TEAM SCORES (final) – 1. Southern Oregon 174.5, 2. Providence (Mont.) 131.5, 3. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 116, 4. Arizona Christian 110, 5. Corban 78.5, 6. Eastern Oregon 74, 7. Montana State-Northern 72.5, 8. Westcliff (Calif.) 24, 9. Simpson (Calif.) 23, 10. Evergreen (Wash.) 15, 11. Hope International (Calif.) 6.5
 
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

SALEM – As the saying goes, the only thing harder than winning a title is defending it. Not so for the Southern Oregon men's wrestling team on Saturday at the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank.

The No. 6-ranked Raiders went back-to-back at the Salem Armory Auditorium and were set in the standings even before sweeping through their five championship matches. They finished with 174 ½ points, 33 more than second-place Providence (Mont.). In seven previous CCC Championship tournaments, no team had accumulated more than 156.

Asher Ruchti, a No. 4-ranked senior, defended his title at 197 pounds and was joined atop the podium by four first-time champions: No. 7-ranked sophomore Isaac Hampton at 125 pounds, No. 22-ranked sophomore Tyler Rhue at 141, No. 6-ranked junior Avant Stepherson at 157, and No. 4-ranked senior Adrian Chavez-Morales at 184.

SOU produced two additional All-CCC finishers in third-place sophomores Braylin Ruchti (174) and Elias Corona (184). Four more Raiders joined that group as automatic qualifiers for the NAIA Championships: fourth place Dylan Clark (141), and fifth place Kyle Sieminski (125), Cole Zoller (157) and Jackson Potts (174).

With 11 total automatic qualifiers, the Raiders will have their biggest group at the national tournament since taking second place 11 years ago. They could add one more to the party as a wild card in 149-pounder Kolton Malone, who was ranked No. 12 before he was eliminated on Friday.

For the second year in a row, Joel Gibson was voted the CCC Coach of the Year. In his sixth year as the team's leader, Gibson also led the Raiders to a 16-1 dual record. As anticipated, they led from start to finish of the tournament.

As for their title-winners, Hampton got through his 125 semifinal by sudden victory against Providence's No. 9 Kobi Johnson before accepting a medical forfeit in the final.

Rhue was SOU's only champion who did not enter as the top seed in his bracket and finished off a 5-0 weekend at 141 with a 5-4 win against Evergreen's Horacio Godinez.

Stepherson rallied back from a third-period deficit in his semifinal to win 14-9 over MSU-Northern's No. 20 Ryan Graves, then knocked off No. 7 Hunter Hobbs of Providence in overtime.

Chavez-Morales was another medical-forfeit winner in the 184 final – he only wrestled two matches on the weekend, winning by fall and technical fall – and Ruchti completed his run at 197 with back-to-back pins, getting Embry-Riddle's No. 9 Trenton Blomquist in 2:38 in the title bout.

The Raiders went 10-1 in placing matches. Clark, an All-CCC honoree last year, dropped his third-place match but only after pinning No. 4-ranked Yoshiya Funakosh of Embry-Riddle, the 141 bracket's top seed, in the consolation semis.

SOU will be in Park City, Kan., for the NAIA Championships from March 5-7. The final list of qualifiers will be revealed early next week.

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
125 – No. 7 Isaac Hampton (1st place)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinal – Hampton dec. No. 20 Boden Banta, UP, 4-1 (SV-1)
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – Hampton dec. No. 9 Kobi Johnson, UP, 8-1 (SV-1)
Championship – Hampton def. No. 6 Landon Smith, ERAU, by medical forfeit

125 – No. 17 Kyle Sieminski (5th place)
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Sieminski p. Joseph Davis, ESC, 2:47
Quarterfinal – No. 25 Christopher Calderon, WU, tech. fall Sieminski, 19-4 (5:25)
Consolation R2 – Sieminski dec. Jaren Kimura, ERAU, 4-1
Saturday's Results
Consolation R3 – Sieminski p. Jackson Eylar, EOU, 1:36
Consolation Semifinal – No. 9 Kobi Johnson, UP, p. Sieminski, 3:28
5th-place Match – Sieminski p. No. 25 Christopher Calderon, WU, 2:55

141 – Dylan Clark (4th place)
Friday's Results
Round 2 – Clark dec. No. 23 Adam Stanley, ERAU, 7-6
Quarterfinal – Clark dec. No. 14 Michael Trujillo, ACU, 4-1 (SV-1)
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – No. 25 Horacio Godinez, ESC, dec. Clark, 9-4
Consolation semifinal – Clark p. No. 4 Yoshiya Funakoshi, ERAU, 0:31
3rd-place Match – No. 14 Michael Trujillo, ACU, dec. Clark, 14-12

141 – No. 22 Tyler Rhue (1st place)
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Rhue p. Gerardo Hernandez, ESC, 3:20
Round 2 – Rhue dec. Santiago Pacheco, WU, 5-1
Quarterfinal – Rhue dec. No. 21 Channing Porter, ACU, 5-2
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – Rhue dec. Blake Runion, CRB, 7-0
Championship – Rhue dec. No. 25 Horacio Godinez, ESC, 5-4

149 – No. 12 Kolton Malone
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Malone tech. fall Orion Rhinehart, ESC, 16-0 (3:42)
Quarterfinal – Carlos Stanton, ACU, tech. fall Malone, 18-3 (2:28)
Consolation R2 – Rico Robles, ACU, dec. Malone, 8-5 (SV-1)

157 – No. 6 Avant Stepherson (1st place)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinal – Stepherson p. Gus Menne, CRB, 5:30
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – Stepherson dec. No. 20 Ryan Graves, MSUN, 14-9
Championship – Stepherson dec. No. 7 Hunter Hobbs, UP, 8-5 (SV-1)

157 – Cole Zoller (5th place)
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Zoller major dec. Keegan Hanson, MSUN, 14-2
Quarterfinal – No. 7 Hunter Hobbs, UP, major dec. Zoller, 10-0
Consolation R2 – Zoller major dec. Nicolas Naranjo, HIU, 10-1
Saturday's Results
Consolation R3 – Zoller major dec. Tomas Jacobo, SU, 9-0
Consolation Semifinal – No. 20 Ryan Graves, MSUN, dec. Zoller, 6-0
5th-place Match – Zoller def. Carlos Valdez, EOU, by medical forfeit

174 – No. 22 Jackson Potts (5th place)
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Potts dec. Armando Nicacio, CRB, 11-7
Quarterfinal – No. 24 Orion Thivierge, MSUN, dec. Potts, 8-6
Consolation R2 – Potts tech. fall Landon Hernandez, WU, 15-0 (5:54)
Saturday's Results
Consolation R3 – Potts p. Ezekiel Hueter, HIU, 4:26
Consolation Semifinal – No. 11 Braylin Ruchti, SOU, major dec. Potts, 11-1
5th-place Match – Potts dec. No. 13 Brady Ellison, UP, 5-0

174 – No. 11 Braylin Ruchti (3rd place)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinal – Ruchti major dec. No. 13 Brady Ellison, UP, 12-1
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – No. 8 Leonardo Galasso, ACU, dec. Ruchti, 11-5
Consolation Semifinal – Ruchti major dec. No. 22 Jackson Potts, SOU, 11-1
3rd-place Match – Ruchti dec. No. 24 Orion Thivierge, MSUN, 11-8

184 – No. 4 Adrian Chavez-Morales (1st place)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinal – Chavez-Morales p. Tautaina Tuikolongahau, ERAU, 1:10
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – Chavez-Morales tech. fall Bronson Swan, ACU, 16-0 (5:35)
Championship – Chavez-Morales def. No. 5 Isaiah Twait, CRB, by medical forfeit

197 – No. 13 Elias Corona (3rd place)
Friday's Results
Round 1 – Corona major dec. Kaden Martin, ACU, 8-0
Quarterfinal – Corona p. Luke Miller, SU, 1:51
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – No. 9 Trenton Blomquist, ERAU, dec. Corona, 6-3
Consolation Semifinal – Corona dec. Asaiah Kamplain, CRB, 10-3
3rd-place Match – Corona p. No. 24 David Rapp, SU, 4:45

197 – No. 4 Asher Ruchti (1st place)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinal – Ruchti tech. fall Asaiah Kamplain, CRB, 17-2 (7:00)
Saturday's Results
Semifinal – Ruchti p. No. 24 David Rapp, SU, 2:33
Championship – Ruchti p. No. 9 Trenton Blomquist, ERAU, 2:38