By: Josh McDermott, SOU Sports Information Director
ATHERTON, Calif. – Six Southern Oregon University wrestlers placed Saturday at the Menlo Tournament, helping the sixth-ranked Raiders to third place out of eight schools represented.
Three Raiders claimed second place in their respective classes: Jacob Abrams (The Dalles, Ore./The Dalles-Wahtonka) (184 pounds), Clayton Burtis (Colton, Ore./Colton) (285) and Tyler Cowger (Sweet Home, Ore./Sweet Home) (149). Garrett Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) (165) placed third, and Travis Patrick (Castle Rock, Wash./Castle Rock) (157) and Tucker Van Matre (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) both took home fourth.
SOU accumulated 66.5 team points. San Francisco State won it with 109.5 and Menlo was second with 96.5.
"It was good to get back on the mats again," SOU coach Mike Ritchey said. "We had some up-and-comers with some good, hard matches."
Cowger, a freshman, pinned Menlo's Jose Maldando in 6:02 in his first bout and won a 4-1 decision against unattached Nicholas Cano, but lost by fall to Menlo's Jason Ladd in the 149-pound final.
Abrams won three times: by 5-4 decision over Menlo's Erick Parsons, by 17-1 technical fall over Cal Baptist's Bradley Beaudette, and by 14-5 major decision over unattached Nick Karis. San Francisco State's Zach Jiminez defeated Abrams by fall in the championship in 7:20.
After a first-round bye, Burtis won a 7-3 quarterfinal decision against San Francisco State's Sam Alnassiri and pinned SImpson's Augie Alcantar in 3:39 in the semis. San Francisco State's Hildelv Manzur won the heavyweight title with a 3-2 decision against Burtis.
Urrutia went 3-1 on the day, while Van Matre and Patrick were both 3-2.
The Raiders will be back in action Friday at 7 p.m., working on a 3-2 dual record against Pacific in Forest Grove.
TEAM SCORES – San Francisco State 109.5, Menlo 96.5, Southern Oregon 66.5, Southwestern Oregon 55, S.F. State (unattached) 32.5, Simpson 30.5, Cal State Bakersfield (unattached) 16, California Baptist 14, California Baptist (unattached) 12.5, Simpson (unattached) 9, Cal Poly (unattached) 0.5.
