Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal Poly
Wrestling Falls to No. 23 Cal Poly, 22-16
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 29, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Paced by wins in six of the meet's 10 bouts, 23rd-ranked Cal Poly defeated Fresno State 22-16 Thursday at the North Gym.
The Mustangs improved to 5-6 on the season while the Bulldogs dropped to 5-8 overall.
Cal Poly outscored the Bulldogs 31-12 over first three bouts of the match to jump out to a 10-0 lead. No. 3-ranked Vic Moreno registered a 12-3 major decision victory over Fresno State freshman Christian Bowerman at 125 pounds to open the evening. Tony Franco then followed with a 13-7 win over Bulldog senior Joe Stewart at 133 and Steve Esparza tallied a 6-2 triumph over FS senior Ben Martinez at 141.
No. 14-ranked Casey Olson notched the Bulldogs' first win of the night at 149, outlasting Cal Poly's Jeff Owens 9-8. Down 7-6, Olson secured a takedown with 30 seconds remaining in the third period to take a tenuous 8-7 lead. Owens countered with an escape seconds later to tie the match at 8-8 but Olson's huge riding time advantage swung the match in his favor and gave him a hard fought 9-8 win. The victory improved Olson's season record to 23-6.
Fresno State freshman Shane Seibert followed with an impressive 8-0 major decision victory over Keith Kroeger at 157 to pull the Bulldogs within three at 10-7. Erik Shortenhaus stemmed the Bulldogs' run defeating sophomore Sean Sheets 7-4 at 165. Fresno State freshman Anthony Rubalcava cut the Mustangs' lead in half by downing Sam Temko 8-3 at 174 pounds.
In the ensuing dual, eighth-ranked Ryan Halsey pinned Bulldog sophomore Greg Gifford at the 1:51 mark of the 184 pound match to give the Mustangs a 19-10 cushion. Cal Poly lengthened its lead to 22-10 when Ralph Garcia notched a 3-2 win over sophomore Jatinder Singh in the 197 bout.
No. 10-ranked Clint Walbeck ended the meet on a positive note for the Bulldogs when he pinned CP's heavyweight Dan Howe at 1:30.
The Bulldogs return to action Saturday when they travel to San Francisco for the All-California Tournament.
No. 23 Cal Poly 22, Fresno State 16
125 - No. 3 Vic Moreno (CP) maj. dec. Christian Bowerman (FS) 12-3 (4-0 CP)
133 - Tony Franco (CP) dec. Joe Stewart (FS) 13-7 (7-0 CP)
141 - Steve Esparza (CP) dec. Ben Martinez (FS) 6-2 (10-0 CP)
149 - No. 14 Casey Olson (FS) dec. Jeff Owens (CP) 9-8 (10-3 CP)
157 - Shane Seibert (FS) maj. dec. Keith Kroeger (CP) 8-0 (10-7 CP)
165 - Erik Shortenhaus (CP) dec. Sean Sheets (FS) 7-4 (13-7 CP)
174 - Anthony Rubalcava (FS) dec. Sam Temko (CP) 8-3 (13-10 CP)
184 - No. 8 Ryan Halsey (CP) pinned Greg Gifford (FS) 1:51 (19-10 CP)
197 - Ralph Garcia (CP) dec. Jatinder Singh (FS) 3-2 (22-10 CP)
Hwt. - No. 10 Clint Walbeck (FS) pinned Dan Howe (CP) 1:30 (22-16 CP)
