Fresno State Athletics
Wrestling Rests Before Traveling to Las Vegas Invitational
11/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 24, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL UP NEXT
Fresno State will travel to Las Vegas for the 22nd Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. The tournament hosts the best teams in the nation in what is usually a wrestlers first opportunity to turn heads in the season. Last year the Bulldogs tied for 14th and were led by 197 division wrestler Marcio Botelho (Lemoore, Calif.) who took fourth.
FINE FULLERTON OPEN SHOWING
The Bulldogs took home seven top four places at the Cal State Fullerton Open on Saturday. Fresno State's top finisher was junior Clint Walbeck (Clovis, Calif.) who won the heavyweight division. Senior Casey Olson (Clovis, Calif.) took second in the 149 division where he is ranked 18th nationally. Freshmen Christian Bowerman (Brentwood, Calif.) and Shane Seibert (Madera, Calif.) placed third in the 125 and 157 divisions respectively. Three other Bulldogs, sophomores Sean Sheets (Bakersfield, Calif.), Greg Gifford (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Sandeep Singh (Union City, Calif.) all took fourth place in their respective divisions. Team scores were not tabulated.
BULLDOGS IN THE SAVE MART CENTER
Fresno State will be wrestling in the Save Mart Center for its Jan. 6 meets against No. 5 Iowa State and San Francisco State. Head coach Dennis DeLiddo wants to set a new west coast attendance record for a wrestling dual meet and his goal is to get 10,000 people at the Save Mart Center on Jan. 6. Iowa State and San Francisco State are slated to grapple at 4 p.m., then Fresno State will wrestle San Francisco State at 5:30 p.m. The feature match, Fresno State v. Iowa State is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICAN
Botelho returns to the Bulldog lineup after an All-American performance last season. He is the 33rd wrestler under head coach Dennis DeLiddo to earn All-America. Botelho went 3-2 at the NCAA Championships to take eighth place in the 197 division. Last season he went 35-10 overall with 12 pins.
BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
Fresno State is ranked 24th by the National Wrestling Coaches Association for dual meet wrestling teams. Individually, three Bulldog wrestlers are ranked in their respective divisions. Olson, who went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships last season, is ranked 18th in the 149 division by InterMat Wrestling. Gifford is ranked No. 20 by Amateur Wrestling News in the 184 division. Botelho is ranked 3rd by InterMat Wrestling and 4th by Amateur Wrestling News.
