ATHERTON, CA – Wrestling season is in full swing with Oak Squad Men's Wrestling hosting two duals against Fresno City and Skyline College for a 3-team triple-header on Wednesday evening. The night began with a dual between Menlo and Fresno City where the Oaks were victorious, 23-21. The Oaks then came from behind to take over Skyline in the second dual of the night, 25-20. There were great moments shown in the home opener from a lot of new Oaks on the roster this season!

 

Menlo 23 - 21 Fresno City

The night began with a faceoff between 125-pounders Erik Ramirez and Colton Kobashi. The freshman from Palm Desert, CA earned one three-point takedown before pinning Kobashi in the first round. This bout victory put Menlo ahead 6-0 before Fresno responded to make the score 9-18. Brian Velasquez wrestled at 174 against Ben Montez in a must-win bout to keep the Oaks in the dual. Velasquez earned the tech fall by a score of 14-5 to add 4 points to the Oaks team score. Brian is a freshman from Bakersfield, CA and showed a lot of technical finesse to earn the win. 

The score was then 14-18 when JC Escutia was taking on Adrian Garcia at 184. The freshman from Salinas, CA barely pushed ahead by a point for riding time to earn the 8-7 bout victory. That pushed the Oaks to a one point deficit in the team score. 197s went to Fresno in an intense match up that came down to a controversial call in the last 12 seconds which resulted in a takedown against the Oaks. It all came down to heavyweight where Jakob Connors faced Juan Luquin. Connors was taken down early in the first round but kept his composure and responded quickly with a throw-down pin to win the bout and the dual for Menlo. Connors is entering his sophomore year and showed his veteran side to earn the dub. 

 

Menlo 25 - 20 Skyline 

Skyline began the second dual with a few forfeits to give Menlo an early lead of 12-3 going into 149 weight class. Jalen Arceo took the mat for the first time to take on Andrew Edwards. With a score of 13-9, Arceo earned his first collegiate win to make the score 15-3. From there, the Trojans found some juice to take over the Oaks and make the score 15-20 going into 197s. Diego Cesar Chaidez, another freshman from Salinas, CA, faced Diego Hernandez. Chaidez held control the entire match and earned two takedowns to win 9-1. This brought the team score to 19-20 for the heavyweight match between Nathaniel Fernandez and Abdallah Diayab. The sophomore from Gilroy, CA ended the evening with a first round pin to take the dual, 25-20. Fernandez came in clutch for Menlo with his performance to help the squad remain undefeated early in the season!

 

Up Next….

Oak Squad will take the mat on Saturday, October 21st in San Luis Obispo for the Meathead Movers Invitational hosted by Cuesta College!