7 p.m. Friday – San Francisco State at SOU – Live Results | Live Stream

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's wrestling team will try on a new venue in its last appearance in Ashland until February.

The Raiders, ranked sixth in the NAIA and sporting a 2-2 dual record, will host the San Francisco State Gators at 7 p.m. Friday at the Ashland Middle School gym. The Gators, an NCAA Division II member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, are 0-4 and have wrestled exclusively against Division I competition. SOU is 19-4 in the head-to-head series, but the teams haven't met in five seasons and the Gators haven't visited Ashland since Dec. 13, 2008.

Briefly:
– Three individuals won titles SOU's last time out, Nov. 20 at the Spokane Open: Tyler Cowger (149 pounds), Devin Poppen (141) and Hunter Hodges (157). Each of those Raiders went 5-0 with two pins.
– At 12-0 this season, Cowger has run his career record to 93-26, tying him with SOU and NAIA hall-of-famer J.D. Alley (1985-88) for the eighth-most wins in SOU history. With seven more wins, he'd become the sixth Raider to get to 100. Dating back to his sophomore season, Cowger has won 17 straight dual matches.
– Included in Hodges' 13-1 overall record are four dual wins: two by fall, one by technical fall and another by sudden victory.
– Caleb Dix, a freshman from North Medford, is slated to fill in at 133 pounds for Casey Coulter, who is 7-2 on the season but is currently nursing an injury. Dix had a strong showing at the Spokane Open, placing fifth with two pins, two major decisions and one decision. Coulter is expected to wrestle at 125, where he was an All-American last year, when he returns.
– In their first dual against Eastern Oregon in 41 years, the Raiders erased a 10-0 deficit to win 28-10 in La Grande on Nov. 18, clinching the victory on Tanner Fischer's pin at 197 pounds. The Raiders will host EOU on Feb. 4 – their only other remaining home date.
– The Raiders are 24-2 in dual action at home over the last five seasons. AMS will be the fourth venue SOU has called "home" since construction on McNeal Pavilion began last year – Ashland High, Phoenix High and the Medford Armory being the others.

About S.F. State: The Gators are 10th of 15 teams in the latest NCAA Div. II Super Region IV rankings. They're expected to be without their top gun, Sal Alnassiri, who was No. 5 in the nation in the preseason. They'll feature two wrestlers who are ranked fifth in Super Region IV: Johnathon Costa (197), who qualified for the Div. II championships last year at 184, and Landon Meyers (157). They've been outscored 162-17 in four duals, including losses to No. 12 Rutgers and No. 27 Indiana.

Next Up: The Raiders have two duals scheduled for Dec. 15 in Sweet Home – 5 p.m. against seventh-ranked Montana state-Northern and 7 p.m. against Clackamas Community College. Their final date until 2017 is at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18.

SOU PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Ian Rogers (3-7)
133 – Caleb Dix (5-2)
141 – 3W/14N Devin Poppen (12-2)
149 – 1W/2N Tyler Cowger (12-0)
157 – 1W/3N Hunter Hodges (13-1)
165 – 2W/12N Chandler Michael (9-4)
174 – James Bowers (2-5)
184 – 3W/15N Max Hane (9-2)
197 – 1W/6N Tanner Fischer (5-5)
285 – 5W Alejandro Sandoval (7-7)