Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Las Vegas Invitational
Wrestling's Olson and Walbeck Place at Las Vegas Invitational
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 6, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - Two Bulldog wrestlers, senior Casey Olson and junior Clint Walbeck placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 22nd Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Olson, a 149 division wrestler who was unranked entering the tournament, went 5-2 while beating two ranked opponents and his only losses were to top 10 ranked wrestlers. Olson won easily in the first round against Anthony Dunkin from Army, but his next opponent, No. 17 David Diles of Brown, proved to be his first tough challenge.
Olson beat Diles 4-2 in overtime, but did not fare well in the quaterfinals. Wrestling against Nebraska's Travis Shufelt, ranked seventh in the nation, Olson faltered and lost 7-2. Olson picked up were he left off and won two in a row in the consolations.
One of his wins was a 5-2 decision over No. 12 Matt Cox of Cal Poly. Olson lost one more match, this one to third ranked Ryan Churella of Michigan in a 6-4 decision.
His final match was for fifth place and Olson was again matched up with 17th ranked Diles. Olson beat the Brown wrestler one last time by a score of 4-2 to secure fifth place.
Walbeck, ranked 17th, began the tournament with two easy wins to place himself in the quaterfinals. The heavyweight wrestler beat Daren Murphy of San Francisco State, then pinned Ray O'Conner of Augustana in 1:35.
Walbeck's first loss was to No. 6 Greg Wagner of Michigan who won by a 6-3 decision in the quarterfinals. Walbeck went on to pin North Idaho's Israel Silva in 3:06 in the fifth round of consolation. He lost his next match to No. 14 Cole Kenrad of Minnesota 6-3 in double overtime, but won his final match by forfeit to take seventh place.
Six other Fresno State wrestlers battled it out on the mat, but had their tournament cut short due to losses.
Redshirt freshman Christian Bowerman went 1-2 in the 125 division. He won in the first round, but lost consecutive matches in the second round and the third round of consolation.
Redshirt sophomore Shanon Slack (133) won his first two matches, but lost in the quarterfinals to No. 4 Mark Jayne of Illinois by a 6-5 decision. Slack then lost in the fifth round of consolation to exit the tournament.
Senior Ben Martinez went 1-2 in the 141 division. He started out with a pin in the first round, but was done after losing his next two in a row.
Redshirt freshman Shane Seibert likely turned heads when he won three matches in the 157 division. His respectable losses came to No. 1 Ryan Bertin of Michigan and No. 14 Andrew Shuler of Wyoming.
Like Seibert, sophomore Greg Gifford (184) went 3-2 in the tournament. After losing in the second round, Gifford was making a comeback in the consolation bracket with two consecutive wins. However, his second loss in the fifth round of consolation cut his weekend short.
Sophomore Jatinder Singh (197) was the only Bulldog to go 0-2 at the tournament.
Over 40 schools wrestled in the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational. Team scores will not be tabulated until the conclusion of the tournament late Saturday night.
Fresno State's next tournament is in Reno, Nev., on Dec. 18. The Bulldogs open their dual season Jan. 3 at home against Columbia, UC Davis and No. 14 Northern Iowa.
