ATHERTON, Calif. -- It was one of the most successful Menlo Opens in VU men's wrestling history on Saturday as the Lions totaled seven podium placers and three individual champions, with Marquize Brown, Isaiah Johnson, and David Baxter walking away as champions.
"Our guys competed hard and are continuing to improve," said Head Coach Caleb Flores. "We got to jump back into the process as we compete again next Friday."
125 Pounds: Troy Montero faced Paulo Valdez (Victor Valley CC) for the second time this week, and while the bout was closer, Montero managed only one escape and lost 3-1. However, he then picked up his first Vanguard victory over Jhey Sarique of Skyline CC 17-2, and followed that up with wins over Daniel Arellano (Menlo) 22-3 and Emilio Escorbar (CSU Bakersfield) via pin. He got a takedown late against Christopher Calderon but could not find another, bowing out 4-3.
133 Pounds: Zachary Klarcyk cruised through Allijah Wardrobe of Skyline 15-0 but was upended by CSUB's Caleb McElroy 4-1, who stunned Klarcyk with a takedown with 90 seconds left. Frustrated with no route to gold, Klarcyk instead blitzed his way to bronze, clearing Menlo's Roberto Lopez 7-2, Hope International's Joshua Grajeda 19-3, and VVCC's Landin Arguelles 18-1, with Menlo's Erik Ramirez pulling out of the third-place match for medical reasons.
141 pounds: Cash Port got two escapes against San Francisco State's Jameson Moore but a takedown with 44 ticks left caused Port to fall 4-2. He tried to rebound against Cal Poly SLO's Zaydrein Hernandez but took his second loss, 19-5.
149 pounds: It was almost an all-Vanguard title fight, as Hercules Windrath and Anthony Peraza reached the semifinals. Peraza pinned VVC's Johny Guillen in the first before winning 16-1 over Sebastian Calvo, while Windrath pinned MC's Jose Limones and beat SFS wrestler Carlos Valdiviezo 4-1. However, Windrath was the only Lion to win in the semis as he topped Kikah Labuanan of CSUB 7-1, while Peraza lost to fellow Roadrunner Braden Priest 12-4. Windrath had a nice reversal in the second period in the championship fight, but lost 4-2, though he netted the silver medal in the process. Peraza battled Valdiviezo well in their consolation bout, but the Gator snuck in a takedown with 1:24 to go in the third to prevail 4-1.
157 Pounds: Vince Partington won his first two bouts with ease as he blanked Menlo's Niko Takitani 7-0 and pinned Cal Poly's Anthony Vargas in the third frame. Unfortunately, he then lost to Xander Erolin of SFS 12-4 to cut his run at first short. However, Partington ran through his next two opponents, as he pinned HIU's Jacob Ramirez and topped SFS's Antonio Aramburu 4-2. He then saw his next two opponents pull out, which handed Partington the bronze.
165 pounds: Anthony Manno reached the semifinals with ease as he made back-to-back pins over Willy LaMacchia and CP's Cross Rodriguez. But in the semi, Manno ran into Zeno Moore of Stanford, who won 18-3. Manno tried to recover against Westcliff's Jack Estevez to reach the tussle for third, but the Warriors prevailed 5-1.
174 Pounds: Kelan Stever faced CP's Noah Daniels in his opening match but lost 22-14, with Stever's run ending at the hands of another CP wrestler, Luke Gayer, 19-4.
184 Pounds: Brown rolled through his first opponents with ease as he rolled MC's Luke Harrison 17-0 and pinned Cohen Payen of HIU. It was much tighter against Stanford's Connor Bercume, of course, but Brown knocked the DI wrestler out with a 2-0 decision before scoring the first five points over CP's Mark Ayala to win the gold 10-5.
197 Pounds: Johnson and Kayden Cartee had to duke it out for the title, as both reached the gold-medal bout. Johnson topped Frankie Stevenson 14-3 and pinned Levi Means of HIU, while Cartee pinned VVC's Lewis Garcia. Cartee strolled out to an early 6-1 lead in the championship encounter, but Johnson denied his teammate with 11 straight points before he completed a pin to secure the win.
Heavyweight: Baxter pinned Griff Lawson of HIU to start his run and then beat Zander Firm of CSUB 4-1, with Baxter's winning takedown coming eight seconds into overtime. Baxter then squared off against another Roadrunner, Elijah Gawronski, in the final, and though Gawronski led 4-2 after two frames, Baxter made an escape and a takedown to lead 5-3. Gawronski made an escape with 16 seconds left to tie things up, but Baxter made it count in overtime again as he made a quick takedown to collect gold.
What's Next? The Blue and Gold head to Colorado School of Mines for three duals on November 13.
