OMAHA, Neb. – SF State’s
Naveed Bagheri (Los Gatos, Calif., West Valley College) and
Steve Franklin (Middletown, Calif., Santa Rosa JC) were victorious in their opening round matches on Friday during the first session of the 2010 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at Sapp Fieldhouse on the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus.
Bagheri, the two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion at 133 pounds, dominated his first opponent in the main draw, posting a 14-1 victory by major decision over the University of Findlay’s Jan Steven Ulinski. He will next face Corey Bowers of Gannon in the second round, which gets underway later this afternoon.
Meanwhile in the heavyweight division, Franklin recorded his team-leading 29th win of the year with a 9-4 decision over Minnesota State-Moorhead’s Tim Johnson and will square off against Elijah Madison of host school Nebraska-Omaha in round two.
The remaining three Gator national qualifiers were defeated in their first-round bouts, but will wrestle in the consolation draw later this evening.
Joshua Nolan (Quincy, Calif., Quincy HS) (149) suffered a 6-3 defeat to Minnesota State-Moorhead’s Derek Bomsted,
Zach Jimenez (Chualar, Calif., Palma HS) (184) lost by fall to Austin Boehm of Nebraska-Omaha, while
Vince Bordi (Manteca, Calif., Manteca HS) (197) experienced a 7-0 setback at the hands of West Liberty’s Mitch Knapp.
As a team, SF State finds itself in a three-way tie for 14th place after round one with three points, along with North Carolina-Pembroke and fellow RMAC school Nebraska-Kearney. Nebraska-Omaha currently leads the 39-team field with 20 points.
The NCAA Division II Championships resume later today with session two action, starting at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT).
Session One Brackets