2017-18 #RMACwrestle Weekly Recap: Week 10
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With less than three weeks remaining until the 2018 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Wrestling Championship, nearly all teams took to the mat for Week 10 of action.
On Thursday, Colorado School of Mines defeated Chadron State 20-16 after coming back from a 13-6 deficit. This was the Orediggers’ first win against Chadron State since 2010-11. The match of the night came at 125-pounds as CSM’s Zach Gracia used a takedown with 12-seconds remaining to beat CSC’s Marcus Hutcherson 8-6.
Adams State fell to Fort Hays State 24-19. The Grizzlies Darek Huff (133) and Luis Gurule (133) won their bouts with pins at the 55-second mark and at 4:53, respectively.
On Saturday, No. 12 Nebraska-Kearney hosted the UNK Midwest Duals. Seven RMAC teams met in Kearney, Nebraska including Adams State, Colorado Mesa, No. 7 CSU-Pueblo, San Francisco State, Colorado School of Mines, No. 17 Western, and Chadron State.
The Orediggers went 3-0, defeating Newman, San Francisco State and Central Missouri.
CSM squeezed by Newman using four bonus points for a 19-18 win over the Jets. The Orediggers would then defeat conference opponent, San Francisco State 25-13 and Central Missouri 24-15.
Individually, Noah Ottum went undefeated at 149-pounds with two major decisions and a sudden victory. Teammates Lukas Erickson (141) and TJ Shelton (174) both went 2-0.
San Francisco State went 2-2 on Saturday. Despite the Gators’ two losses against the Orediggers and No. 13 Central Oklahoma (31-5), the team had two upset victories over CSU-Pueblo 29-9 and No. 23 Lindenwood 22-20.
Against the ThunderWolves, the Gators won seven bouts and did not suffer anything more than a decision. SF State wrapped up the day with a victory over the Lindenwood Lions.
Heavyweight Sam Alnassiri posted strong performances throughout the four duals. Alnassiri began the day with an 18-4 major decision victory over CSU-Pueblo’s Cody Johnson. He went on to defeat CSM’s Jacob Feldman 9-6 and Central Oklahoma’s nationally ranked Caleb Cotter 2-1. In the final bout of the day, the redshirt senior defeated another ranked opponent, Lindenwood’s Jacob Borgmeyer with a pin at 6:19.
CSU-Pueblo finished the duals 1-2, defeating Maryville 25-24. In addition to the loss against SF State, the Pack fell to Fort Hays State 28-18.
Senior JaCobi Jones went 3-0 at 165. One of his victories included a fall at 6:11 over Fort Hays State’s Martin Verhaeghe. Jones’ Teammate Kyle Fantin also went 3-0 and scored 13 team points. Fantin earned a 14-2 major decision over Nick McGhee of Maryville and a fall at 1:53 against Brody Lewis of Fort Hays State.
Western went 3-1 with their only loss to Nebraska-Kearney (26-16).
The Mountaineers won their first dual of the day against Fort Hays State (25-18) before falling to the Lopers. They finished the day strong with a 40-9 win over Northern State and a 31-16 victory against Maryville.
WSCU’s Trent Piatt led the team going 4-0 at the duals. He won three matches by fall and one by forfeit. Two of his falls came in the first period against Northern State and Maryville. He then pinned UNK’s Josh Portillo with seven seconds left in the match.
Colorado Mesa saw action at the Midwest Duals and Utah Valley Open. At the Midwest Duals, the Mavericks went 1-2, defeating Central Missouri 23-20 before falling to Maryville 23-21 and Nebraska-Kearney 31-8.
Payton Tawater went undefeated at the duals. He won three bouts with a major decision, decision and fall to close the meet. Teammate Bruno Nicoletti and Adam Visconti also went 3-0 at 174 and 184-pounds, respectively. Nicoletti picked up a pin against Maryville only six seconds into the second round.
At the Utah Valley Open, CMU’s Jason Romero (157), Nolan Krone (184) and Dillon Ryan (184) each reached the semifinals of their 16-man brackets.
The Eagles went 1-2 with their only team victory against Northern State 31-18. The team fell to Newman 24-14 and Fort Hays State 27-9.
CSC’s Chance Karst (133), Brock Thumm (141), and Herber Shepherd (174) led the team with a 2-1 record. Karst earned a pin in the first dual over Northern State and a major decision against Newman.
Adams State suffered three losses against nationally ranked Lindenwood (30-15), Central Oklahoma (30-15) and Newman (22-18). The Grizzlies Natrelle Demison won all three bouts at 149-pounds with two major decisions and a pin.
Wrestler of the Week
Sam Alnassiri
San Francisco State
Sam Alnassiri powered San Francisco State to a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents, No. 7 Colorado State University-Pueblo and No. 23 Lindenwood. His third win of the weekend was his biggest. The Gators (4-4) trailed No. 23 Lindenwood 20-16 and it came down to the heavyweight bout. Alnassiri battled No. 11 Jacob Borgmeyer and applied the pin for the win in the bout and the dual. Alnassiri is now 11-7 on the season. • Alnassiri won by MD 18-4 over Cody Johnson (No. 7 CSU-Pueblo) • Alnassiri won 9-6 over Jacob Feldman (RV Colorado Mines) • Alnassiri lost 2-1 to No. 6 Caleb Cotter (Central Oklahoma) • Alnassiri won by Fall (6:19) over No. 11 Jacob Borgmeyer (No. 23 Lindenwood).