LA GRANDE, Ore. -- Vanguard men's wrestling finished out the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament on Saturday, and for the third year in a row, the Lions got a champion! Bryant Avila picked up two wins on the day to claim the 149-pound title, which includes an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament.  VU finished eighth out of the 11 teams, with Menlo winning the team championship.  Three other Lions placed to give the Blue and Gold four known qualifiers to the NAIA Tournament, with the potentially for more when the at-large selections are announced.  (All rankins based on the final NAIA poll.)
 
125 Pounds
Dominic De'Altonaga went up against #20 Brayden Boyd of Corban (Ore.) on Saturday and the two had a good tussle in the first period.  Both showed good defense but De'Altonaga got the only takedown of the match in the first period to claim a 3-0 lead.  Boyd snagged an escape and got a second one in the middle period, but that was it, as De'Altonaga advanced with a 3-2 decision victory.  But unfortunately, #15 Allan Hendricks of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) had his number in the next contest.  De'Altonaga wrestled to the best of his ability, but Hendricks would win 9-1.  However, he had advanced far enough that De'Altonaga was pitted against Landon Smith of ERAU for fifth.  But a worrying trend started, as De'Altonaga picked up an injury and could not wrestle, but he ended up sixth in the bracket to qualify for the NAIA Tournament.
 
133 Pounds
Julian Leon squared off with #11 Jeremiah Steele of Menlo and points were at a premium.  Neither wrestler scored in the first or second period, leaving it all up for grabs in the third.  Steele got the decision to start in the down position at the start of the third, and he took that option, making an escape to jump ahead 1-0.  Steele held on from there and got a bonus point for riding time, as despite a valiant effort from Leon to grab some points, he exited the competition on the wrong side of the 2-0 decision.
 
 
149 Pounds
Avila continued his run against #8 Jonah Chew of ERAU in the semifinal and Chew tallied the first point with an escape in the second period.  Chew tried to hold on for the win but got called for stalling twice in the third, giving Avila a penalty point to tie things at 1-1.  With no other scoring, the two needed sudden victory.  Avila geared up and made a great move 57 seconds into the extra period to get the takedown and the victory to reach the final.
 
He would face Eastern Oregon's #13 AJ Rockwell in the title fight and neither wrestler got a scoring move in the opening round.  Rockwell started in the down position in the second frame, and he quickly got an escape, but Avila roared back with a takedown to surge ahead 3-1.  Again, Rockwell escaped, but 30 seconds later, Avila slipped past his guard and took him down to win the second frame 6-2.
 
With a neutral start, Avila sealed his win with another takedown halfway through the final period.  Rockwell got two penalty points and an escape, but he never got a takedown in the bout.  Avila got a bonus point for riding time, as he was crowned a CCC Champion with a 10-5 decision victory.
 
 
165 Pounds
Sunni Motas took on #16 Devin Crawford of Montana State-Northern but despite a great effort, Crawford snagged an 18-3 technical fall victory in the third period to advance.  Motas was supposed to engage with Carlo Castagnaro of Arizona Christian for seventh, but Motas could not suit up for the bout, leaving him eighth in the field.  On the plus side, he also qualified for the NAIA Tournament by placing. 
 
 
197 Pounds
Isaiah Hernandez was arranged against #19 Caleb Werner of Providence and Hernandez pulled off a big upset, winning 10-4.  He made the first takedown in the opening round and garnered another in the second period, holding Werner to an escape in each frame.  Hernandez got one more takedown in the third, and though Werner got two escapes in the final period, Hernandez got a bonus point for riding time to secure a 10-4 victory.
 
That pitted him against #16 Hunter James of Menlo and though Hernandez fought hard, he was pinned in the first period.  But he had achieved enough to be placed in the bout for fifth, where he would have wrestled Andrew Herrera of Southern Oregon for a second time.  However, he had gotten injured against James and he was unable to start against Herrera.  Finishing in seventh, Hernandez got one of the last automatic bids on the VU team.
 
Why is it Important?  Avila joins Armon Fayyazi (2021-22) and Gerardo Hernandez (2022-23) as the CCC Champions in VU history.
 
What was Said?  "Our guys competed really well," said Head Coach Caleb Flores.  "We have four automatic qualifiers, highlighted by our champ, Bryant Avila.  We have some guys that have a great opportunity to get some wildcard selections to the National Tournament.  Now, it's time to get our guys ready to compete at Nationals."
 
What's Next?  The NAIA Tournament will start on February 29 inside the Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, with the championship bouts taking place on March 2.