Mid Valley Reporter

In a double dual showcase that featured some of the best men's wrestlers that the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) has to offer, the RV Corban Men's Wrestling team fell just short of a pair of NAIA Top 20 upsets at La Grande High School, dropping their opening dual with No. 16 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 21-17, before falling to No. 8 Eastern Oregon University in a tight 24-20 result.

"What a showing for the CCC wrestling programs today," Warriors' Interim Head Coach Kary Hadden shared following their day of duals. "Both duals came down to the wire, and while it was unfortunate to see us come out on the losing side of both, I'm proud of our guys efforts, as they fought so hard today. Brayden was the leader for us today with two victories!"

Freshmen phenoms Brayden Boyd and Bo Davis kicked off the dual against the Eagles with dominate major decisions in the 125 and 133 weight classes, respectively, with Boyd downing ERAU's Landon Smith 11-3, while Davis earned a 10-2 victory over Eagles' Colby Evens.

Warriors' freshman Luke Jensen earned the first win via pin next in the 141-weight class, pinning Eagles' Adam Stanley in just 54 seconds.

Embry-Riddle quickly erased a 14-0 deficit by winning the next three matchups, started by Jonah Chew's narrow 7-3 decision over Corban senior Michael Murphy. Beau Blackham, the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the NAIA for the 157-class, earned a quick pin of Warriors' freshman Jordan Piercy to pull the Eagles to within five team points at 14-9.

The momentum continued for the Eagles from there, as the matchup of the day for both squads, Corban's redshirt sophomore David Rubio versus Embry-Riddle's Keller Rock, who ranked No. 4 and No. 5 in the NAIA for the 165-weight class, respectively. Keller got the better of Rubio in their first matchup this season, taking a tight 9-7 decision over the Salem native to cut the deficit to 14-12 in favor of the Warriors.

Another ERAU victory followed in the 174-weight class, as Eagles' Stone Aguirre earned a 10-4 decision victory over Corban's freshman Austin Mattson to officially take the team lead at 15-14.

The Eagles won their fifth-straight match of the dual in the 184-class, as ERAU and No. 12 in the NAIA ranked wrestler Michael Densmore earned another close decision, this time over Warriors' redshirt freshman German Munoz, 7-3.

Corban halted their match losing streak in the 197-weight class, as sophomore Tyson Stover defended his No. 21 ranking with a 10-4 decision over ERAU's Brodie Scott. With this result, the Warriors now trailed 18-17, meaning the dual win or loss would come down to the big men in the 285-weight class, Corban's Sven Lukner and Embry-Riddle's Garrette Branson.

Fighting to the bitter end, Lukner came up just short in the Warriors' upset bid over the No. 16 Eagles, as Branson took the narrow 3-2 decision and allowed Embry-Riddle to escape the upset on neutral ground.

No. 16 ERAU 21, (RV) Corban 17

125 – Brayden Boyd (Corban) over Landon Smith (ERAU) - MD,11-3

133 – Bo Davis (Corban) over Colby Evans (ERAU) - MD, 10-2

141 – Luke Jensen (Corban) over Adam Stanley (ERAU) - Fall, 0:54

149 – Jonah Chew (ERAU) over Michael Murphy (Corban) - D, 7-3

157 – Beau Blackham (ERAU) over Jordan Piercy (Corban) - Fall, 0:52

165 – Keller Rock (ERAU) over David Rubio (Corban) - D, 9-7

174 – Stone Aguirre (ERAU) over Austin Mattson (Corban) - D, 10-4

184 – Michael Densmore (ERAU) over German Munoz (Corban) - D, 7-3

197 – Tyson Stover (Corban) over Brodie Scott (ERAU) - D, 10-4

285 – Garrette Branson (ERAU) over Sven Lukner (Corban) - D, 3-2

 

The No. 8 Mountaineers, who're coming off a narrow dual victory of their own over the Eagles yesterday, pose the biggest threat to reclaiming the CCC title this season, and the Warriors drew first blood in their opening matchup with the defending conference champions thanks to Boyd.

With EOU resting their two Top 25 wrestlers at the 125-weight class, Boyd cruised to a dominate 18-2 technical fall of Mounties' Adrian Guevara, earning the first team points for Corban in their second dual of the day.

Eastern Oregon quickly responded with their two Top 25 wrestlers at the 133 and 141 classes, as No. 23 Braden Carson earned a close 2-0 decision over Davis, while No. 9 Jaxon Morlan took down Jensen via pin in 4:57, giving the Mountaineers a 9-5 lead.

Murphy provided the Warriors with some hope in the next weight class, earning a 9-4 decision over EOU's Chad Muenzer to pull within a single point. However, the Mounties jumped back out in front by seven following a Piercy pin in 5:23 to Eastern Oregon's Vincent Cramer.

The previous pin was basically nullified at the point totals in the next weight class, as Corban freshman Wylder Kraught earned a forfeit win to pull the Warriors back into this matchup once again.

Rubio redeemed himself from his earlier Top 5 loss by wrestling up a weight level and taking down Eastern Oregon's Keegan Mulhill in style, winning in a sudden victory scenario 3-1 in the overtime session against the No. 10 wrestler in the 174 weight class.

The next two matches are where the Mountaineers were able to secure their home victory, as Munoz and Stover fell victim to a pair of NAIA Top 10 wrestlers in EOU's Kyle Knudtson and Jay Smith, the first via pin and the second via a 4-0 decision, respectively.

Lukner also earned redemption with a 6-2 decision over Mountaineers' Darrian Hoobery, but the damage had already been done and the home squad was able to walk out with a narrow 24-20 victory, setting up multipe rematch scenarios in the CCC Championships next month.

No. 8 EOU 24, (RV) Corban 20

125 – Brayden Boyd (Corban) over Adrian Guevara (EOU) - TF,18-2 (5:29)

133 – Braden Carson (EOU) over Bo Davis (Corban) - D, 2-0

141 – Jaxon Morlan (EOU) over Luke Jensen (Corban) - Fall, 4:57

149 – Michael Murphy (Corban) over Chad Muenzer (EOU) - D, 9-4

157 – Vincent Cramer (EOU) over Jordan Piercy (Corban) - Fall, 5:23

165 – Austin Mattson (Corban) forfeit win

174 – David Rubio (Corban) over Keegan Mulhill (EOU) - SV-1, 3-1

184 – Kylke Knudtson (EOU) over German Munoz (Corban) - Fall, 2:44

197 – Jay Smith (EOU) over Tyson Stover (Corban) - D, 4-0

285 – Sven Lukner (Corban) over Darrian Hoobery (EOU) - D, 6-2

 

The Corban Men's Wrestling team will be sending a brigade of wrestlers to the Clackamas Open tomorrow for another tune up before embracing their Senior Day meet and two more dual matchups late next week.

Original source can be found here