CSUB wrestlers 7th at Reno

Wednesday, December 20th, 2006 Bakersfield Californian news article

RENO -- On a night when coach T.J. Kerr was honored for his 30-plus-year career in coaching wrestling, his Cal State Bakersfield wrestling team put together its best effort of the season by placing seventh Wednesday at the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions at the Reno Events Center.

Kerr was honored with the annual Reno Tournament of Champions Heritage Award, which recognizes a person who has dedicated their lives to wrestling. Kerr is in his 23rd year with the Roadrunners and 35th as a head coach.

The seventh-place finish at Reno equals the Roadrunners' third best finish at the Reno tournament. Bakersfield also had three placewinners: Matt Schumm placed second at 141 pounds, Brandon Doyle (149) and Brandon Halsey (197) each finished fifth.

Schumm's second-place finish was impressive despite the fact that Northwestern's Ryan Lang, UC Davis' Derek Moore and Oklahoma State's Nathan Morgan ( a Bakersfield High graduate) -- the nation's first-, second- and third-ranked wrestlers at 141 -- all scratched. Schumm became just the fifth Roadrunner to reach the finals of the tourney.

In the quarterfinals, Schumm decisioned Chris Smith of Montana State-Northern 8-6, then scored a 14-4 major decision over Joey Deaguero of Adams State. In the final, Schumm fell just short of the tournament title, losing 7-1 to Oregon State's Kyle Larson.

Doyle reached the semifinals of the 149-pound weight class but dropped a 9-3 decision to No. 10 Morgan Atkinson of Cal State Fullerton.

Doyle then lost to Levi Duyn of The Citadel before edging Central Michigan's Brandon Carter 3-1 for the fifth-place award.

Halsey, a sophomore in his first competition for CSUB, beat Eliot Kelly of UC Davis 7-4. Halsey then beat Stanford's Jared Boyer 6-3 before No. 15 Matt Monteiro of Cal Poly defeated Halsey 10-1.

Halsey pinned Arizona State's Thor Moen and Oklahoma State's Jared Shelton before No. 10 Nate Moore of Purdue edged Halsey 3-1. But in the fifth place match, Halsey didn't even need to wrestle, winning the match by default.