DAY ONE BRACKET

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The second-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team dominated a pair of duals Saturday afternoon, taking down No. 13 Missouri Baptist 42-6 in the opening round and defeating No. 12 Baker 34-11 in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.

Southern Oregon improved to 5-0 in dual matches this season with the victories, and the Raiders will take on No. 3 Great Falls Sunday at 11 a.m. CST with a berth in the championship dual at stake.

“We wrestled well today,” SOU head coach Mike Ritchey said. “Our conditioning has been good, but we will have even tougher matches tomorrow. It's been a team effort as all 13 wrestlers had matches today. We've held up our seed so far, but we are taking it one match at a time. The idea is to score at least one more point than the opposing team.”

Top-ranked Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) led the way for the Raiders with pins in the 125-pound opener of both duals, taking down No. 6 Gabriel Roman in 4:19 during the first match and defeating unranked Alan Callahan in 1:42 in the quarterfinals. Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) followed suit, as the nation's top-ranked 174-pounder pinned Andrew Carter-Johnson of Missouri Baptist in five minutes flat before taking down sixth-ranked Parker Owen of Baker in 1:24.

Southern Oregon's other top-ranked wrestlers, 133-pounder Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) and 149-pounder Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak), also posted undefeated marks on the day. Eggemeyer won bouts in both duals, including knocking off No. 8 Nick Haugen in a narrow 7-3 decision during the quarterfinals. Garner took down No. 9 Chris Padilla of Missouri Baptist by a 5-0 decision before No. 3 Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver) took his spot to defeat Allen Gassman of Baker in the quarterfinals.

The Raiders claimed the first two bouts of the Missouri Baptist dual before 15th-ranked Esmond Ford put the Wildcats on the board with a 3-2 decision victory over Justin Eldred (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass). Southern Oregon quickly put the match away, however, winning each of the next four bouts by fall. The quarterfinal matchup was even less in doubt, as Southern Oregon won the first seven bouts before the Wildcats picked up victories in two of the final three.

Sunday morning the Raiders will take on a third-ranked Great Falls team that SOU beat 23-17 on Nov. 16 in Ashland. The winner will advance to the 3 p.m. CST championship match against either No. 1 – and defending NAIA champion – Grand View or No. 5 Campbellsville.

“We face an improved Great Falls team and are looking at a what on paper looks to be a tight dual,” Ritchey said. “We have to fight for every point and avoid giving up bonuses to come out on top in the first dual. We are focused on the semis and we need to come out firing on all cylinders to get a win.”

Quarterfinals: #2 Southern Oregon 34, #12 Baker 11
125 – (SOU) #1 Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) fall Alan Callahan, 1:42
133 – (SOU) #3 Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver) dec. Allen Gassman, 4-2
141 – (SOU) Justin Eldred (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass) maj. dec. #10 Joel Olivas, 12-3
149 – (SOU) #1 Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) dec. #8 Nick Haugen, 7-3
157 – (SOU) #11 Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) dec. Connor Middleton, 6-2
165 – (SOU) Bryson Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) dec. #10 Nathan Sommer, 6-1
174 – (SOU) #1 Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) fall #6 Parker Owen, 1:24
184 – (BU) Jarid Price fall Tucker Van Matre (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak), 6:41
197 – (SOU) #4 Taylor Johnson (Redmond, Ore./Redmond) fall Dylan Berg, 2:22
285 – (BU) #1 Brandon Gebhardt inj. def. #8 Bubba Owens (Tillamook, Ore./), 5:30


First Round: #2 Southern Oregon 42, #13 Missouri Baptist 6
125 – (SOU) #1 Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) fall #6 Gabriel Roman, 4:19
133 – (SOU) #1 Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) dec. #9 Chris Padilla, 5-0
141 – (MBU) #15 Esmond Ford dec. Justin Eldred (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 3-2
149 – (SOU) #1 Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) fall Alejandro Wajner, 2:12
157 – (SOU) #11 Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) fall Espen Conley, 4:03
165 – (SOU) #13 Derek Mestrovich (Boise, Idaho/Skyview) fall Davis Keleher, 1:51
174 – (SOU) #1 Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) fall Andrew Carter-Johnson, 5:00
184 – (MBU) #8 Weston Keleher dec. #12 Jacob Abrams (The Dalles, Ore./The Dalles-Wahtonka), 4-1
197 – (SOU) #4 Taylor Johnson (Redmond, Ore./Redmond) fall Michael Hahn, 1:21
285 – (SOU) #8 Bubba Owens (Tillamook, Ore./) dec. Luis Contreras, 6-3