The Cal State Fullerton wrestling team dominated its home mat on Nov. 23, representing the school well at the Fullerton Open, with five wrestlers advancing to the finals and three winning their weight classes.  The open tournament featured 190 wrestlers with about 15 teams competing.  “It gets fans a chance to see Division I,” CSUF Head Coach Dan Hicks said.

The tournament hosted at CSUF has become a good warm-up for the Fullerton wrestlers, as well as competitors from all over, for the grueling season that lies ahead. The teams competing in the tournament featured combatants from Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Baptist University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and various junior colleges, such as Cerritos College, Palomar College and Rio Hondo College.

“It helps us out a lot, the competition here helps with things we can work on in the upcoming week,” freshman Steven De La Fuente said, who claimed the 157 pound weight class win for CSUF. “We got all these tournaments that are coming towards the end and we got to be in shape and this is a big test for us to see where we’re at.”

The Titans continued the momentum they carried from Nov. 21 when they came two bouts away from shutting out Stanford, dropping only the last two matches of the ten-match contest.

“We made some progress from Friday night,” Hicks said. “The two guys that lost (De La Fuente and Velasquez) won today, so they turned it around and competed much better.”

Seniors T.J. Dillashaw (133) and Devin Velasquez (165) were the other Titans to be crowned champions Sunday along with De La Fuente.

“It definitely puts us on the map, we got teams coming from NorCal, the last couple years we’ve had some teams coming from other states, it recognizes Fullerton wrestling,” Velasquez said.

Several teams that had come to the tournament previously did not come this year, decreasing the level of competition somewhat from years past.

“It was down a little bit because some of the Division I’s didn’t come; Cal Poly, Davis, Stanford, Arizona State, they had scheduled other things,” Hicks said.

Despite the lack of Division I teams competing, the tournament still drew tough competition, featuring wrestlers from various schools who represented themselves without a team, or “unattached” as it is referred to.

“On a scale from 1-10, I would rate it an eight or nine,” said Boris Novachkov, a former two-time California state champion who took first at the 141-pound weight division wrestling unattached out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “I had a couple close matches and an overtime match, so it was pretty tough.”

As the wrestling season kicks into full swing, the Fullerton Open is just another stepping stone wrestlers use to improve the unbelievable condition needed to succeed in the ranks of Division I wrestling.

“Every day, not just matches here at the tournament but matches in the room against my coaches, against my teammates, prepare me every day to push myself harder and take myself to the next level,” Mitch Montiero, a junior from Cal State Bakersfield, who won the 285-pound heavyweight class, said.

Eleven CSUF wrestlers placed in the top four at their respective weight classes, including senior Teddy Astorga and redshirt junior Tim Hawkins, who both took second. Finishing in third were juniors John Drake (197), Kurt Klimek (285), sophomore  Andre Gonzales (125) and senior Nick Blackshaw (149).

“It was a good start for us. We got some young guys who needed some time,” Hicks said.

The Titans now shift their attention to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6, which features some of the toughest wrestling in the country.

“Now we go to Vegas and get some serious competition,” Hicks said. “We’ll go back to the room this week and work on some things; it gives us a good launching point.”

From the dual with Stanford, to the Fullerton Open and to Las Vegas, the Fullerton wrestlers continue to work hard and build their powerful momentum.

“We’ve come a long way,” Hicks said, “We hadn’t won a Pac-10 dual in five years, now we’ve won nine straight so it’s pretty cool.”