San Francisco, CA:

The Oaks traveled to nearby San Francisco State on Saturday night, ready to take on a tough Southern Oregon squad that had won six of their last seven duals.  In what turned out to be a thrilling dual from start to finish, the Raiders came out on top, 22-18, to improve to 7-2 on the year.  With the loss Menlo moves to 8-4 on the season.    

"Overall we wrestled pretty tough and we are at a good point in this stage of the year," commented Oaks Head Coach Joey Martinez.  "We need to go back and fix some things to get over that hump." 

Menlo nursed a four point lead with only two matches remaining.  SOU appeared to be on the ropes but found a way to rattle off the final two bouts behind victories from Kyle Wirkuty and Jimmy Eggemeyer. 

Despite the Oaks defeat, there were a number of bright spots for Menlo to hang their hat on.  Seniors Mike Lopez and Lenny Romero came away with huge showing as the dynamic duo continues to stamp a memorable mark in the senior campaigns.  Lopez had the tall task of not only wrestling up a weight class, but squaring off against the #3 ranked wrestler in the nation in Derek Mestrovich.  Lopez came through however, with a hard fought 7-3 decision victory. 

As far as Romero is concerned, he was the only wrestler to take home a pin, doing so against Hank Turner in only one minute and five seconds. 

"I thought both guys wrestled really well in the difficult challenges that they had," claimed Martinez on the stellar performances by Lopez and Romero. 

Menlo will have their chance at redemption this Friday (Jan. 27) as they travel to Oregon to take on these same Raiders.  The two teams will hit the mats at 6:00pm. 

SEE BELOW FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF RESULTS

Southern Oregon 22, Menlo 18

At San Francisco State

157 – Dalton Urrutia (SOU) dec. David Rios (MC), 8-3

165 – Mike Lopez (MC) dec. Derek Mestrovich (SOU), 7-3

174 – Brock Gutches (SOU) dec. Nick Gill (MC), 7-1

184 – Greg Alvarez (MC) over Austin Vanderford (SOU), inj. def.

197 – Ethan Hinton (SOU) tech. fall Justin Harrison (MC), 21-3

285 – Lenny Romero (MC) pinned Hank Turner (SOU), 1:05

125 – Mitchell Lofstedt (SOU) maj. dec. Drake Medeiros (MC), 14-2

133 – Angel Garcia (MC) dec. Miguel Baltazar (SOU), 9-4

141 – Kyle Wirkuty (SOU) maj. dec. Christian Franks (MC), 12-4

149 – Jimmy Eggemeyer (SOU) dec. Richie Nole (MC), 6-1