COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The San Francisco State wrestling team boasted three individual champions and finished in third place at the RMAC Wrestling Championship at the U.S. Olympic Training Center on Saturday.
Nathan Cervantez won the 133-pound bracket,
Austin Solari won the 141-pound bracket, and
Mason Boutain won the 157-pound bracket. Heavyweight
Sam Alnassiri finished in second place,
Brandon Vu finished in third place at 125 pounds, and
Kevin Henry finished in fourth place at 184 pounds.
The Gators took third with 104.5 points behind California Baptist and CSU-Pueblo. CBU, which is the only other NCAA Division II wrestling program in California but is slated to move to Division I next season, captured the RMAC Championship with 132.5 points. CSU-Pueblo tallied 110 points.
"I'm really proud of our guys and the way they are focusing in on the postseason. This is the time to peak, to feel good, and to compete at their absolute best," said Head Coach
Jason Welch. "We are competing with the best teams in the conference. Third place is a good start, and we are going to continue building."
Cervantez won the 133-pound bracket with a 3-2 decision over Adams State's Luis Gurule. Cervantez got on the board first with a takedown and won the championship thanks to 1:28 of riding time. Cervantez pinned Chance Karst of Chadron State at the 44-second mark to advance to the semifinals, where he pinned Paul Garcia of CSU-Pueblo in 52 seconds.
Solari defeated New Mexico Highlands' Logan Pine in the finals with a 3-2 decision. He controlled the bout with the first point, then scored a takedown. Solari defeated Western's Jody Sandoval in the quarterfinals 6-5 and then beat Colorado Mine' Lukas Erickson 6-4 in the semifinal bout.
Mason Boutain earned the RMAC Champion by way of injury forfeit. He defeated Western's Jason Slaughter with an 18-4 major decision in the semifinals and advanced from the quarterfinals with a 7-5 decision over Chadron State's Jacob Otuafi.
The No. 11-ranked Alnassiri fell 6-2 in the 285-pound championship fell to CSU-Pueblo's Cody Johnson, the second seeded wrestler in the bracket.
Saturday marked the first time that three SF State wrestlers stood atop the podium since 2003 when Joey Barang (125), Donald Lockett (133), and four-time champ Mauricio Wright (184) did it for the first time in program history. Wright went on to win the NCAA Division II Individual Championship in his weight class for the second time that season and was later inducted into the NCAA Division II Hall of Fame.
Up Next
SF State will compete in one more dual at Menlo on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. From there, the Gators will turn their focus to the postseason. After snapping a streak that saw the Gators send at least one wrestler to the NCAA Championships every year since 1964-65, SF State hopes to start a new streak at the NCAA Division II Super Region 4 Championships in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Feb. 23-24. Qualifiers will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships, March 9-10, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
125 Brandon Vu
Won by TF-1.5 2:50 (16-0) over Marcus Hutcherson (Chadron State)
Lost 5-1 to Alex Nunez (California Baptist)
Won by M. Forfeit over Darek Huff (Adams State)
Won 10-7 over Trenton Piatt (Western State)
Won by TF-1.5 5:27 (20-5) over Jake Stogdill (Colorado Mines) - Third Place
133 Nathan Cervantez
Won by fall (0:44) over Chance Karst (Chadron State)
Won by fall (0:52) over Paul Garcia (Colorado Pueblo)
Won 3-2 over Luis Gurule (Adams State) - First Place
141 Austin Solari
Won 6-5 over Jody Sandovall II (Western State)
Won 8-4 over Lukas Erickson (Colorado Mines)
Won 3-2 over Logan Pine (New Mexico Highlands) - First Place
149 Kurtis Clem
Lost by fall (5:22) to Daxton Gordon (California Baptist)
Lost 9-3 to Noah Ottum (Colorado Mines)
157 Mason Boutain
Won 7-5 over Jacob Otuafi (Chadron State)
Won by MD 18-4 over Jason Slaughter (Western State)
Won by inj (0:00) over John Johnson (California Baptist)
165 Romeo Medina-Ontiveros
Lost by MD 11-3 to Jacobi Jones (Colorado Pueblo)
Won 6-3 over Ryan Pellow (Western State)
Lost by fall (1:17) to Jason Buhr (Colorado Mesa)
Won 3-2 over John Porter (Chadron State) - Fifth Place
174 Justin Pichedwatana
Won SV-1 9-7 over TJ Shelton (Colorado Mines)
Lost by TF-1.5 3:11 (15-0) to Nolan Kistler (California Baptist)
Lost by fall (0:38) to Preston Lauterbach (Colorado Pueblo)
Won 6-5 over TJ Shelton (Colorado Mines) - Fith Place
184 Kevin Henry
Lost by TF-1.5 2:28 (17-0) to JaVaughn Perkins (Colorado Pueblo)
Won 7-4 over Adam Visconti (Colorado Mesa)
Won 10-7 over Brendan Gonzales (Western State)
Lost 6-1 to Richard Bencomo (Adams State) - Fourth Place
197 Elias Rosales
Lost 6-1 to Christophe Collins (New Mexico Highlands)
Lost by fall (3:46) to Donavon Rincon (Colorado Pueblo)
285 Sam Alnassiri
Won by fall (2:02) over Rico Garcia (Adams State)
Won 2-1 over Zach Schrader (California Baptist)
Lost 6-2 to Cody Johnson (Colorado Pueblo)
