(Editor's note: Eastern Oregon media release)
RENO, Nev. – In a Cascade Collegiate Conference dual in front of a large crowd at the Reno Tournament of Champions, the Eastern Oregon and No. 18 Montana State-Northern men’s wrestling teams put on a show on Friday night, as the Lights won 20-18 in a dramatic final match.
The Mountaineers (6-2, 1-1 CCC) battled back from an early 11-0 hole to take a 18-17 lead with one final match. The final bout pitted sophomore No. 12 Ryan Redford against No. 2-ranked Isaac Bartel of MSUN at 197 pounds. Bartel got the best of Redfor in the match, winning by a 10-3 decision to give the Lights the close 20-18 victory.
Junior Marco Retano remained undefeated on the year in the second to last match of the night, pinning his opponent Ethan Roetman in the first round to give the Mounties their first lead of the dual, 18-17. Retano’s win was a part of a three-match run for EOU, as sophomore No. 19 Keegan Mulhill won 3-0 over No. 17 Chase Short at 174 pounds for three points for the Mounties. Junior Josh Pine earned a forfeit and six points at 165 pounds.
The Mounties got one other win on the night at 141 pounds as senior No. 16-ranked Blake McNall won 3-0 over No. 14 Clayton Currier in a close 3-1 decision.
The night opened in the heavyweight division as the Lights put out four-straight ranked wrestlers. Cade Woodward did a good job to battle No. 12 Jase Stokes to just a 2-0 decision loss in the opener. The Lights won back-to-back major decisions at 125 and 133 pounds to go up 11-0. They later led 17-3 before EOU’s run of 15 points in a row.
Full Results
125 Rob Pair (MSUN) defeats Hunter Nees (EOU) (MD, 9-0)
133 Landon Bailey (MSUN) defeats Monte Zufelt (EOU) (MD, 13-5)
141 Blake McNall (EOU) defeats Clayton Currier (MSUN) (Dec, 3-1)
149 Lane Paulson (MSUN) defeats Daniel Rodriguez (EOU) (Dec, 7-4)
157 Caden Hilliard (MSUN) defeats Jesse Camacho (EOU) (Dec, 9-7)
165 Josh Pine (EOU) wins by forfeit
174 Keegan Mulhill (EOU) defeats Chase Short (MSUN) (Dec, 12-6)
184 Marco Retano (EOU) defeats Ethan Roetman (MSUN) (Fall, 2:24)
197 Isaac Bartel (MSUN) defeats Ryan Redford (EOU) (Dec, 10-3)
285 Jase Stokes (MSUN) defeats Cade Woodward (EOU) (Dec. 2-0)
