ATHERTON, Calif. - Three Menlo College wrestlers placed at the Menlo Invite while the Oaks placed eighth in the final team standings when all was said and done Sunday afternoon inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion.
Mike Cavanaugh was Menlo's top finisher at the event, placing second at 174 pounds while 125-pounder Jason Moorhouse finished third and 141-pounder Christian Martinez fourth. Advancing through each bracket was no easy chore for Oaks grapplers in a field which included four NCAA Div. I schools, an NCAA Div. II school, and five nationally-ranked NAIA programs.
Cavanaugh took a pair of decisions to advance to the final before falling to No. 6 (NAIA Individual Ratings) Austin Vanderford of Southern Oregon, 7-0.
Moorhouse and Martinez were forced to take the long route to place, fighting through the consolation bracket. Moorhouse bounced back from a 10-3 loss to UC Davis' Mark Jay Acosta to defeat Cumberland's Noah Hunt (4-3) and Central Florida's Alex Chiracosta (7-3) for third place. Martinez won three consolation matches by decision prior to dropping the third place match 4-2 to Simon Fraser's Raj Virdi.
At 149, Cody Gibson won his first two matches before dropping a pair of tight decisions to UC Davis' Randal Watts (3-1) and Cumberland's Andy Shoultz (5-4). Josh Emmett met the same fate at 157, winning two matches impressively only to drop his next two via close decisions.
Adrian Gonzales and Sean Weeks each finished 2-2 in the 165 weight class, getting knocked out of the tournament by decision.
Southern Oregon placed first in the team standings with 116 points, followed by San Francisco State (65), UC Davis (60), Embry Riddle (56.5), Cumberland (51.5), Simon Fraser (51), Central Florida (38.5), and Menlo (38).
Menlo will put its 3-3 dual record up against nationally-ranked NCAA Div. I Oregon State at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Stanford Duals. The Beavers are currently ranked No. 24 and hold an 8-1 overall record.
Menlo Results
125
Jason Moorhouse (4-1) - 3rd Place
W - dec. Kidd Gomez (Oklahoma City), 7-3
W - maj. dec. Alex Chiracosta (Central Florida), 17-5
L - Mark Jay Acosta (UC Davis) dec., 10-3
W - dec. Noah Hunt (Cumberland), 4-3
W - dec. Alex Chiracosta (Central Florida), 7-3
Drake Medeiros (1-2)
L - John Cushman (Pacific) pin, 4:37
W - pin Rafiq Charania (Simon Fraser), 6:53
L - Alex Chiracosta (Central Florida) pin, 4:39
141
Christian Martinez (4-2) - 4th Place
W - dec. Jeremy Garner (Oklahoma City), 10-8
L - Ryan Luu (Embry Riddle) dec., 7-4
W - dec. Brian Tharp (San Francisco State), 10-3
W - dec. Jamil Smart (San Francisco State), 3-0
W - dec. Mikey Davis (Cumberland), 9-6
L - Raj Virdi (Simon Fraser) dec., 4-2
149
Cody Gibson (2-2)
W - maj. dec. Jacob Kea-Tigh (Oklahoma City), 15-2
W - dec. Aaron Wilson (San Francisco State), 8-3
L - Randal Watts (UC Davis) dec., 3-1
L - Andy Shoultz (Cumberland) dec., 5-4
157
Josh Emmett (2-2)
W - maj. dec. Kenny Hyland (Pacific), 20-10
W - dec. Tomas Rosa (Southern Oregon), 9-4
L - James Casadaban (Cumberland) dec., 9-5
L - Nik Turner (Oklahoma City) dec., 3-1
Travis Olson (1-2)
L - Isaiah Jimenez (San Francisco State) maj. dec., 15-2
W - dec. K. Cooper, 7-2
L - Matt Hamilton (Embry Riddle) dec., 5-4
165
Adrian Gonzales (2-2)
L - David Wiese (Cumberland) pin, 3:39
W - dec. Nick Christian (Central Florida), 7-2
W - dec. Marshal Swordfeger (Southern Oregon), 3-2
L - Nick Sasfy (Cumberland) dec., 3-1
Sean Weeks (2-2)
W - pin Aaron Morton (Simon Fraser), 2:43
L - Tommie Hooper (Southern Oregon) maj. dec., 8-0
W - forfeit Arminder Virk (Simon Fraser)
L - Zach Sesar (San Francisco State) dec., 8-5
174
Mike Cavanaugh (2-1) - 2nd Place
W - dec. Patrick MacDonald (Simon Fraser), 10-7
W - dec. Josh Esparza (UC Davis), 9-3
L - Austin Vanderford (Southern Oregon) dec., 7-0
197
Hanna Malak (0-2)
L - Josh Harrison (Southern Oregon) dec., 4-3
L - Arjan Gill (Douglas) dec., 9-3
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