Bulldogs finish third at Virginia Duals

HAMPTON, Va. - Getting a clutch major decision from All-American Josh Hokit at heavyweight, the Bulldogs came back to defeat Kent State, 16-15 to finish in third place at the 2020 Virginia Duals on Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum.

Fresno State (6-5), seeded third in the field, won a pair of duals on the day besting Old Dominion, 20-15 before a very even battled with the Golden Flashes allowed the Bulldogs to win three of four duals in the tournament.

How It Happened vs. Old Dominion
After Destin Summers battled No. 15 Killian Cardinale tough at 125 pounds before falling 8-2, Gary Joint got the 'Dogs on the scoreboard with a 16-0 technical fall over Shannon Hanna II in 3:22 as the redshirt sophomore used a 14-point first period and a quick takedown in the second period to give the Bulldogs a quick five points.

DJ Lloren followed Joint with a hard-fought 4-0 win over No. 11 Sa'Derian Perry, a 2018 All-American while at Eastern Michigan, scoring all four of his points in the final period to put the 'Dogs ahead by five at 8-3. After a tough 3-2 loss by Greg Gaxiola at 149 pounds and a fall by ODU's Larry Early, a 2019 All-American, over Beau Colombini at 157 pounds put the Monarchs ahead 12-8, Fresno State responded with three straight wins.

Adam Kemp got the hot streak started with a gutty 3-2 win over Shane Jones using a takedown and a riding time point to hold on for his sixth win of the season by decision. Ricky Padilla put the 'Dogs back in front at 14-12 with a 5-0 win over Alex Cramer before Hunter Cruz extended it to 17-12 with a heated overtime battle against Antonio Agee coming out on top over the Monarch senior, 2-1.

A 7-4 loss by Isaiah Perez at 197 pounds brought ODU back within two at 17-15, but Hokit closed the door on any comeback attempt with a 7-4 win over William Hillard. The Clovis native overcame an early takedown by Hilliard and a 3-3 score after the first period to send the 'Dogs to the third place match.

How It Happened vs. Kent State
With the Golden Flashes picking up wins at 125 and 133 pounds over Summers and Joint, respectively, Lloren got the 'Dogs on the board with a 3-2 win over Cory Simpson as a third-period takedown proved to the difference as it was Lloren's team-leading 12th win by decision of the season.

Making his first appearance of the season at 149 pounds, redshirt freshman Lawrence Saenz evened up the team score at 6-6 with a 6-3 win over Kody Komara. A back-and-forth battle between Colombini and Conan Becker at 157 pounds went the way of Becker by a score of 13-8 to put KSU in from 9-6 at the midway point of the dual.

Kemp answered back with a 7-2 win over Cade Byland at 165 pounds to even the score back up at 9-9, but a 7-2 win by Andrew McNally over Padilla at 174 pounds put Kent State ahead 12-9.

Cruz continued the altering of wins between the two teams with a tough 4-2 win over Tyler Bates as he built a 3-1 lead and after adding a riding time point came through with his fourth victory of the weekend.

Perez fell 7-3 at 197 pounds to the Golden Flashes' Colin McCracken to put Kent State up 15-12, but Hokit would not allow the 'Dogs to lose and he came through in the clutch with a 13-3 major decision over Spencer Berthold for his fourth major decision of the season.

Notables

Fresno State has won six of its last seven duals after starting the dual season 0-4.
It was the Bulldogs' first-ever dual against Old Dominion.
It was the 'Dogs second dual against Kent State as the two teams met at the 2018 Virginia Duals with the Golden Flashes winning 27-15.
Lloren won all four of his matches at the Virginia Duals to move to 18-3 on the season and has won seven matches in a row.
Cruz and Hokit also went 4-0 on the weekend.
Rider downed No. 22 Virginia, 20-12 for first place, Old Dominion defeated Maryland, 18-16 for fifth place while Penn thrashed Duke, 48-3 for seventh place.

Up next
Fresno State returns home to host Duke (0-7) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Save Mart Center. The 'Dogs and Blue Devils met on Friday at the Virginia Duals with the Bulldogs earning a 50-0 win.

No. 3 seed Fresno State (20) vs. No. 4 seed Old Dominion (15) Results
125: No. 15/16/15 Killian Cardinale (ODU) dec. Destin Summers (FS), 8-2 | ODU 3, FS 0
133: Gary Joint (FS) tech. fall Shannon Hanna II (ODU), 16-0 (3:22) | FS 5, ODU 3
141: No. -/-/25 DJ Lloren (FS) dec. No. 11/12/12 Sa'Derian Perry (ODU), 4-0 | FS 8, ODU 3
149: Kenan Carter (ODU) dec. No. -/-/ 32 Greg Gaxiola (FS), 3-2 | FS 8, ODU 6
157: No. 18/13/18 Larry Early (ODU) won by fall over Beau Colombini (FS), 2:21 | ODU 12, FS 8
165: Adam Kemp (FS) dec. Shane Jones (ODU), 3-2 | ODU 12, FS 11
174: Ricky Padilla (FS) dec. Alex Cramer (ODU), 5-0 | FS 14, ODU 12
184: Hunter Cruz (FS) dec. Antonio Agee (ODU), 2-1 TB1 | FS 17, ODU 12
197: Timothy Young (ODU) dec. Isaiah Perez (FS), 7-4 | FS 17, ODU 15
HWT: No. 13/14/11 Josh Hokit (FS) dec. William Hilliard (ODU), 7-4 | FS 20, ODU 15
- Rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/Trackwrestling

No. 3 seed Fresno State (16) vs. Kent State (15) Results
125: Tomas Gutierrez (Kent State) dec. Destin Summers (FS), 4-0 | KSU 3, FS 0
133: No. 24/-/27 Tim Rooney (Kent State) dec. Gary Joint (FS), 5-2 | KSU 6, FS 0
141: No. -/-/25 DJ Lloren (FS) dec. Cory Simpson (Kent State), 3-2 | KSU 6, FS 3
149: Lawrence Saenz (FS) dec. Kody Komara (Kent State), 6-3 | FS 6, KSU 6
157: Conan Becker (Kent State) dec. Beau Colombini (FS), 13-8 | KSU 9, FS 6
165: Adam Kemp (FS) dec. Cade Byland (Kent State), 7-2 | FS 9, KSU 9
174: Andrew McNally (Kent State) dec. Ricky Padilla (FS), 7-2 | KSU 12, FS 9
184: Hunter Cruz (FS) dec. Tyler Bates (Kent State), 4-2 | FS 12, KSU 12
197: Colin McCracken (Kent State) dec. Isaiah Perez (FS), 7-3 | KSU 15, FS 12
HWT: No. 13/14/11 Josh Hokit (FS) maj. dec. Spencer Berthold (Kent State), 13-3 | FS 16, KSU 15
- Rankings by FloWrestling/InterMat/Trackwrestling

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Bulldogs finish third at Virginia Duals

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Players Mentioned

Beau Colombini

Hunter Cruz

Greg Gaxiola

Josh Hokit

Gary Joint

Adam Kemp

DJ Lloren

Ricky Padilla

Isaiah Perez

Lawrence Saenz

Destin Summers

Fresno State Athletics