The Cal State Fullerton wrestling team added two victories to their season win total Sunday, bringing their overall record to 9-5, with a 6-1 record against Pac 10 competition. In addition to defeating Cal State Bakersfield 21-14, the Titans also prevailed over Menio College 31-6 in their last home dual of the season.

The Titan’s, who are now first place in the Pac-10, won their first victory over Cal State Bakersfield since Head Coach Dan Hicks’ arrival to the CSUF program in 2002. When asked for a word about the win after the match, Hicks raised his arms in triumph and said, “A word? Victory.”
The action began at the 174-pound weight class, which featured a match Hicks referred to as the “most key match of the night.” Titan freshman Todd Noel avenged two previous defeats to his opponent, Jason Points, by winning a thrilling 8-5 decision.
“To start us off beating a guy that’s been beating us, that was tremendous.” Hicks said.
CSUF’s Ian Murphy, who was one of three seniors honored prior to the match (along with Morgan Atkinson and Dan Ott), continued the strong start by scoring the sole pin fall of the match at the 184-pound division in just over a minute.
After the Roadrunners got on the board with a narrow 3-1 victory at the 197 bracket, heavyweight Wade Sauer fired back, winning a 10-4 decision over Roadrunner Ryan Bergman, displaying why he’s ranked fourth in the nation.
The Roadrunners would not go down easily though, as Brandon Zoetewey scored a major decision over Titan Andre Gonzalez in a high energy 125-pound match.
Junior T.J. Dillashaw continued his domination with a 10-3 victory at the 133-pound weight class. Dillashaw is one of four Titan wrestlers ranked number one in their weight classes and is excited for the opportunity to prove himself.
“I’ve wrestled everybody I’ve needed to,” Dillashaw said. “My weight’s been good and everything’s been going good for me and I’m healthy.”
CSUB’s Elijah Nacita kept things close with a 7-2 victory over Adin Duenas at the 141-pound division, who wrestled in place of the injured Teddy Astorga. Luckily for the Titans, senior Morgan Atkinson came up with a key victory over Jeremy Doyle, 13-8, putting the Titans out of reach for the rest of the match.
“This is my 3rd year being ranked so I’m getting used to having a target on my back,” Atkinson said. “You just have to wrestle up to another level when you’re ranked.”
Junior Devin Velasquez put the finishing touches on the dual, defeating the Roadrunners’ Daniel Alejandro 9-6 at the 157-pound division, icing the victory for the Titans. Velasquez, who his coming fresh off his first place finish at the San Francisco State Open, is aware of the challenge that lies ahead.
“The goal’s to make it to Pac-10’s and put a show on,” Velasquez said. “I got some tough kids in my weight class, [but] I’m going to try to take a couple out.”
The Titans also were three-for-three in the exhibition matches that took place prior to the dual, getting victorious performances from Armando Gonzalez (133), Nick Jordan (141) and Herman Kucukkoseoglu (165). Hicks was excited with the dominating performance his team displayed and hopes it is a sign of things to come.
“We won nine out of 13 matches, that’s huge,” Hicks said. “Bakersfield is always competing with us for the same recruits, so this is huge for us.”
With the Titans getting their first victory over CSUB in recent memory, it’s just another example of the continued momentum the Titan wrestling program has been gaining.
“All the Pac-10 schools have been stepping it up and representing California well and we’re just adding to it” Dillashaw said.
With the season winding down, the sport has taken a toll on many of the athletes bodies.
“We’re right in the mix. We go hard everyday, so your body wears,” Velasquez said. “You got to just push through, be mentally tough, that’s what coach says.”
Being a senior, Atkinson is more aware of the strain on a wrestler’s body than anyone, but vows not to stop until the finish.
“I’m ready to give my body a break because I’ve been doing it for five years non-stop, but my body’s doing alright,” Atkinson said.
With the last home dual in the books, the Titans reach the home stretch of the season, gearing up for the Pac-10 tournament next month. As they continue to improve, Hicks only furthers his goals of Fullerton becoming a premier wrestling program.
“We’ve had 5 years building up to this point, so now we’re trying to go to the next level,” Hicks said. “Now we’re top 20, and now we can see the next level, the top 10.”