(Editor’s note: University of Providence athletics release)
ASHLAND, Ore. — The University of Providence Argos (10-5, 2-1) bounced back in a big way on Thursday evening as they made a statement in their dominant shutout victory over the No. 12 Southern Oregon Raiders (4-5, 2-3), 51-0.
Devin Altenburg-Lasher and Eli Walston opened things up for the Argos with a pair of forfeits to quickly get out to a double-digit lead, 12-0.
Chris Mesa kicked the dual matches off at 141 pounds against Roy Long. Mesa tallied an escape and a takedown in the opening period to lead 3-0. Long would choose bottom to start the middle period. Mesa continued to outscore Long over the final two minutes as he earned three takedowns, while Long only garnered three escapes to extend his lead to six, 9-3.
No. 6 Shonn Roberts and No. 2 Adrian Lyons-Lopez came up big in the 149-pound and 165-pound weight classes. Roberts got out to a quick 6-1 start on Southern Oregon’s Hunter Roberson before pinning him at 1:43 to take the match and put the Argos up by more than 20, 21-0. Lyons-Lopez had a very similar performance against Cody Stahl as he earned a takedown and then a four-point nearfall to lead 6-0 before sealing things with a first-period pin at 2:19.
At 157 and 174 pounds, Jarren Komac and Alex Quick took two more forfeits to seal the match and put a comeback out of reach for the Raiders, 39-0.
No. 12 Randy Keesler took a 3-2 decision in the most competitive match of the dual over the Raiders’ No. 18 CJ McKinnis. The first three minutes expired at a standstill as the match remained scoreless. Keesler would choose bottom to open the second period, earning an escape to put a score on the board first and take the 1-0 advantage into the final period. McKinnis chose bottom for the final period. He took an escape to tie things up at one, however Keesler would follow the escape up with a takedown to retake the lead, 3-1. McKinnis would tally one more escape but it wasn’t enough as time would expire in Keeslers favore, 3-2. The Argos would hold a 42-0 advantage headed into the final two matches.
No. 5 John Hensley garnered the Argos fifth forfeit of the night to push their lead to 48-0.
No. 4 Matt Hopkins would round things out at 285 pounds with the Argos final win over the Raiders’ No. 17 Max Hane by a 11-9 decision to push the match to its final, 51-0. Hopkins opened things up with a takedown, followed by Hane escape to lead 2-1. Hopkins tallied two more points before the first period expired to push his lead to three, 4-1. Hopkins chose bottom to open the second period and would notch an escape to lead 5-1. Hane would later tally his first takedown of the match, but Hopkins would earn a reversal to maintain a four-point advantage with two minutes to go, 7-3. Hopkins racked up a four-point nearfall to take an 11-3 lead, but Hane would rally in the final period with six points, but it wasn’t enough as Hopkins would take the 11-9 victory to close out the dual.
The Argos will remain in the Beaver State as they travel to Portland for a dual against Warner Pacific University on Friday at 7 p.m.
The No. 12 Argo women dropped a closely-contested match with a 13-10 defeat to the Southern Oregon Raiders on Thursday.
In the 109-pound weight class, Yurie Yoneoka got things started, going up 4-0 before claiming a dominant first-period pin over the Raiders’ Dominique Jeanson to put the Argos up by five, 5-0.
The Raiders cut the deficit by three after Raina Tschantre claimed a 12-9 decision against Angelica Sletten in the 123-pound weight class, 5-3. Tschantre tallied six points to open the match, however Sletten responded with five of her own to bring the match within one after the first period, 6-5. The second period nearly mimicked the first as Tschantre claimed six more points points to grab a 12-5 lead, but Sletten responded with four unanswered of her own to eventually fall by three, 12-9.
Dajan Treder claimed the most decisive victory of the match as she claimed a first-period shutout technical fall over the Raiders’ Kirra Saunders at the 1:14 minute-mark, 10-0, and giving the Argos a seven-point advantage, 10-3.
Southern Oregon would tally two forfeits at 143 pounds and 170 pounds to eventually claim the 13-10 victory.
The Argos will head to Redmond, Oregon as they will compete in the Oregon Wrestling Classic on Friday and Saturday hosted by Southern Oregon University.
