Men's Wrestling Weekly Notebook
THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S WRESTLING
PACIFIC AT HIGHLINE CC
Dual Match No. 8/Away Match No. 2
Sat., Jan. 5, 5 p.m., Highline Pavillion, Des Moines, Wash.
Live Video:
athletics.highline.edu/livegames.php
THE NEW YEAR OPENS WITH BOXERS ON A ROLL
The Pacific men's wrestling finished 2012 with a great showing at the Wartburg Desert Duals, going 3-1 on the day and defeated two nationally ranked teams. The Boxers return to action this weekend with the first of two remaining duals against junior colleges this season as they travel north to the Seattle area to take on Highline CC.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific rode a win by fall by Daylin Ruggerio and a pair of forfeits to win their first dual of a five-meet stretch to open Christmas Break, beating Southwestern Oregon CC, 24-22, on Dec. 13 in Coos Bay.
• The Boxers opened their four-match stretch at the Dec. 16 Wartburg Desert Duals win a victory in their first dual this season against Division III competition, beating Washington & Lee 28-17. Pacific dropped their second match, 30-7, to No. 5 ranked Olivet.
• Pacific closed the day with two wins against a pair of ranked teams. The Boxers won eight of 10 matches to surge past No. 28 ranked Loras 30-9 before outlasting No. 9 (NAIA) ranked Baker (Kan.) 19-18.
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Caleb Malychewski saw his 14-match win streak come to an end at the Wartburg Desert Duals, losing 5-4 to Olivet's Jeff Holm. The 184-pounder, however, scored a pin and two technical falls in his three other matches to run his team-best record to 16-2 on the season.
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Bruce Balcita won all four of his matches at the Wartburg Desert Duals to improve to 8-5 overall and 5-2 in dual matches. His ledger at 165 pounds included a pin and a major decision.
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Ryan Baxter also won all four of his matches in Las Vegas, which included a pair of major decisions and a pin in his final match of the day. The 141-pounder, who started the season late due to his participation on the Pacific cross country team, now has a 4-3 record on the season.
• Pacific's five dual meet victories on the season are most in Head Coach
Severin Walsh's tenure at Pacific and are the most for the Boxers since the 2007-08 season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
HIGHLINE CC
The Thunderbirds enter the week with a 0-5 record and have struggled much of the season after opening the year ranked No. 24 in the NJCAA National Rankings. Despite their record, they were ranked tied for No. 19 in the last NJCAA poll released on Dec. 21. Highline has not competed since Dec. 9, when they took a 29-18 loss to Southwestern Oregon CC in their first home competition of the season. Highline won just the last three matches, accepting forfeits at 184 and 197 pounds and receiving a pin from Ben Tynan in the heavyweight match. Current win/loss records for the Thunderbirds were not available. Cole Schwartz enters the week ranked No. 6 in the nation among junior colleges at 174 pounds. The two teams wrestled for the first time this season on Dec. 2 at the Stoller Center. The Boxers used wins from their middle four weight classes, including major decisions by
Bruce Balcita and
Caleb Malychewski, to beat the Thunderbirds 23-18.
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
QUICKLY CLOSING IN ON 20: The tremendous season for
Caleb Malychewski (Jr., Camas, Wash.) continues as he stands on pace to reach the 20-win plateau by mid-month. The junior saw his 14-match win streak come to a narrow end at the Wartburg Desert Duals, falling 5-4 to Jeff Holm of Olivet. The rest of the day, however, Malychewski was dominant as he scored a 17-2 technical fall win over Morgan Moskal of Washington & Lee, an 18-0 technical fall over Mathias Palmerschein and a pin of Baker's Johnathan Hambleton. Malychewski enters 2013 with an impressive 16-2 record and 6-1 dual meet mark, with all but one of his matches at 184 pounds. Both of his losses this season have come by decision and by a combined total of three points.
HIGH ROLLER IN VEGAS: Eric Harder (So., Bethesda, Md.) continued a strong sophomore season for the Boxers as he was a four-match winner in his second trip to Las Vegas. He collected an 11-0 major decision victory over Tyler Kaelin of Washington & Lee and a 12-4 major decision winner over Drew Harburger of Baker. He also collected a 9-7 decision over Olivet's Mike Gancer (one of two Pacific wrestlers to win against Olivet) and an 11-6 decision over Mitch Johnson of Loras. The Boxers' starter at 133 pounds, Harder enters the week with the team's second best record at 13-6 and is tied with
Caleb Malychewski for the dual record lead at 6-1. Ten of his victories have been major decisions or better, including a team-high six pins.
ALSO PERFECT: Bruce Balcita's (Jr., Myrtle Creek, Ore.) slower start has been rewarded with a nice flourish on the mat as of late as he won all four of his Wartburg Desert Duals matches at 165 pounds. He opened the tournament by scoring bonus points for the Boxers in the first two matches, scoring a first round pin over Zac Hicheg of Washington & Lee and a 12-4 major decision over Olivet's Rocky Cantu. In the final two matches, Balcita was a 12-11 winner over Tommy Gross of Loras and an 11-3 winner over Jakob Price of Baker. After missing the first weekend of the season, Balcita has proceeded to amass an 8-5 record with all but one match at 165 pounds. He enters the week having won five of his last seven matches and with the Boxers' third best dual meer record at 5-2.
LATE START NOT A PROBLEM: Ryan Baxter (So., Craig, Alaska) got a late start to the season thanks to his participation on the Pacific cross country team. A month of preparation has shown that the sophomore has set himself up for success entering January. Baxter won three of his four matches at 141 pounds in the Wartburg Desert Duals. He opened with a 3-1 decision win over H.T. Kotchinan of Washington & Lee before taking his only loss, 8-2, to Justin Holhm of Olivet. Baxter rebounded to close out with two pins over Trent Lyons of Lorad and Paxon Fowloer of Baker. One of three Pacific wrestlers to finish with a winning record in 2011-12, Baxter enters the week with a 4-3 record, all in dual match competition. He opened the season with 5-4 decision victory over Highline's Max Welch in the dual on Dec. 2.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE OPPORTUNITY: Shawn Speer (Fr., Battle Ground, Wash.) did not make the varsity lineup for the Boxers' trip to the Wartburg Desert Duals, but he certainly made the most of the opportunity with the most wins of any of the Pacific newcomers who attended the event. Speer went 2-1 in a series of exhibition matches contested at the duals. He scored a second round fall over Dexter Bass of Wartburg and a 31-second pin of Colin Griffin of Loras. Speer, who has wrestled only in tournaments this season while second on the depth chart under
Ryan Baxter, has amassed a 3-6 record.
THE DRIVE TO FIVE: The month of December was as successful of a month as the Boxers have had in recent history. Pacific went 5-2 on the month and the team's five dual meet victories are the most since the Boxers' went 5-5 during the 2007-08 season. The five wins are also the most in Head Coach
Severin Walsh's tenure at Pacific, which is in his fifth year. With eight dual matches remaining, the Boxers need just three more wins to secure their first .500 season since 2007-08 and four wins to claim their first winning dual meet record since the 1999-2000 season when Pacific finished 11-4-1.
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.
