By: Bobby Heiken, Associate Athletic Director
ASHLAND – The second-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team closed out the regular season with an impressive 41-6 rout of Pacific during Senior Night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon wraps up the regular season with 12-3 dual record and will head to Great Falls, Mont., next week for the NAIA Regional Qualifying Tournament.
Senior
Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg), the top-ranked 125-pounder, put the Raiders on the board in the opening match with a pin of Pacific's Daylin Ruggerio in 2:41. The two-time NAIA National Champion and three-time All-American wasted no time jumping to a 10-1 lead on Ruggerio just a minute into the action. The victory improves Lofstedt's record to 28-1 on the season and 146-19 for his career. He now has 17 pins this year and 76 pins for his career.
After a Pacific win at 133, the Raiders started to roll.
Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore./West Linn), the top-ranked wrestler at 133, moved up to 141 and it showed no ill-effects as he scored a pin in 5:23.
Second-ranked
Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) scored a 9-1 major decision victory at 149 and 11th-ranked
Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) also had a major decision victory at 157 to pace the Raiders out to a 20-3 lead halfway through the dual.
Senior
Derek Mestrovich (Boise, Idaho/Skyview) kept the momentum on SOU's side at 165 with a 13-7 victory, while top-ranked
Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) jumped out to a dominating early lead at 174 before scoring a pin in 4:09.
Second-ranked
Taylor Johnson (Redmond, Ore./Redmond) scored SOU's fourth pin of the night at 197 in 48 seconds and
Bubba Owens (Tillamook, Ore./) recorded pin No. 5 with a fall in 1:35 in the heavyweight match.
#2 Southern Oregon 41, Pacific 6
125 – (SOU) #1
Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) fall Daylin Ruggerio, 2:41
133 – (PU) Eric Harder dec. #4
Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver), 8-7
141 – (SOU)
Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) fall Ryan Baxter, 5:23
149 – (SOU) #2
Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) major dec. Will Patrick, 9-1
157 – (SOU) #11
Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) major dec. Dillon Ford, 10-0
165 – (SOU)
Derek Mestrovich (Boise, Idaho/Skyview) dec. Bruce Balcita, 13-7
174 – (SOU) #1
Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) fall Michael Tyner, 4:09
184 – (PU) Caleb Malychewski dec.
Tyler Thomas (Salem, Ore./McKay), 7-3
197 – (SOU) #2
Taylor Johnson (Redmond, Ore./Redmond) fall Chris Harlin, 0:48
HWT – (SOU) #16
Bubba Owens (Tillamook, Ore./) fall Evan Schreurs, 1:35