TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The seventh-ranked Southern Oregon men's wrestling team is still alive in the NWCA-NAIA National Duals consolation bracket after going 2-1 Thursday on the first day of two days at the tournament inside Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

The Raiders (4-5 overall) opened the morning session with a first-round 29-14 win over 13th-ranked Cumberland (Tenn.) in which they won seven matches. In the quarterfinals, they split 10 contests with Baker (Kan.), but the Wildcats advanced by scoring bonus points in four of their five victories – including David Dow's first-round pin at 285 pounds that turned an 18-17 deficit into a 23-18 win.

SOU defeated Northwestern (Iowa) 34-12 in its consolation dual, setting up Friday's 9 a.m. Eastern Time matchup with 13th-ranked Campbellsville (Ky.). The winner will move on to face Cumberland or Missouri Valley in the fifth-place dual at 2 p.m., and the losers will wrestle for seventh place at the same time.

Tanner Fischer, SOU's seventh-ranked 197-pounder, went 3-0 on the day with a pair of wins by fall. Third-ranked Hunter Hodges (157 pounds) and 14th-ranked Devin Poppen (141) recorded pins in both of SOU's winning efforts.

The Raiders took five of the first six weight classes against Cumberland to go up 23-6: seventh-ranked Casey Coulter (125) won a 3-2 decision over Sean Nguyen; Poppen (141) pinned 15th-ranked Austin Meyn in 4:41; second-ranked Tyler Cowger (149) scored a 15-0 technical fall against Evan Cole; Hodges (157) pinned No. 12 Nate Croley in 1:56; and Aaron DeMay (165) upset No. 16 Peter Donchev, 7-4. Fischer (197) and heavyweight Alejandro Sandoval capped SOU's scoring with a pair of decisions – Fischer 7-4 over Robert Enmon, and Sandoval in a 7-6 tiebreaker over Tommie Turner.

Against Baker, they were put in a 17-9 hole through 174 pounds – Justin Acuff (141), Hodges (157) and Chandler Michael (165) secured decisions for the Raiders – as the Wildcats started with two bonus-point wins and top-ranked Victor Hughes (149) ended Cowger's 20-match dual win streak in a 7-0 decision and rematch of last year's NAIA 149-pound championship. The dual took a turn when Andrew Orr (184) earned an 11-4 win against Jacob Smith and Fischer (197) pinned William Leone in 4:38, giving SOU an 18-17 edge. However, Bow responded with a pin of Sandoval in 1:39 to clinch Baker's upset.

After dropping the first two matches against Northwestern by decision, SOU rattled off six of the final eight wins, including five by fall. Poppen (141), Michael (157), Hodges (165), Fischer (197) and Sandoval (285) each notched pins, and Cowger (149) worked a 10-1 major decision. With the exception of Sandoval's second-round victory, every other Raider pin occurred in the first period.

Hodges went to 9-0 this season in dual action. And Cowger, with his next triumph, would become the sixth individual in Raider history to hit the 100-win mark. His career record currently stands at 99-29.

SOUTHERN OREGON 29, CUMBERLAND 14 (first round)
125 – Casey Coulter, SOU, dec. Sean Nguyen, 3-2. (3-0)
133 – Sammy Rosario, CU, p. Caleb Dix, 2:01. (3-6)
141 – Devin Poppen, SOU, p. Austin Meyn, 4:41. (9-6)
149 – Tyler Cowger, SOU, tech. fall Evan Cole, 15-0 (14-6)
157 – Hunter Hodges, SOU, p. Nate Croley, 1:56. (20-6)
165 – Aaron DeMay, SOU, dec. Peter Donchev, CU, 7-4. (23-6)
174 – Orlando Nawade, CU, dec. Andrew Orr, 3-1. (23-9)
184 – Kyle Delaune, CU, tech. fall Oscar Flores, 18-0. (23-14)
197 – Tanner Fischer, SOU, dec. Robert Enmon, CU, 7-4. (26-14)
285 – Alejandro Sandoval, SOU, dec. Tommie Turner, 7-6 (tiebreaker). (29-14)

BAKER 23, SOUTHERN OREGON 18 (quarterfinals)
125 – Zane Baugh, BU, p. Kale Evenson, 2:37. (0-6)
133 – Colby Watters, BU, major dec. Caleb Dix, 10-1. (0-10)
141 – Justin Acuff, SOU, dec. Tucker Clark, 8-2. (3-10)
149 – Victor Hughes, BU, dec. Tyler Cowger, 7-0. (3-13)
157 – Hunter Hodges, SOU, dec. Jonathan Blackwell, 5-4. (6-13)
165 – Chandler Michael, SOU, dec. Joshua Ortiz, 1-0. (9-13)
174 – Nick Moore, BU, major dec. James Bowers, 16-3. (9-17)
184 – Andrew Orr, SOU, dec. Jacob Smith, 11-4. (12-17)
197 – Tanner Fischer, SOU, p. William Leone, 4:38. (18-17)
285 – David Dow, BU, p. Alejandro Sandoval, 1:39. (18-23)

SOUTHERN OREGON 34, NORTHWESTERN 12 (consolation bracket)
125 – Austin Boles, NW, dec. Casey Coulter, 6-1. (0-3)
133 – Cole Mills, NW, dec. Caleb Dix, 7-1. (0-6)
141 – Devin Poppen, SOU, p. Dante Preciado, 1:18. (6-6)
149 – Tyler Cowger, SOU, major dec. Elijah Dahl, 10-1. (10-6)
157 – Chandler Michael, SOU, p. Dylan Costello, 0:31. (16-6)
165 – Hunter Hodges, SOU, p. Jake Clifton, 2:47. (22-6)
174 – Andras Lukacs-Farkas, NW, dec. Andrew Orr, 11-6. (22-9)
184 – Nick Null, NW, dec. Oscar Flores, 3-0. (22-12)
197 – Tanner Fischer, SOU, p. D'rell Gist, 2:14. (28-12)
285 – Alejandro Sandoval, SOU, p. Victor Garcia, 4:06. (34-12)