Men's Wrestling Weekly Notebook

Men's Wrestling Weekly Notebook

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QUICK LINKS: Roster | Schedule & Results | 2012-13 Statistics (PDF)

THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S WRESTLING
PACIFIC AT SOUTHWESTERN OREGON CC

Dual Match No. 3/Away Match No. 1
Thurs., Dec. 13, 2 p.m., Prosper Hall, Coos Bay, Ore.

PACIFIC VS. WASHINGTON & LEE
Dual Match No. 4/Neutral Site Match No. 1
Sun., Dec. 16, 10 a.m., Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Coverage: www.go-knights.net/showcase/

PACIFIC VS. OLIVET
Dual Match No. 5/Neutral Site Match No. 2
Sun., Dec. 16, Noon, Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Coverage: www.go-knights.net/showcase/

PACIFIC VS. LORAS
Dual Match No. 6/Neutral Site Match No. 3
Sun., Dec. 16, 4 p.m., Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Coverage: www.go-knights.net/showcase/

PACIFIC VS. BAKER (KAN.)
Dual Match No. 7/Neutral Site Match No. 4
Sun., Dec. 16, 6 p.m., Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Coverage: www.go-knights.net/showcase/

BOXERS OPEN CHRISTMAS BREAK WITH STRING OF FIVE DUALS
After opening the month of December by splitting their first two dual matches of the 2012-13 season, the Pacific men's wrestling team will pack the first part of Christmas break with a series of five duals.  The Boxers open on Thursday at Southwestern Oregon CC.  On Sunday, the Boxers will be in Las Vegas for the Wartburg Desert Duals. They will compete against their first Division III competition of the season with matches against Washington & Lee, Olivet and Loras and one match against NAIA Baker (Kan.).

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific opened their 2012-13 dual schedule with a 23-18 win over Highline CC, the Boxers' first over the junior college in Head Coach Severin Walsh's tenure.  A string of four straight wins from 157 pounds to 184 pounds secured the win, led by major decisions by Bruce Balcita and Caleb Malychewski.

• Pacific found themselves stymied by an upstart Simpson (Calif.), falling 28-20 to the NAIA member school.  The Boxers received a pin in the match by Eric Harder and a technical fall from Dillon Ford.

• After losing his first match of the season at the Mike Clock Open, Caleb Malychewski has won 12 straight matches and enters the week with a 12-1 record.  His ledger includes two pins and two wins over Division I opponents.
 
Eric Harder won both of his matches in the opening duals at 133 pounds, including a fall over Simpson's Chan Chao. He enters the week with the Boxers' second best record at 9-5.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
SOUTHWESTERN OREGON CC

The Lakers enter the week with a 1-3 dual meet record.  Southwestern Oregon picked up their first dual meet victory on Sunday, knocking off Highline CC 29-18. The victory was bolstered by a technical fall by Quinn Johnston at 141 pounds over Max Welch and a third round pin by Trent Walker over Ben Tynan at 285 pounds.   Southwestern Oregon opened the season by taking dual meet losses to Clackamas CC on Dec. 1 (32-22), Northwest JC (Wyo.) on Dec. 8 (24-21) and North Idaho JC on Dec. 8 (35-6).  Bryce McMahan leads the Lakers with a 10-4 record at 157 pounds.  Zach Martin (157) and Tyler Wooldridge (285) each enter the week with nine victories.  Pacific and Southwestern Oregon CC wrestled once during the 2011-12 season, on Jan. 13, 2012 in Coos Bay, with the Lakers winning 23-15.  Southwestern Oregon CC was ranked No. 6 in the NJCAA National Poll at the time.

WASHINGTON & LEE
Pacific's opening opponent at the Wartburg Desert Duals, the Generals, NCAA Division III members of the Centennial Conference, enter the week with an 0-1 dual meet record.  The Generals opened the dual season on Nov. 18, falling to Division I George Mason by a 31-9 score.  Washington & Lee earned decision victories from Tyler Kaelin at 133 pounds, Zac Richey at 165 pounds and Zan Reed at 184 pounds.  Dan Igel leads the Generals with a 9-7 record at 157 pounds.  He has won five of his last matches and won the 157-pound bracket at the Ohio Northern Invitational.  Connor Duffey owns a 5-6 record at 149 pounds and won eighth place in the weight class at the Ohio Northern Invitational.  In 2011-12, Washington & Lee finished with a 3-18 record.  This is the first meeting between Pacific and Washington & Lee.

OLIVET
The Comets, NCAA Division III independents, enters the week with a 1-3 dual meet record and are ranked No. 10 in the Dec. 5 NWCA Division III Top 30 Poll.  The Comets opened the month of December by winning the Ohio Northern Invitational, scoring 140.5 points to finish 12.5 points ahead of second place and NAIA No. 3 ranked Campbellsville.  Kam Olsen (133) and Logan Renas (197) each won their weight classes.  Olivet opened their dual meet schedule by taking a 46-0 loss to Michigan on Nov. 1 before going 1-2 at their own Comet Duals on Nov. 17.  They took a 26-15 loss to No. 17 Ohio Northern and a 25-13 loss to No. 5 Wis.-LaCrosse before scoring a 32-6 victory over Heidelberg.  Renas and Gage Pederson (149) lead the Comets with 10-4 records.  Pederson enters the week ranked No. 4 at 149 pounds in the latest NWCA Division III rankings.  Olivet finished the 2011-12 season with an 18-5 record.  This is the first meeting between Pacific and Olivet.

LORAS
The Duhawks, Division III members of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference,  enters the week with a 1-4 dual meet record.  Loras enters the week ranked 28th in the NWCA Division III Poll.  They won their first dual match of the season on Dec. 1, beating Wis.-Eau Claire 39-9 in their final match at the Candlewood Suites Duals.  The Duhawks finished second at the Wartburg Dick Walker Invitational on Saturday.  Loras finished the 2011-12 season with a 5-18 dual meet record.  Loras opened the season with losses to two Division I opponents, falling 50-0 to Purdue and 41-0 to Northern Illinois on Nov. 17.  The Duhawks also took a 37-3 loss to No. 5 Wis-LaCrosse and 22-17 to No. 9 Wis.-Stevens Point at the Candlewood Suites Duals.  Current statistics for Loras were not available.  This is the first meeting between Pacific and Loras.

BAKER (KAN.)
The Wildcats, who wrestle as a NAIA independent, enter the week with an 0-1 dual meet record and are ranked No. 9 in the NAIA preseason national poll.  Baker opened their dual meet schedule on Nov. 14 by taking a 37-0 loss to defending Big 12 champion Missouri.  Baker received some solid performances in their latest competiton, the Kaufman-Brand Open on Dec. 1.  Senior heavyweight Brandon Gebhardt led the way with a second place finish, losing to Missouri's Devon Mellon 3-2 in the finals.  No current statistics for Baker were available.  This is the first meeting between Pacific and Baker.

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
OPENING ON A ROLL:
It has been many years since a Pacific wrestler has opened on the type of roll that Caleb Malychewski (Jr., Camas, Wash.) has in 2012.  After losing his first match of the season, a 7-5 overtime loss to Oregon State's Brian Engdahl at the Mike Clock Open on Nov. 10, Malychewski has won his last 12 matches.  He enters the week with a 12-1 record with matches at 184 pounds and 197 pounds.  Malychewski finished third at the Mike Clock Open in the 184-pound bracker, coming back to best Engdahl by a 14-3 major decision in the consolation semis before beating his Beavers' teammate, John Tuck, by a 4-3 decision in the consolation final.  The next weekend, Malychewski won the 184-pound weight class at the Southern Oregon Open, which included a first round pin of Adam Wolfe of Great Falls in the final.  Malychewski then paced the Boxers in their opening duals on Dec. 2, scoring a 12-1 major decision over Highline's Craig Dyess and a 7-3 decision over Simpson's Daniel Moor, with the final match coming at 197 pounds.  Malychewski leads the Boxers with his five wins by major decision.  Malychewski finished the 2011-12 season with a team-best 23-20 record, which included four wins by fall and four by technical fall.  He did not reach his 10th victory last year until the Dec. 18, 2011, Wartburg Desert Duals.

ALWAYS TRYING HARDER: Eric Harder (So., Bethesda, Md.) has opened his sophomore season off with a strong start.  After finishing his freshman campaign with a 12-13 record at 133 pounds, Harder enters the week with the Boxers' second best record at 9-5.  He lead the team with six wins by fall.  Harder advanced to the final in the 133-pound bracket at the Southern Oregon Open on Nov. 18, losing the championship match by a first round pin to No. 16 (NAIA) ranked Luke Zeiger.  Of his four wins in the tournament, three came by way of fall and one by technical fall.  Harder also won both of his matches in the Boxers' duals on Dec. 2, which included his sixth pin of the season with a 3 minute, 24 second fall of Simpson's Chan Chao.

DRIVEN BY FORD: The arrival of former junior college national meet qualifier Dillon Ford (So., Montesano, Wash.) is paying dividends for the Boxers at 157 pounds already this season.  Ford enters the week with a 7-4 overall record and joins Caleb Malychewski and Eric Harder as the only Boxers to escape the opening dual meet weekend with a 2-0 record.  Of his seven wins, six have come by decision and one by technical fall.  Ford opened his Pacific career by finishing fourth at the Mike Clock Open on Nov. 17, falling in a 12-0 major decision to Bryce McMahon of Southwestern Oregon CC in the third place match.  His run in the tournament included an 11-5 decision victory over Oregon State's Toney Chay.  Ford's matches at the Dec. 2 duals were highlighted by a 15-0 technical fall in two rounds over Simpson's Richie Ortiz.  Ford returned to the mat this season after not wrestling during the 2011-12 season.  He finished the 2010-11 season as a qualifier for the NJCAA National Championships while competing at Yakima Valley CC.

EVEN STEVEN: The versatile Bruce Balcita (Jr., Myrtle Creek, Ore.) enter this week having wrestled his way to an even 4-4 record and a 1-1 mark in dual meets.  Balcita opened his season at the Southern Oregon Open, advancing out of the pool bracket with a 2-1 record at 165 pounds.  He went on to a 1-2 record in the championship bracket, which included an 11-1 major decision over Southern Oregon's Rhett Breed.  Balcita scored a 15-3 major decision over Highline's Hakeem Smith to help the Boxers win their opening dual over the Thunderbirds.  Balcita finished the 2011-12 season with a 12-14 record and 5-7 in dual matches.

DUALS TO BE VIDEO STREAMED: For the first time, all of Pacific's home men's and women's wrestling dual meets will be streamed via  live video webcast.  The streaming schedule continues on Jan. 11 when the matches against Simon Fraser and San Francisco State will be made available on the web.  To access the webcasts. log on to www.goboxers.com/webcasts.  The webcast will not provide an audio commentary.
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