TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- California Baptist University had three placers and two others come within one match of placing at the California Collegiate Open hosted by San Francisco State Saturday afternoon.
Caleb Gerl finished second at 197 pounds. Bronson Gerl was third at 165, and Alex Evers finished fourth at 285. Both Jimmy Martinez (125) and Vince Pezzuto (285) advanced to the consolation semifinals, coming up just one match short of placing. The top four in each weight class place.
In all, 11 Lancer grapplers combined to go 19-20.
Caleb Gerl went 3-1 on the day and defeated Thomas Martin (unattached), 16-0, in his first match and then Alex Grandy of Meathead Wrestling Club, 5-1 to get to the semifinals where he downed Talor Johnson of Oregon State, 7-5. Johnson had won each of his first two matches by pins.
In the finals, Ryan Smith of Cal Poly SLO edged out Gerl, 1-0, to claim the 197-pound title. Smith was one of four wrestlers from Cal Poly to win their respective weight classes.
Bronson Gerl (4-1) defeated Dominic Borelli of Cal State Fullerton, 9-2, in the first round and then for the second day in a row edged Garrett Schaner of Stanford, 5-3, to get to the semifinals where he lost an 8-7 decision to Luke Amuchasteg (unattached), 8-7.
He came back to pin Carlos Soto of Menlo in 3:33 in the consolation semis and then defeated San Francisco State's Isaiah Jimenez, 7-6, to win third place.
Evers (4-2) defeated Jarod Pitassi (unattached), 3-0, in his first match before falling to Leonard Romero of Menlo, 4-3, in the quarterfinals. Evers then came back to win three straight consolation matches, two of them by one-point decisions and another by a pin in 43 seconds to advance to the consolation finals.
In the consolation semis, he edged out Dylan Rush of Stanford, 2-1. Less than 24 hours earlier, Rush defeated Evers, 4-2, in overtime in the Lancers' dual match with the Cardinal. In the consolation finals, Drew Meulman of Meathead Wrestling Club defeated Evers, 4-3, to finish in third, giving Evers the fourth-place finish. Four of Evers' six matches were decided by a single point.
Pezzuto (3-2) won his first match, but then lost to eventual champion Kurt Klimek of Cal State Fullerton, 14-5, in the quarterfinals. He eventually lost to Meulman, 8-3, in the consolation semifinals.
Martinez (2-2) made it all the way to the semifinals at 125, beating Kiyoshi Kawano (unattached), 19-13, in his first match and then Bryan Grubbs of the Titan Wrestling Club, 7-1 in the quarterfinals. He then dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to Jason Moorhouse of Menlo, the top-ranked wrestler in the NAIA, in the semifinals and then took an injury default to Oregon State's Patrick Rollins in the consolation semifinals.
Landon Saldana (133), C.J. Knowland (184) and Bryce Wilson (184) each picked up a win as well before being eliminated.
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Caleb Gerl finished second at 197 pounds. Bronson Gerl was third at 165, and Alex Evers finished fourth at 285. Both Jimmy Martinez (125) and Vince Pezzuto (285) advanced to the consolation semifinals, coming up just one match short of placing. The top four in each weight class place.
In all, 11 Lancer grapplers combined to go 19-20.
Caleb Gerl went 3-1 on the day and defeated Thomas Martin (unattached), 16-0, in his first match and then Alex Grandy of Meathead Wrestling Club, 5-1 to get to the semifinals where he downed Talor Johnson of Oregon State, 7-5. Johnson had won each of his first two matches by pins.
In the finals, Ryan Smith of Cal Poly SLO edged out Gerl, 1-0, to claim the 197-pound title. Smith was one of four wrestlers from Cal Poly to win their respective weight classes.
Bronson Gerl (4-1) defeated Dominic Borelli of Cal State Fullerton, 9-2, in the first round and then for the second day in a row edged Garrett Schaner of Stanford, 5-3, to get to the semifinals where he lost an 8-7 decision to Luke Amuchasteg (unattached), 8-7.
He came back to pin Carlos Soto of Menlo in 3:33 in the consolation semis and then defeated San Francisco State's Isaiah Jimenez, 7-6, to win third place.
Evers (4-2) defeated Jarod Pitassi (unattached), 3-0, in his first match before falling to Leonard Romero of Menlo, 4-3, in the quarterfinals. Evers then came back to win three straight consolation matches, two of them by one-point decisions and another by a pin in 43 seconds to advance to the consolation finals.
In the consolation semis, he edged out Dylan Rush of Stanford, 2-1. Less than 24 hours earlier, Rush defeated Evers, 4-2, in overtime in the Lancers' dual match with the Cardinal. In the consolation finals, Drew Meulman of Meathead Wrestling Club defeated Evers, 4-3, to finish in third, giving Evers the fourth-place finish. Four of Evers' six matches were decided by a single point.
Pezzuto (3-2) won his first match, but then lost to eventual champion Kurt Klimek of Cal State Fullerton, 14-5, in the quarterfinals. He eventually lost to Meulman, 8-3, in the consolation semifinals.
Martinez (2-2) made it all the way to the semifinals at 125, beating Kiyoshi Kawano (unattached), 19-13, in his first match and then Bryan Grubbs of the Titan Wrestling Club, 7-1 in the quarterfinals. He then dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to Jason Moorhouse of Menlo, the top-ranked wrestler in the NAIA, in the semifinals and then took an injury default to Oregon State's Patrick Rollins in the consolation semifinals.
Landon Saldana (133), C.J. Knowland (184) and Bryce Wilson (184) each picked up a win as well before being eliminated.
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