ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's wrestling team can added another title to its storied postseason history: Cascade Collegiate Conference champions. Or co-champions, at least.

The inaugural CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank set a bar for drama Saturday at Mountain Avenue Gym that will be hard reach again in coming years. The 10th-ranked Raiders and No. 7 Menlo (Calif.) earned shares of the title with 120 points apiece, while No. 6 Providence (Mont.) was just one point back and No. 13 Montana State-Northern was three off the top.

The standings weren't solidified until the final bout of the night – the heavyweight championship, which Providence's 12th-ranked Matt Hopkins won by 10-4 decision over Menlo's sixth-ranked Javier Gonzalez. Had Hopkins added a bonus point, the result would've been a three-way tie for first.

SOU's fourth-ranked Devin Poppen repeated as a champion at 141 pounds – last year he won the NAIA West Region, which was comprised of the same eight teams that now make up the CCC – and third-ranked Tanner Fischer delivered the Raiders' second individual title at 197 pounds, which also forced a tie for good with Menlo.

SOU got clutch performances from its lightweights, too: Junior 125-punder Trey Long placed second after coming into the day seeded sixth, upsetting second-ranked Nick Kunz of MSU-Northern, 7-5, and 14th-ranked Chandler Strand of Embry-Riddle, 11-5, on his way to the title match; and junior Matt Peterson made the 133-pound final after coming in seeded third. Peterson added a bonus point with a quarterfinal pin of Warner Pacific's Lucas Higginbotham before edging Menlo's Elias Hernandez, 3-2, in the semis.

Seventh-ranked junior Chandler Michael joined them as an all-conference performer by taking third at 149 pounds. Andrew Ramirez (149), Hunter Hodges (157) and Alejandro Sandoval (197) also secured automatic bids to the NAIA Championships; Ramirez placed fourth with three wins, Hodges claimed a 3-2 fifth-place match against teammate Tanner Canaday, and Sandoval benefited from a favorable draw to place sixth without a win in a seven-person bracket.

Automatic bids were allotted according to the number of nationally-ranked wrestlers in each weight class.

Poppen, the No. 1 seed, improved to 30-7 on the season. He started the day with his 17th pin, getting Eastern Oregon's Jared Brant 4:38 into their quarterfinal match, and hung on for a 1-0 win over Embry-Riddle's Cameron Huizar in the semis. He took on the No. 2 seed, fifth-ranked Matt Weber of MSU-Northern in the final, and maintained control throughout a 12-9 decision.

Fischer's 197-pound bracket was the only one with six ranked individuals. He was the favorite, but had to start by coming back for an 8-6 sudden victory over Providence's John Hensley, who defeated him last year in the 197 final and had won a dual matchup earlier this season. Fischer pinned EOU's 12th-ranked Eric Fan in the second round of the semis, then muscled up for a 4-1 win over sixth-ranked Isaac Bartel of MSU-Northern in the final.

With 117 points, MSU-Northern's downfall was a 0-4 mark in championship matches.

At 149, Michael had to bounce back from a semifinal loss to 16th-ranked Terrill Sidner of Menlo. He pinned Menlo's 20th-ranked Jeffrey Uyesaka in the consolation semis, then took a 5-3 decision from Simpson's Joseph Alexander for third.

Ramirez, after winning by fall to reach the 141 consolation semis, won by sudden victory on a near fall against Huizar to stay alive. Canaday and Hodges both won two consolations after quarterfinal losses to reach the fifth-place match.

Zane Wardwell (285) also contributed points with a fourth-place finish. He got his lone win by injury default. C.J. McKinnis placed sixth, adding two more consolation victories.

TEAM SCORES – T-1. Southern Oregon 120, T-1. Menlo (Calif.) 120, 3. Providence (Mont.) 119, 4. Montana State-Northern 117, 5. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 98.5, 6. Eastern Oregon 76, 7. Warner Pacific 39.5, 8. Simpson (Calif.) 11.5

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
125 – Trey Long (2nd)
Quarterfinal – Long dec. #2 Nick Kunz, MSUN, 7-5.
Semifinal – Long dec. #14 Chandler Strand, ERAU, 11-5.
Final – Mikel Perales, MC, dec. Long, 10-6.

133 – Matt Peterson (2nd)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – Peterson p. Lucas Higginbotham, WPU, 5:46.
Semifinal – Peterson dec. Elias Hernandez, Menlo, 3-2.
Final – Blake McNall, EOU, dec. Peterson, 9-7.

141 – Devin Poppen (1st)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – Poppen p. Jared Brant, EOU, 4:38.
Semifinal – Poppen dec. #19 Cameron Huizar, ERAU, 1-0.
Final – Poppen dec. #5 Matt Weber, MSUN, 12-9.

141 – Andrew Ramirez (4th)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – David Salazar, ERAU, p. Ramirez, 1:20.
Consolation R2 – Ramirez dec. Zachery Sias, WPU, 9-5.
Consolation R3 – Ramirez p. Pavlin Blas, WPU, 6:39.
Consolation Semifinal – Ramirez dec. #19 Cameron Huizar, ERAU, 7-1 (SV).
Final – David Salazar, ERAU, dec. Ramirez, 8-6.

149 – Chandler Michael (3rd)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – Michael p. Kaleb Ballard, EOU, 2:23.
Semifinal – #16 Terrill Sidner, MC, dec. Michael, 6-2.
Consolation Semifinal – Michael p. #20 Jeffrey Uyesaka, MC, 6:48.
3rd-place Match – Michael dec. Joseph Alexander, Simp., 5-3.

149 – Scottie Stockman
Round 1 – #20 Jeffrey Uyesaka, MC, dec. Stockman, 9-4.
Consolation R1 – Bye.
Consolation R2 – Joseph Alexander, Simpson, dec. Stockman, 7-6 (SV).

157 – Tanner Canaday (6th)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – #6 James Williams, ERAU, dec. Canaday, 6-3.
Consolation R2 – Canaday major dec. Noah Marquez, Simpson, 13-4.
Consolation R3 – Canaday major dec. Kevin James, MC, 13-4.
Consolation Semifinal – #11 Casey Dobson, UP, major dec. Canaday, 11-3.
5th-place Match – Hunter Hodges, SOU, dec. Canaday, 3-2.

157 – Hunter Hodges (5th)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – #11 Casey Dobson, UP, dec. Hodges.
Consolation R2 – Hodges dec. Marco Retano, EOU, 9-6.
Consolation R3 – Hodges major dec. Robert Frasier, WPU, 10-2.
Consolation Semifinal – #8 Brandon Weber, MSUN, dec. Hodges, 8-4.
5th-place Match – Hodges dec. Tanner Canday, SOU, 3-2.

174 – C.J. McKinnis (6th)
Round 1 – Bye.
Quarterfinal – Chris Nile, MSUN, major dec. McKinnis, 12-1.
Consolation R2 – McKinnis dec. Keegan Dorsey, EOU, 11-5.
Consolation R3 – McKinnis dec. Jonathan Moskowitz, WPU, 7-5.
Consolation Semifinal – #14 Kody Davis, ERAU, p. McKinnis, 2:45.
5th-place Match – Chase Short, MSUN, dec. McKinnis, 10-8 (SV).

197 – Tanner Fischer (1st)
Quarterfinal – Fischer dec. #8 John Hensley, UP, 8-6 (SV).
Semifinal – Fischer p. #12 Eric Fan, EOU, 5:35.
Final – Fischer dec. #6 Isaac Bartel, MSUN, 4-1.

197 – Alejandro Sandoval (6th)
Quarterfinal – #7 Jovan Villalobos, MC, dec. Sandoval, 5-1.
Consolation R1 – Bye.
Consolation Semifinal – #12 Eric Fan, EOU, dec. Sandoval, 6-1.
5th-place Match – #7 Jovan Villalobos, MC, dec. Sandoval, 5-3.

285 – Zane Wardwell (4th)
Quarterfinal – #6 Javier Gonzalez, MC, p. Wardwell, 1:37.
Consolation R1 – Bye.
Consolation Semifinal – Wardwell won by injury default.
3rd-place Match – Justin Harbison, UP, p. Wardwell, 1:46.