Monterey Times

Vanguard University recently issued the following announcement.

Vanguard wrestling made up for their canceled tournament in Arizona by joining in at the Life Pacific Open Saturday morning.  The Lions picked up 11 podium finishes at the end of the event, with three first-place winners, with Baron Gaunt (FR/Torrance, CA), Omar Rosas (SO/El Centro, CA), and Steven Kroesen (SO/Laguna Hills, CA) all claiming victories in their respective weight classes.

What Happened?  Vanguard had no one to take part in either the 125 or 133 weight brackets, meaning Kroesen was the first one up in terms of weight class.  He took on Bradley Dockter of Ottawa (Kansas) and put the pedal down, making a number of takedowns to win by tech-fall 17-2.  He then faced Joshia Paz of Life Pacific and Kroesen again did not waste a lot of time in the first period.  Making a quality move, Kroesen sent Paz to the floor and got the pin 2:11 into the first frame.  He then had another dominant stretch in the first place bout against LPU's Shawheen Ghalambor, as he picked up another tech fall decision 19-2 to take the top prize.

VU had two options in the 149-pound bracket, as Philip Saucedo (FR/Riverside, CA) and Michael Leininger (SO/Rancho Bernardo, CA) both went against the field.  Saucedo first took on Junior Camarillo of Ottawa but lost in a close 8-6 decision.  Moving to the third-place side of the bracket, Saucedo took on Kristopher Ciccarelli of Ottawa.  Both wrestlers grappled for a bit but Saucedo then got past the handguard of Ciccarelli and completed the pin 2:47 into the first period to advance.  Going for third, Saucedo took on Joshua Tan-Torres of Mt. Sac.  Even though Tan-Torres got a couple of points, Saucedo saw his opening deep into the final frame and pinned the Mt. Sac wrestler 1:47 in to take third place in the class.  Leininger started off hot in the bracket.  He pinned Mt. Sac's Evan Azurdia in the first period and then took down Ciccarelli by a tech-fall score of 16-1 (which sent the Ottawa wrestler to face Saucedo).  Facing Camarillo in the final, Leininger fought hard but lost 15-8 to finish in second.

The Lions had the advantage in the 157-pound bracket, as VU had two of the three wrestlers.  Caleb Jones (SO/Norwalk, CA) took down Cael Garriot 7-2 and Omar Rosas won 6-2 over Garriot.  In an all-Lion final, both guys went hard and gave up very few points.  However, Rosas did just enough to win 5-4 and take the top spot.

Jacob Byrd (FR/Poway, CA) was the only representative of the Blue and Gold in the 165-pound division, again made up of three wrestlers.  He took on Zachary Loutzenhiser of Ottawa but lost 8-1. He then defeated Andres Cardona of Fresno State 6-3 and with Loutzenhiser beating Cardona, Byrd finished second amongst the trio.

It was the same story for Andrew Shin (SO/Glendora, CA) at 174 pounds.  He defeated Ottawa's Jacob Bernal 11-4 but lost to Julian Kennedy 14-2, placing second out of the three in the bracket.

The 184-pound bracket had more participants and Gaunt carried the torch for VU.  He took on Malachi Dowell in his first match and won big 18-0.  He then faced Julian Hernandez of Ottawa in the championship bout and once more proved to be the dominant force, winning 16-0 after three periods to earn the top spot on the podium.

The 197-pound class held Vanguard's Ryan Ortiz (FR/Orange, CA) and Jakob Edwards (FR/Anaheim, CA).  Edwards lost his opener against Jeremiah Smith of LPU in a close 5-0 decision.  He then faced Owen Ormsby of Cerritos College and both wrestlers earned only an escape during the three periods of regulation time.  Tied 1-1, overtime was needed and Edwards got the takedown to claim sudden-victory 3-1.  In the third-place fight, he faced Ryan Nardozzi of Ottawa and had the upper hand during the bout.  Eventually finding an opening in the third period, Edwards pinned Nardozzi to claim third.  Ortiz swept through Angel De Ando in the first period of his opening bout, pinning the Ottawa wrestler at the end of the first period.  He then took on Ormsby and won by an 8-1 decision.  However, facing Smith in the final, the LPU wrestler had the edge, taking the 7-4 decision in the match, as Ortiz took the runner-up honors.

Mike Ruiz (FR/Orange, CA) was the lone wrestler for VU in the 285-pound bracket and he took a victory in his first match by pinning Jonathan Hernandez of Ottawa towards the end of the first period.  But Zach Merrill was better in the next bout, winning 16-0 to send Ruiz to the third-place side of the bracket.  Ruiz defeated Ricardo Juaregui of Fresno State 8-1 and then Vincite Wilson 7-0 to take third place and give the Lions one final podium on the day.

What was said?  "This tournament provided us with some much-needed time on the mat," said Head Coach Caleb Flores.  "Our guys competed hard and we are looking forward to improving before our next competition."

What's Next?  The team will host their first Cascade Collegiate Conference match when the Oaks of Menlo come to the Pit on Friday, December 3, at 7:00 p.m.

Original source can be found here.