LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Vanguard men's wrestling faced a trio of opponents at the 2026 Desert Duals at the Flamingo Casino today.  The Lions got a nice pre-Christmas gift in the form of victories over Pacific (Ore.) and Manchester (Ind.), while losing to Wartburg (Iowa).
 
What Happened?  The Lions took on Pacific (Ore.) in the first dual of the day and won handily 53-0, mostly due to Pacific being open at five weight classes.  However, the Blue and Gold won every weight class that competed, beginning with Jovanni Evangelista beating Garrett Head 6-3 at 125 pounds.  Evangelista made the first takedown in the opening period, and after Head made a takedown to level things at 3-3, Evangelista made an escape to get a lead and got a penalty point and a point for riding time to secure the win.  Zachary Klarcyk beat Thomas Turner at 133 pounds, with the Lion making two takedowns on the way to a 10-3 win. 
 
Marquize Brown rolled through Spyre Nelson 15-0 in the first period at 184 pounds, and David Baxter pinned Braxton Cottam in the first period to complete the competition. 
 
WC 37  VU 4
The Lions only got points at 133 pounds thanks to Klarcyk, who beat Alden Crawley 11-1.  Randy Lockwood, Mason Hernandez, Isaiah Johnson, and Baxter all recorded points in their bouts, but no one was within seven points of their opponent.
 
VU 26  Manchester 21
 
Sid Barron fell to Mason Jones in the first period at 125 pounds to open the final dual of the day, but Klarcyk got VU on the board with his third win of the day.  He got the only takedown of the match, playing strong defense to snag a 4-2 decision.  Down 6-3 in the dual, VU sent out Nolan Himelfarb at 141 pounds against Michael Kallimani, but unfortunately, Himelfarb had only one escape in his 18-1 defeat.
 
Vince Partington got the Lions another three points in the dual thanks to a 6-2 win over Keagen Mable at 149 pounds, with five of Partington's six points coming in the first two minutes of the encounter.  Lockwood got Vanguard the lead at 157 pounds, as he forced a pin of Brady Schiffli in the first period.  Now ahead 12-11, Sunni Motas helped to build the VU scoreboard with a 19-3 smacking of Garrett VonGunten at 165 pounds, but Mason Hernandez was pinned by Mitchell Betz to tie things at 17-17.
 
Brown responded with a pin of Ethan Risner at 184 pounds, but Johnson only garnered escapes against Cameron Crisp at 197 pounds in a 12-4 defeat.  That put the entire contest on the line for the heavyweights and Baxter faced Ethan Skinner in the deciding matchup.  Skinner got a takedown within a minute of the bout's start, but Baxter grabbed two escapes and a penalty point to have things tied at 2-2 entering the third frame.  There, with 37 seconds left, Baxter made a good shot and completed a takedown, and with a bonus point for riding time, won 7-3 to give the Lions the dual win.
 
What was Said?  "Our guys competed really well today.  Going 2-1 on the day gives us some good momentum as we head into our Christmas break," stated Head Coach Caleb Flores.
 
What's Next?  VU goes to Western Colorado on the 9th (individual tournament) and 10th (duals) of January for the resumption of the season.