COMPLETE RESULTS

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – Two-time NAIA All-American Evan Potter won the 141-pound title with an upset of the top-ranked wrestler in his class and was among four top-three placers for Southern Oregon on Saturday at the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriot Open, the team's first outing of the season.

Dylan Straley was the 157-pound runner-up, while Alex Hernandez (174 pounds) and John White (184) both placed third. Simon Graeber (133) and Andrew Herrera (197) were fourth in their brackets and Kabb Christensen (197) was fifth.

The No. 20-ranked Raiders went 47-19 overall in the open brackets, giving them the third-best winning percentage (.712) and the fourth-most victories out of 25 teams at the tournament.

Potter – a junior from Junction City settling into a new weight class after previously wrestling at 133 – made a convincing case to move up from his preseason No. 3 ranking with a 9-3 win against No. 1 Pat Gould of Keiser (Fla.) in the 141 championship. He got there by opening the tourney with a pin and going through the quarterfinals and semis with back-to-back decisions.

Straley was unranked at 157 in the preseason, but that is likely to change after he posted two upsets of his own. His opening-match technical fall preceded a first-round pin of No. 17 Brent Hudgins from Midway (Ky.), a 5-4 decision over Andrew Torres from Lourdes (Ohio), and a 4-3 decision over No. 19 Elijah Chacon from Indiana Tech. He dropped an 8-0 major decision to Southeastern (Fla.)'s No. 12 Andreus Bond in the final.

Hernandez, ranked No. 8 at 174, went 5-1 on the day with four bonus-point victories. White went 4-1 at 184 with a pin and four decisions, defeating Indiana Tech's Michael Durhman by 5-4 decision in the third-place match.

Graeber added five victories. Herrera went 4-1 with three bonus-point wins.

The Raiders are off until their first dual of the season, Nov. 17 at rival Eastern Oregon.

1st place – Evan Potter (141)
2nd place – Dylan Straley (157)
3rd place – Alex Hernandez (174), John White (184)
4th place – Simon Graeber (133), Andrew Herrera (197)
5th place – Kabb Christensen (197)
6th place – Vonn Fenn (125 freshman/sophomore)
No place – Anthony Perez (141), Travis Thorpe (149), Noah Talavera (165), Ayden Wolgamott (174), Brayden Clayburn (285)