No. 20 RAIDER MEN'S WRESTLING (1-1)
7 p.m. Friday – vs. Arizona Christian | Live Results
5 p.m. Saturday – vs. Linfield | Live Results
LIVE STREAMS | TICKETS

NAIA TOP 20 | INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's wrestling team is home for the first time this weekend with duals at 7 p.m. Friday against Arizona Christian and 5 p.m. Saturday against Linfield inside Bob Riehm Arena.

The Raiders (1-1 overall) enter the matchups banged up. They'll be without top-ranked Evan Potter (141 pounds), No. 8-ranked Simon Graeber (133), and All-American Aaron Gandara (157), who has yet to compete this season after opening the preseason at No. 10. They started their dual season with a 20-17 win at then-No. 17 Eastern Oregon three weeks ago, but followed up last Saturday with a shorthanded 26-10 loss at Corban.

NAIA RANKINGS: The Raiders moved down one spot to No. 20 in Thursday's latest coaches' poll, putting them behind three teams within the Cascade Conference: No. 3 Menlo (Calif.), No. 6 Providence (Mont.) and No. 12 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.). The drop was due to Gandara falling out of the individual rankings, a product of his absence to this point on the mat.

Otherwise, Graeber climbed 11 spots to No. 8 after beginning the season unranked, thanks in large part to his dual upset of EOU's No. 5 Braden Carson. Potter retained the No. 1 spot at 141; after moving up a weight class prior to the season, he upset then-No. 1 Pat Gould of Keiser (Fla.) on Nov. 4 at the Cumberlands Patriot Open. Alex Hernandez moved up two spots to No. 8 at 174, Andrew Herrera stayed at No. 16 at 197, and Dylan Straley went to No. 21 at 157.

SOU vs. ARIZONA CHRISTIAN: The Firestorm, a fifth-year program, enter the matchup at 3-2 after dropping back-to-back CCC duals last week to Menlo (45-3) and Vanguard (23-14). They finished ninth in the conference last season and feature one ranked individual, No. 17 Kaden Martin (184). SOU is 2-0 in head-to-head matchups, having outscored ACU 65-9 combined.

SOU vs. LINFIELD: The Wildcats are a second-year NCAA Division III program operating under new head coach Frank Johnson, formerly of Warner Pacific. They stand at 0-2 in dual action, and lost a 37-12 decision to SOU in the teams' first ever meeting last year in McMinnville. Their wrestler to watch is heavyweight Jacob Barnes, who is ranked No. 14 in the country after placing fifth in the Upper Midwest Region last season.

SOU PROBABLE LINEUP
(C – Cascade Conference ranking; N – NAIA ranking)
125 – Vonn Fenn: Has a 9-5 overall record and is 0-2 in duals with both losses coming against top-10 opponents … Won the 125 title last week at the Clackamas Open with three pins and a technical fall.
133 – Open
141 – Anthony Perez: Appearing in dual action for the first time after starting 5-5 in tournament matches … Placed sixth last week at the Clackamas Open … Went 1-2 at the 2022-23 CCC Championships.
149 – 6C Travis Thorpe: Stands at 5-3 overall and 1-1 in duals … Won a 9-8 decision against Corban's Bo Davis last week … Took fifth in the CCC at 157 pounds last season.
157 – 5C/21N Dylan Straley: Enters at 9-3 overall after taking second at the Cumberlands Patriot Open (with upsets of the Nos. 17 and 19 individuals in the NAIA) and third at the Clackamas Open … Is 1-1 in dual matches, his loss coming last week against Corban's No. 4 David Rubio … Placed fourth in the CCC last season at 157.
165 – Noah Talavera: Enters at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in duals … Was ranked No. 20 in the preseason last year before redshirting.
174 – 2C/8N Alex Hernandez: Stands at 7-1 overall with five bonus-point victories and a 2-0 dual record … Qualified for the NAIA Championships last season after placing third in the CCC … Is 13-3 in duals since joining SOU prior to 2022-23.
184 – John White: Boasts an 8-4 overall record and is 0-2 in duals … Placed third at the Cumberlands Patriot Open and second at the Clackamas Open
197 – 3C/16N Andrew Herrera: Enters at 7-4 overall and dropped his only dual match to then-No. 19 Jay Smith of EOU … Qualified for the NAIA Championships and reached the quarterfinals in 2022-23, his first season with the Raiders, after taking fourth in the CCC.
285 – Sebastian Echeverria: Will be in the lineup Friday, coming in at 9-5 overall and 0-1 in dual action … Placed fourth last week at the Clackamas Open.
285 – Brayden Clayburn: Will get the nod Saturday, entering at 2-5 overall and 0-1 in duals.

ARIZONA CHRISTIAN PROBABLE LINEUP
(C – Cascade Conference ranking; N – NAIA ranking)
125 – 6C James Maheras
133 – Jason Ramirez
141 – 6C Terrell Kinlicheenie
149 – Channing Porter
157 – 5C Rico Robles
165 – Abram Sanchez
174 – Bronson Swan
184 – 4C/17N Kaden Martin
197 – 8C Michael Moreno
285 – 7C Kaiden Cisneros or 8C Zion Longsine

LINFIELD PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Shoaib Amanzad
133 – Max Vander Meide
141 – Sean Craven
149 – Open
157 – Jakob Jarvis
165 – Open
174 – Ethan Ensrud
184 – Darrius Walker
197 – Divenson Willis
285 – Jacob Barnes or Julian Ortiz