ATHERTON, Calif. -- The first men's wrestling tournament in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation history took place today and the Lions landed four All-Conference results.  Hector Hernandez, Robert Villegas, Fernando Barreto Jr., and Isaiah Hernandez found spots on the podium on Sunday, with the rest of the crew notching some big individual wins over tough competition.  The squad finished fourth and Menlo took the inaugural team title.
 
 
What Happened?  With the first two classes featuring just four wrestlers, Hector Hernandez took on Elijah Valencia of Menlo in his first bout at 125 pounds.  Hernandez attempted to hold his ground, but Valencia picked up a 15-0 technical fall decision.  However, Hernandez had his chance for third against Evan Kusumoto of San Francisco State.  Kusumoto took the first seven points before Hernandez made an escape and a takedown of his own.  Trailing 7-4 after one, Hernandez dominated the middle frame, making a takedown before sticking the Gator to the mat for a pin to give Hernandez third place.
 
Villegas took on MC's Noah Messman in the 133-pound bracket and Villegas looked strong for two periods as neither wrestler nicked a point.  Villegas started in the down position to open the third period, made an escape, and looked to be well on his way towards a 1-0 victory.  However, late in the third, Messman made a takedown with seven ticks on the clock to steal a 3-1 victory.  Yet Villegas maintained his good form against Evan McShane of Cal Poly Humboldt to give VU another bronze.  Villegas made a takedown and got two points from McShane penalties to win 5-0 in a fight that went the distance.
 
Five wrestlers participated in the 141-pound tournament and Barreto Jr. took on Ivan Acosta of Menlo in his opening act.  Barreto was not intimidated by the Oak, pounding out a 20-4 victory to advance to the title fight.  There he faced Johnny Lopez of SF State and the two locked horns in a defensive struggle.  Each wrestler got a point off a penalty but, unfortunately, Lopez picked up more riding time and the Gator took the bonus point for a 2-1 win, though Barreto Jr. collected the squads first silver medal on the day.
 
At 149 pounds, Malikhi Espiritu squared off against SF State's Andre Dargani but could not get any points, as Dargani won 9-0.  Espiritu tried to regroup but, unfortunately, an injury from his first match took him out before he was scheduled to face Sean Yamasaki, another Gator, ending his day.
 
Rafa Marquez and Caidence Turner took part in the 157-pound bracket and Turner started off against Zane Stoddard of San Francisco State.  Turner fought hard but Stoddard made two takedowns and then a pin of Turner in the second period.  That pitted him against Marquez, who had lost 18-1 against Menlo's Ezekiel Lara in his first matchup.  The two Lions went at it knowing only one could advance and Turner was one who made takedowns as he went on to win 11-4.  That put him in tussle for third but Gil Mossburg of CPH made the only takedowns of the contest as he won 13-4.
 
Mason Hernandez was the lone Lion at 165 pounds and though he showed a lot of spunk, he could not tally a point against Cole Zoller of CPH, as he fell 15-0.  He returned with vengeance against Ryder Dearborn of CPH and despite trailing 8-3 in the second, he made a pin of Dearborn to reach the third-place matchup.  Hernandez got a takedown in the third against Devin Wells of Menlo, but it was too late, as he lost 12-3.
 
Keagen Kroeger was the VU representative at 184 pounds and he faced off against Maximus Zamora of Menlo but was pinned in the first frame.  Kroeger made an early takedown of Jonathan Moreno of MC in the next bout but Moreno tallied the next four points.  Kroeger responded with another takedown to start the middle frame, but Moreno scored the final five points of the contest to win 9-6 to end Kroeger's run.
 
Isaiah Hernandez carried the torch for VU at 197 pounds and he had Steven Karas of SF State as his first opponent.  Hernandez made two takedowns in the first frame, while Karas had an escape, to lead 6-1.  Karas then had an escape in the second and a takedown towards the end of the third, but Hernandez rolled out of it for an escape and held on for a 7-5 decision victory.  Hernandez then tangled with Manman Garner of CPH and though Garner made the first takedown, Hernandez made an escape and got a takedown of his own to end the first.  Both wrestlers registered an escape and a takedown in the second, but it was Hernandez who had the better kick, as he rolled off five unanswered points in the third to win 13-7.  Searching for the first gold for Vanguard in MPSF history, Hernandez did his best against Menlo's Diego Morales, but the Oak won on home soil 11-3.
 
Roman Torres needed overtime in his first matchup against Liam Clark of CPH, as both heavyweights had only one escape during regulation.  OT saw Torres grapple for control before he dove in for a takedown to secure the win.  Torres steeled himself entering his next match and got two escapes against Laith Gilmore of SF State but Gilmore made two takedowns to win 6-2.  Moving to the other side of the bracket, Torres faced fellow Lion LeRoy Garibay, who had been pinned in his first match by CPH's Carson Hatch.  Torres had the better read on his teammate, as he stormed his way to a 16-5 victory.  That put him in the matchup for third and though he fought desperately for the podium, Menlo's Cole Steketee grabbed the prize with an 11-0 decision.
 
What was Said?  "We had four wrestlers earn All-Conference honors today and had several others just miss out.  We will continue to learn from out setbacks and grow from this tournament," said Head Coach Caleb Flores.
 
What's Next?  This is not the end of the season, as VU has two more duals coming up on February 8, as VU takes on two of the schools they just played today in Cal Poly Humboldt and SF State in San Francisco starting at 10:00 a.m.