Fresno State Athletics
No. 24 Grapplers Host Menlo College and Oregon
2/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 3, 2003
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TWO MORE AT HOME
The 24th-ranked Bulldogs (8-4) will take on Menlo College and Oregon on Friday. Last year, Fresno State lost to Oregon, who now stands at 4-2 in dual meets after losing, 21-20, to No. 6 Arizona. Three Bulldogs did record wins against Oregon last year, Eddie Gifford, Marcio Botelho and Zhon Kuraspediani.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Fresno State won the All-California Tournament for the second straight year with 101 team points. Five Bulldogs walked away with first place standings. Clint Walbeck won for most pins with a count of three. Senior Zhon Kuraspediani went 5-5 at 149. He had one pin on the day and won the championship with a 9-7 decision win over Cal State Fullerton's Brett Gordon. Junior Jim Medeiros won the 157 division. His second major decision win of the day, 12-4, made him tournament champ over Matt Gentry of Stanford. Another senior, Ben Baca placed first at 165. Baca beat San Francisco State's Josh MacDonald 12-6 for the title. Eddie Gifford won three straight matches only to lose by decision, 3-1, in the final round of the 174 division. Gifford's fifth loss goes to previous opponent Cal State Fullerton's Chris Carlino. These two have faced off three times this year, Carlino leading 2-1. Freshman Jatinder Singh placed 3rd at 184. Sophomore Marcio Botelho took the 197 division. A pin in the first round pushed him into a default win and a final decision win, 9-7, over Drew Dunbar of San Francisco State. Clint Walbeck managed to pin all three opponents of the day. The last pin over David Galant of Cal Poly, Walbeck's former school, gave him the title. Cal State Bakersfield took second place with 75 points and Cal State Fullerton third with 68 points. San Francisco State, Stanford, Cal Poly, Menlo and UC Davis all participated.
FIRST TWO ROAD WINS
The Bulldogs won twice on Friday, recording a 28-10 win over San Francisco State then a 32-8 victory over UC Davis. The wins were the first two on the road this year. Casey Olson (141), Zhon Kuraspediani (149), Jim Medeiros (157), Ben Baca (165), Eddie Gifford (174), Marcio Botelho (197) and Clint Walbeck (285) all recorded two wins. Walbeck pinned Gator Chris Bostick at the two-minute mark for his first win. Greg Gifford won, 12-7, in his second match of the day against Aggie Ronnie Silva.
BULLDOGS DOMINATE AT HOME
The Bulldogs extended their record by two after hosting and beating Portland State, 35-6, and Cal State Bakersfield, 27-10. In the first match against Portland State, Fresno State freshman Greg Gifford won the 184 division by injury default against Kjell Nykreim. In his first dual match this year; heavyweigth redshirt freshman Jerry Cearly Antonio Criado in 1:44. This put the Bulldogs up 15-0 after three divisions. The Bulldogs lost at 125 but won again at 133. Junior Casey Olson pinned Edward Dahlen in 3:19 at the 141 division. The score board then read 24-3. In last match of the Portland State dual in the 174 division No.11, Eddie Gifford won by major decision over Quinn Collett. Eight Bulldogs would take their matches against Cal State Bakersfield to give Fresno State their second win of the night. The Bulldogs won the first three weight classes 184, 197 and heavyweight, putting the score at 10-0. The Bulldogs next win came at the 141 division when Casey Olson won by decision over Anthony Baza, 5-2. Junior Jim Medeiros won his second match of the night at 157 in a decision over Brian Cobb, 7-3. Senior Ben Baca took the floor for the first time of the night to win by technical fall at 165 over Christian Arrellano.
