Wrestling Notebook 12/12/06

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 CSUB Sports Information News Release

THE WEEK AHEAD: Cal State Bakersfield continues on the road to start 2006-07 and will open its Pac-10 dual meet season with a test at always-tough Boise State. The Roadrunners, hosts of the 2007 Pac-10 Championships, will take on the Broncos on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at Bronco Gym.

WHAT’S AT STAKE: The Roadrunners starting lineup is beginning to form with just a few alterations from competition to competition, and these wrestlers will be shooting to keep their jobs in the lineup as the season heats up. Despite being in the very early season, the 10 wrestlers competing on Thursday realize that what they do in early the middle of December will have a significant impact on where they are seeded at the Pac-10 Championships in February. This is also an important weekend for wrestlers Daniel Alejandro and Daniel Atondo, who are both ranked in the lower third of the Pac-10 rankings, but will each be facing No. 3-ranked wrestlers on Thursday.

TICKET INFORMATION: Advance single match and season tickets are available now. Contact the CSUB Ticket Office (661) 654–BLUE for more information.

ON DECK: The Roadrunners will stay on the road throughout December and will travel Nevada for the second time this year for the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Cal State Bakersfield traveled to Primm, Nev., two weekends ago for the Las Vegas Invitational. Head Coach T.J. Kerr walked away from the competition with mixed emotions. The 29th-place team finish was well lower than he was hoping for and the Roadrunners left Buffalo Bill’s with no placewinners for just the fourth time in the 25-year history of the tournament. But there was some good to come from the tournament. Daniel Atondo, Matt Schumm and Brandon Doyle all missed becoming placewinners by one match, whereas last season the Roadrunners had just one wrestler reach that far into the tournament. Schumm reached the quarterfinals and knocked off then No. 6-ranked Jeffrey Jaggers of Ohio State along the way.

PARKER MAKES HIS RETURN: Senior heavyweight Eric Parker has been the starter for the Roadrunners for three seasons, but has been limited in action so far in 2006-07. After competing at the Fullerton Open, where he went 2-2, he missed the Las Vegas Invitational due to illness. He makes his return to the lineup this week.

PARKER MOVING UP WINS LIST: Parker has been a three-year starter and has a pair of 20-plus win seasons to his credit. That level of consistency has placed the Ramona, Calif. native on Bakersfield’s top 50 career wins list. With a pair of wins already this season, Parker now has 64 career wins, good enough for No. 45 all-time in Bakersfield history. A 25-win season — which would equal his win total from last year — would give Parker 87 career wins and move him into the top 25.

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RANKINGS UPDATE: The latest Amateur Wrestling News individual national rankings were released on Monday and Cal?State Bakersfield is one of four Pac-10 teams without a nationally-ranked wrestler. The Roadrunners join Portland State, Oregon and Boise State without any nationally-ranked wrestlers. Cal Poly leads the conference with four ranked wrestlers, while Oregon State, Cal State Fullerton,?Stanford and UC Davis all have three wrestlers ranked. Arizona State also has two ranked wrestlers.

KEY MATCHUPS THIS WEEK: Being the lone competition in the Pac-10 this week, the Bakersfield-Boise dual will definitely be watched, and this dual will go a long way in determining where individuals will be ranked and seeded in the Pac-10s this year. The 125-pound matchup between Brandon Zoetewey and No. 6 Cory Fish is a battle between a pair of wrestlers with 3-4 records — and both are better than their records indicate. Freshman John Cardenas will have a tough match with No. 4 Levi Jones, who is 8-3 and has won six of his last seven matches. Other interesting matchups include No. 5 Daniel Atondo and No. 3 Luke Smith (11-3) at 165, as well as the heavyweight battle between No. 3 Andy Patrick and No. 4 Eric Parker.

RANKINGS CLASH: It has become clear that the five Bakersfield wrestlers who are not in ranked in the Pac-10 could be as close as one win away from getting into that top six. The matches this week are perfect examples of that. Zoetewey, Ernesto Ancona and Brandon Ceremello are all wrestling the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the Pac-10, and wins from any of the three would likely move the Roadrunner into the rankings and the Boise State wrestlers out.

WHO’S HOT?: Matt Schumm has won seven of his last nine matches and Brandon Doyle has won six of his last eight. Opponents are averaging just three point per match against Schumm in that nine-match stretch. Daniel Atondo has won three of his last four matches. For Boise State, 133-pounder Levi Jones has won six of his last seven matches, 165-pounder Luke Smith has won 10 of his last 12, and heavyweight Andy Patrick has also won 10 of 12.

NEED?MORE?INFO?: For all of the most up-to-date information about Cal State Bakersfield men’s soccer and all other Roadrunner sports, check out the CSUB Athletics Web site at: www.gorunners.com. Not near a computer? Dial up the Roadrunner Sports Hotline by calling (661) 654-3071 and selecting option “1” to hear the current scores and schedule information for your Roadrunners.