket, winning 7-5.  Bartlett got an escape in the second, but all other scoring took place in the third period, as Motas got a takedown and an escape to tie things at 4-4.  He almost saw Bartlett take the lead on a takedown, but Bartlett got a penalty that allowed Motas to win by two points.  He then squared off against #23 Sheldon Cole of ERAU and the two exchanged points throughout regulation.  Motas was ahead 6-2 after the first but Cole leveled things at 9-9 at the end of the second.  Cole got an escape to start the third, but Motas threw him down for three points to go up 12-10.  Cole got one final escape, but the clock ran out, as Motas advanced with a 12-11 victory.  He will face #16 Devin Crawford of MSN tomorrow.
 
174 Pounds
Marquize Brown will have to wait until next year to truly show what he is capable of.  He faced #11 Maximus Zamora of Menlo in his opening bout and fought him well, but Zamora made a pin to take the win.  However, Brown was injured in that process and he could not get right in time to face Tyson Stover of Corban.
 
184 Pounds
Juan Zapien took on #7 Austin Vanek of MSN and though he got a takedown in the third, it would not be enough, as Vanek would prevail 12-3.  He then faced #21 Rylin Burns, another MSN wrestler, and despite throwing everything he could at Burns, Zapien was pinned to bow out after two engagements.
 
197 Pounds
Jacob Potts faced #5 Sawyer Hobbs of Providence and took the Argo deep into the bout.  He was trailing 3-0 after the second period but Hobbs then got past his guard for a pin to upset the Lion.  Meanwhile, Isaiah Hernandez took on #13 Andrew Herrera of SOU and it was a similar story.  Hernandez was up 3-1 after one and held that lead through the second frame.  But an escape and a takedown by Herrera in the third led to the Raider making a late pin of Hernandez to send him to the consolation side of the bracket.  Unfortunately, the consolation draw pitted Hernandez against Potts in the elimination fight.  The two VU wrestlers battled it out, with Potts getting an escape and a penalty point to inch out a 2-0 edge after two frames.  However, Hernandez poured it on late, with an escape and a takedown powering him to a 4-3 decision victory.  That sets Hernandez up against #19 Caleb Werner of Providence tomorrow.
 
285 Pounds
LeRoy Garibay went up against #17 Ethan DeRoche of Providence and while Garibay gave a good accounting of himself, the Argo made a pin late in the first period to advance.  Up next was Corban's #25 Sven Lukner and though the Lion gave it his all, Lukner won 9-0 to end Garibay's day.
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Players Mentioned

Dominic De

Dominic De'Altonaga

Junior
Jacob Potts

Jacob Potts

Redshirt Sophomore
Juan Zapien

Juan Zapien

Senior
Isaiah Hernandez

Isaiah Hernandez

Senior
Bryant Avila

Bryant Avila

Sophomore
Julian Leon

Julian Leon

Sophomore
Ruben Rodriguez

Ruben Rodriguez

Sophomore
Marquize Brown

Marquize Brown

Freshman
Malikhi Espiritu

Malikhi Espiritu

Freshman
LeRoy Garibay

LeRoy Garibay

Sophomore
Sunni Motas

Sunni Motas

Freshman
Mario Sandoval

Mario Sandoval

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Dominic De

Dominic De'Altonaga

Junior
Jacob Potts

Jacob Potts

Redshirt Sophomore
Juan Zapien

Juan Zapien

Senior
Isaiah Hernandez

Isaiah Hernandez

Senior
Bryant Avila

Bryant Avila

Sophomore
Julian Leon

Julian Leon

Sophomore
Ruben Rodriguez

Ruben Rodriguez

Sophomore
Marquize Brown

Marquize Brown

Freshman
Malikhi Espiritu

Malikhi Espiritu

Freshman
LeRoy Garibay

LeRoy Garibay

Sophomore
Sunni Motas

Sunni Motas

Freshman
Mario Sandoval

Mario Sandoval

Freshman

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