Las Vegas, NV – Menlo Men's Wrestling faced top tier competition at the Desert Duals with mixed results across the three duals the program wrestled in. The Oaks were able to secure a dominant victory over Marymount University, but were unable to continue their momentum in the next couple of duals, falling to Colorado State University Pueblo, and Minnesota State University, Manakato.
 
Menlo v. Marymount 36-6
The Oaks were able to demonstrate their depth and talent across multiple weight classes, earning wins in nine out of the ten matches. Elijah Valencia and Noah Messman were able to start the day off strong with Valencia earning a decision win and Messman earning a pin in 4:48. Roberto Lopez stepped up this weekend and bumped up to 141 to fill in for this weekends matches. Lopez showed he is a lethal offensive wrestler and earned a solid 9-3 victory. Noah Elliott and Ezekiel Lara also earned decision wins with Devin Shimabukuro bumping up two weight classes to fill in a vital weight for the Oaks. Shimabukuro displayed his offensive prowess givien the weight disadvantage and earned an 11-6 win. Freshman Carson Howell and Senior Maximus Zamora both earned pins at 174 and 184. Marymount was able to find a pin at 197 but Cole Steketee closed the dual out with a shutout decision victory with the Oaks coming out on top.
 
Menlo v. CSU-Pueblo 12-29
The Oaks faced multiple challenged in their next dual of the day. CSU-Pueblo was able to take the first three matches of the dual, making the match score 0-12. Noah Elliott and Ezekiel Lara however were able to earn pivotal wins to close the gap 6-12. CSU-Pueblo's run kept going right after with wins at 165 and 174. Maximus Zamora does what he has always done this season and earned a pin. CSU-Pueblo secured victories in the final two matches, sealing a 12-29 win over the Oaks.
 
Menlo v. Minnesota State University, Manakato 11-30
In the final dual of the day, the Oaks were unable to find any sort of momentum during the dual. MSU Manakato won the first 7 matches of the dual. The Oaks were able to hold their ground with notable wins from Zamora, Juan Carlos Escutia, and Cole Steketee. Zamora was able to continue his hot streak with a 19-6 major decision, with Escutia doing the same thing at 197 with the match score ending up 14-5. Cole Steketee battled to a 4-2, closing out the dual with Manakato taking the dual 11-30.
 
Up Next…
The Oaks will have a long Christmas break, but will still look forward to taking on Big Bend and Snow College on Friday, January 17^th inside of Haynes-Prim Pavilion. Make sure to use menloathletics.com in order to check on livestreams, live stats, and ticket links!