The rejuvenated Southern Oregon men’s wrestling team spent the dual season proving up to the task of tangling with some of the best teams in the NAIA. As tournament time approaches, the Raiders have more work to do.
They’ll be in Prescott, Ariz., on Friday and Saturday for the fifth annual Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank, where Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) is serving as host. After showing a six-win improvement over a season ago with a dual record of 11-4, the Raiders will now attempt to avenge the eighth-place CCC finish they posted in 2022.
Their record included three wins over NAIA top-10 teams, and there will be a crowd of ranked squads in Prescott: No. 7 Menlo (Calif.), No. 8 Eastern Oregon, No. 9 Providence (Mont.), No. 18 Embry-Riddle and No. 20 Montana State-Northern. EOU is the defending conference champion, and SOU is seeking its first title since the inaugural CCC Championships in 2018.
The Raiders will enter this year’s tourney with a new look: Of the 12 wrestlers traveling, just three of them were part of last year’s team – including All-American sophomores Aaron Gandara and Evan Potter. Seven of their competitors are either freshmen or redshirt-freshmen.
Wrestling begins at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday. Saturday’s action starts with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals at 9 a.m., and the finals are set for 4 p.m.
FORMAT: The top-three placers in each weight class will earn All-CCC status. Automatic bids to the NAIA Championships are allocated based on the number of NAIA Top 25 individual wrestlers in each weight class; for example, because the CCC has six Top 25 wrestlers at 125 pounds, the top-six placers will qualify. A total of 50 automatic bids will be awarded at the CCC Championships, 10 more than at any other conference tournament in the NAIA. Additionally, the NAIA will award a total of 30 at-large bids – three at each weight class – upon the conclusion of the conference tournaments.
The CCC’s number of automatic bids per weight class are as follows: 125 (6), 133 (5), 141 (1), 149 (3), 157 (3), 165 (6), 174 (8), 184 (6), 197 (7), 285 (5).
CCC TEAM POINTS RANKINGS: 1 Menlo (Calif.) 181, 2. Eastern Oregon 158, 3. Providence (Mont.) 144.5, 4. Southern Oregon 128, 5. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 124, 6. Vanguard (Calif.) 120.5, 7. Montana State-Northern 93.5, 8. Corban 58.5, 9. Arizona Christian 33, 10. Simpson (Calif.) 20
SOU TOURNAMENT ENTRIES:
133 – Simon Graeber
Overall/Dual Record: 12-7/4-3
Rankings: #8 CCC
Postseason History: First appearance.
133 – Evan Potter
Overall/Dual Record: 17-1/12-0
Rankings: #3 CCC, #7 NAIA
Postseason History: Placed seventh in the CCC as a freshman last season, but was awarded an at-large bid to the national tournament based on his No. 17 ranking … Went on to place sixth at the NAIA Championships with three major upsets, including one of the No. 2 overall seed … Posted a perfect dual record this year and took his only loss against Menlo’s Jovan Garcia.
141 – Anthony Perez
Overall/Dual Record: 3-5/1-3
Rankings: #7 CCC
Postseason History: First appearance.
141 – Derek Ramos
Overall/Dual Record: 9-6/3-3
Rankings: #5 CCC
Postseason History: First appearance.
149 – Aaron Gandara
Overall/Dual Record: 21-5/13-0
Rankings: #1 CCC, #6 NAIA
Postseason History: Won the 2022 CCC title at 157 pounds after entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed, going 4-0 with two pins … Went on to place sixth at the NAIA Championships as the No. 10 seed with five tournament victories … Fresh off a perfect dual season.
157 – Dylan Straley
Overall/Dual Record: 14-9/8-4
Rankings: #3 CCC, #23 NAIA
Postseason History: First appearance.
157 – Travis Thorpe
Overall/Dual Record: 6-5/2-1
Rankings: #8 CCC
Postseason History: Made his CCC Championships debut last year, going two-and-out at 149.
165 – Jordan Faifai
Overall/Dual Record: 15-11/3-6
Rankings: NR
Postseason History: First appearance.
174 – Alex Hernandez
Overall/Dual Record: 20-6/11-3
Rankings: #3 CCC, #9 NAIA
Postseason History: First appearance.
184 – Kabb Christensen
Overall/Dual Record: 15-11/8-7
Rankings: #8 CCC
Postseason History: First appearance.
197 – Andrew Herrera
Overall/Dual Record: 16-8/8-6
Rankings: #8 CCC
Postseason History: First appearance.
285 – Antonio Garcia
Overall/Dual Record: 17-9/11-4
Rankings: #5 CCC, #24 NAIA
Postseason History: First appearance.
Content used with permission, compliments of SOU Sports
Photo by Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
