HERMISTON, Ore. – The EOU men's and women's wrestling teams won a combined total of 10 matches Friday evening against Warner Pacific, as the men took down the 22nd-ranked Knights at the Hermiston High School gym.
 
"They went out there and they did what we wanted them do," said head coach Dustyn Azure when talking about the (RV) EOU men's wrestling team. "We wanted to go out there and make a point and we stepped on that mat tonight and did. We pushed the pace, that's something we've been working on the last few weeks, just making sure we're pushing the pace and try to build our lead."

The thirteenth-ranked 125-pound wrestler Mhar Caballa started off the night with a sudden victory over Joshua Johnson, earning the Mountaineers three team points. Warner Pacific (WP) was able to tie the match at three, as freshman Terran Libolt (133) dropped his match to Joshua Crager in an 8-5 decision.

Freshman Jared Neiss (149) broke the tie with a 17-7 major decision and junior Terry Mason (157) won due to an injury suffered by his opponent early into the first period, which put the Blue and Gold up 16 (19-3). EOU split the next four matches and yielded only a total six points, with victories coming from juniors Brandon Davidson (165) and Eric Fan (197). Freshman Braeden Phillips (285) earned his victory due to a forfeit for the final score of 33-9. 

Although stats were not recorded officially for the women's wrestling team, the Mounties turned in an impressive performance, winning three of their six matches.

"They did a good job fighting hands, they were very aggressive and pushed the pace the whole time," said Azure. "You could see the other women getting tired and slowly started to take over on a lot of those matches."

Highlighting victories for the women were freshmen Cassidy Freeman and Amber Pair, who both won by pin fall. Sophomore Jessica DeHart took the third EOU victory also by fall. Freshmen Viannei Perez, Sara Angelo and Makayla Grimm suffered losses by decision. Perez was defeated by only four points (10-6), Angelo fell to a score of 10-0 and Grimm lost by five (7-2).

EOU returns to the mat this Sunday to face the national defending wrestling club champions Washington State in McKenzie Theatre.

"We want to get out there and put together a good performance again just by showing our dominance," commented Azure. "Once we step on that mat having confidence in ourselves and just keep building on our leads, so we're just going to keep carrying over what we did today."

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
125: Mhar Caballa over Joshua Johnson (WP) (SV-1 9-7)
133: Joshua Crager (WP) over Terran Libolt (Dec 8-5)
141: Tyler Miler over Calvin Call (WP) (Fall 2:43)
149: Jared Neiss over Charles Peterson (WP) (MD 17-7)
157: Terry Mason over Timothy Riviera (WP) (Inj. 0:29)
165: Brandon Davidson over Jesse Johnson (WP) (MD 12-1)
174: Miguel Simon (WP) over Jacob Dupuis (Dec 5-3)
184: Joe Dickinson (WP) over Pancho Saldana (Dec 6-3)
197: Eric Fan over Brandon Morgan (WP) (MD 14-3)
285: Braeden Phillips over Unknown (For.)