LAS VEGAS, NV – Oak Squad Men's Wrestling made the trip to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the Desert Duals taking place at the Flamingo Las Vegas. The Desert Duals consisted of four dual matchups for Menlo Oak Squad to face off against Snow College, York University, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Saint Vincent College. After a long day of wrestling the Oaks walked away undefeated totaling 14 pins across the four duals. Ethan Guillermo (125) led the day with 3 pins in 3 matches. This was the Oaks final mat appearance of the 2023 year and will look forward to starting off the new year on a high note!

Desert Duals Results

 

Menlo Opens Day with Tight Victory over Snow    

Oak Squad's first opponent of the day was against the Badgers of Snow College. The first three weight classes went to Menlo after a pin from Ethan Guillermo (125), a 15-11 decision from Luis Solis (133) and another pin from Roberto Lopez (141). JT Nishikawa (157) pulled off a 7-5 decision over Xavier Perez followed by a 15-7 major decision victory from Brian Velasquez Arrendondo (174) over Cael Smith. The Badgers were able to tie things up 22-22 before going into the final match at heavyweight against Nathaniel Fernandez and Robert Wright. It went back-and-forth all three rounds but Fernandez was able to pull ahead by 2 points to earn the 7-5 decision win. This final victory would earn the team a win over Snow, 25-22. 

 

Momentum Strong Through Entire Day

After a close call in the morning, Oak Squad handled the rest of the duals masterfully to remain undefeated in the end. The second dual of the day was against York University out of Nebraska. Atridad Feizi (141) gave the Oaks a 15-0 lead after taking down Julian Marrufo in a 15-3 major decision. Ratbek Erkinbekov (165) followed Feizi with a pin in the second period over Jamie Watts. Two more pins from JC Escutia (184) and Cameron Bauman (197) would seal Menlo's second win of the day by a team score of 33-21. 

The third dual of the day was against University of Massachusetts Boston. The Oaks walked away victorious once more with a 44-10 final score. Two early tech falls from Roberto Lopez (133) and Atridad Feizi (141) would give Menlo another 16-0 lead. Cameron Bauman (197) laid down a pin against Joshua Kravets in just 42 seconds. There were also pins from Ethan Guillermo (125), Daniel Hernandez (165), Brian Velasquez Arrendondo (174), and JC Escutia (184).   

The final showdown of the Desert Duals was against Saint Vincent College. Ethan Guillermo (125) opened the dual with his third pin of the day against Sean Cain. Saint Vincent responded fast and went ahead 9-15 going into the 165 weight class. Ratbek Erkinbekov pinned Chase Brandebura 36 seconds into the match. A loss at 174 would put Oak Squad behind 15-18 before finishing out the dual with three back-to-back pins from JC Escutia (184), Cameron Bauman (197) and Nathaniel Fernandez (285) to win, 33-18. There were many moments of greatness on the mat for the Oaks who now can return home for the holidays with a few more victories under their belts! 

 

Up Next…

Oak Squad Wrestling will be back in the new year for the 2024 season. Their next mat appearance will take place at the Oaks Open on Saturday, February 3rd inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion!