LA GRANDE – Southern Oregon made Joel Gibson's first dual win as head men's wrestling coach one to remember Saturday night at Quinn Coliseum.

The Raiders pulled off a 23-18 road upset of rival and No. 19-ranked Eastern Oregon, holding on after winning five of the first six matches in their first outing of the season.

Pancho Barrera, SOU's No. 13-ranked 125-pounder, put momentum on his team's side from the start with a pin of Raul Ruiz. Freshman Evan Potter, a Junction City product, then worked a 15-0 technical fall at 133 over Luciano Fasulo, the NAIA's 18th-ranked 125-pounder. Zack Wigzell made it three straight to start the dual by edging Monte Zufelt, 11-10, at 141.

The Raiders led 23-3 after Fresno State transfer Aaron Gandara (157) pinned Ryan Ninman and highly-touted freshman Pudge Monroy (165) earned a 10-4 win over Malakai Moyer. The cushion proved to be enough.

Gibson took over the program prior to last season, but SOU's 2020-21 slate was wiped out due to state restrictions limiting full-contact sports that were in place until late February. Coming into the night, his team had lost three straight matchups against the Mountaineers dating back to 2019.

EOU took the final four matches, ending its run with sixth-ranked Noel Orozco's pin of Jay Juarez in the heavyweight battle for the team's only bonus points of the night.

The Raiders will be in action again Sunday at EOU in the Mountaineer Open. They'll come home after to host Menlo (Calif.) next Thursday.

SOUTHERN OREGON 23, EASTERN OREGON 18
125 – Pancho Barrera, SOU, p. Raul Ruiz. (6-0)
133 – Evan Potter, SOU, tech. fall Luciano Fasulo, 15-0. (11-0)
141 – Zack Wigzell, SOU, dec. Monte Zufelt, 11-10. (14-0)
149 – Chad Muenzer, EOU, dec. Nick Peterson, 8-6. (14-3)
157 – Aaron Gandara, SOU, p. Ryan Ninman. (20-3)
165 – Pudge Monroy, SOU, dec. Malakai Moyer, 10-4. (23-3)
174 – John Bittinger, EOU, dec. Layn Pannkuk, 16-12. (23-6)
184 – Keegan Mulhill, EOU, dec. Noah Talavera, 6-3. (23-9)
197 – Jay Smith, EOU, dec. John White, 7-6. (23-12)
285 – Noel Orozco, EOU, p. Jay Juarez. (23-18)