ASHLAND – The top-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team won three of the final four matches to take down eighth-ranked Great Falls 23-17 Friday night at Bob Riehm Arena.

Southern Oregon, winners of six straight duals dating back to last season, hosts the annual SOU Open starting Saturday at 3 p.m. and concluding Sunday morning with the championships slated to start around noon.

"That was a quality team we wrestled tonight," SOU head coach Mike Ritchey said. "It was a tight dual and could have gone either way. The upper weights stepping up tonight was huge for us.”

SOU started off on fire as top-ranked 125-pounder and two-time defending NAIA National Champion Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) recorded a pin in 4:23 to give the Raiders the quick 6-0 lead. Ninth-ranked Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver) (133) made the score 9-0 with a 9-4 victory over 16th-ranked Luke Zeiger.

Great Falls battled back to take a 10-9 lead after a fall by third-ranked Myles Mazurkiewicz (141) and a major decision by fifth-ranked Mike Vasser (149).

SOU regained the lead at 12-10 in dramatic fashion at 157 as Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) scored a takedown with seven seconds left to knock off eighth-ranked Ryan Leonard 4-2.

Great Falls came right back at 165 with a 7-1 decision by Shawn Lau before Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) brought the Raiders back again in dominating fashion. The top-ranked 174-pounder scored an impressive 16-1 technical fall victory over Brock Picard to give the Raiders a 17-13 advantage and the lead for good with three matches remaining.

"Any time you can get bonus points it's great,” Ritchey said. “It allows us to walk away with the victory. Without those bonus points we're scrambling."

Tenth-ranked Tyler Thomas (Salem, Ore./McKay) and Ethen Hinton scored back-to-back decisions in the 184 and 197 to clinch the dual for the Raiders. Thomas' victory came as a result of a takedown with 26 seconds left to claim a 4-2 victory.

Complete Match Results:

125 – (SOU) #1 Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) fall #5 Danny Luttrell, 4:23
133 – (SOU) #9 Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver) dec. #16 Luke Zeiger, 9-4
141 – (UGF) #3 Myles Mazurkiewicz fall #13 Justin Eldred (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 4:40
149 – (UGF) #5 Mike Vassar major dec. Craig Trask (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon), 11-3
157 – (SOU) Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) dec. #8 Ryan Leonard, 4-2
165 – (UGF) #13 Shawn Lau dec. Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon), 7-1
174 – (SOU) #1 Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) tech. fall Brock Picard, 7:00
184 – (SOU) #10 Tyler Thomas (Salem, Ore./McKay) dec. Adam Wolfe, 4-2
197 – (SOU) Ethan Hinton (Sequim, Wash./Sequim) dec. #16 Dylan Lemery, 7-4
285 – (UGF) #7 Sears Tiernan major dec. Tanner Marval (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 13-3