LA GRANDE, Ore. - It's finally November, which means wrestling season is upon us! Eastern Oregon Men's Wrestling is ready to go and compete in what is expected to be a full 2021-22 season. Read below to learn more about the team, the schedule, and much more.

2021-22 Season Outlook 
• Going into the season, the Mountaineers are not only a nationally ranked squad but are expected to be a top-five team in the conference. On the national scale, the Mountaineers check in at No. 19 in the NAIA Men's Wrestling Coaches' Top-25 Poll.
• Eastern checks in at No. 19 after finishing the abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 18th place finish at the NAIA National Championships.
• Individually, Eastern has four individuals that will start the year nationally ranked as well. At 125 pounds, Luciano Fasulo is ranked No. 18. Keegan Mulhill is the highest ranked individual at No. 4 for 174 pounds. Kyle Knudtson checks in at No. 7 for the 184-pound weight class. Noel Orozco rounds out the quartet with the No. 6 ranking at 285 pounds.
• Entering this season, the Mountaineers were preseason picked to finish fifth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Coaches' Poll. The Mountaineers grabbed the No. 5 spot with the help of 98 points tallied based on voting by the league's coaches. EOU is the highest preseason ranked team in the poll that is a full time CCC member.
• Experience will highlight the team this year for the Mountaineers with all 10 dual starters essentially back from the 2019-20 season. Along with that, Eastern has all five national qualifiers and two All-Americans back from last season.
• Returning All-Americans Keegan Mulhil (174) and Noel Orozco (285) will look to be some of the many leaders that EOU will rely on this year. The senior duo are part of an eight person senior class but it is still up in the air who will use their COVID waiver to retain the extra year of eligibility granted by the NAIA.
• Returning this season as qualifiers from a year ago are Luciasn Fasulo (125), Kyle Knudtson (184), and Marco Retano (197). Also in the mix is John Bittinger (165) who was a placewinner at the 2019-20 CCC Championships and has been a two-year starter in dual competition.
• This year, the Mountaineers are expected to compete in 11 regular season duals, with the majority of them being against conference opponents. One thing is for certain, the Mountaineers will get plenty of action under their belts before the CCC Championships and beyond.

2020-21 Season Review
• The Mountaineers season last year can nearly be summed up in one word: abrupt.
• The 2020-21 season saw Eastern compete in just one regular season tournament before heading off to the NAIA National Championships.
• The Mountaineers' lone regular season event was the Nampa Collegiate Invite. Although there was no team score, EOU had 11 grapplers place at the invite with six of them being the overall champion.
• Qualifying for last year's National Championships were Luciano Fasulo (125), Keegan Mulhill (174), Kyle Knudtson (184), Marco Retano (197), and Noel Orozco (285). Of the five, two went on to garner All-American Status in Mulhill (6th) and Orozco (7th).
• Academically, the Mountaineers had a solid year in the classroom as four grapplers earned NWCA Scholar All-American status. Earning the honor was Fasulo, Mulhill, Knudtson, and Orozco.
• At the end of the year, Head Coach Dustyn Azure was named the CCC Coach of the Year as voted upon by the league's coaches.

The Dustyn Azure File
• Head Coach Dustyn Azure enters his sixth season in 2021-22 at the helm of leading the Mountaineer's Men's Wrestling program. He was named the head coach for the men's program ahead of the 2016-17 season when the sport was reinstated. 
• During Azure's past five season's leading the Mountaineers, he has produced six individual All-Americans, two top-20 finishes at the NAIA National Tournament, three top-10 NWCA Scholar All-American team awards, along with 10 Individual Scholar All-Americans. He was named the CCC Coach of the Year for the 2020-21 season.

The 2021-22 Schedule
• The Mountaineers have 18 scheduled competitions on this year's schedule with 11 duals on tap. Seven tournaments make up the rest of the schedule with one of them being the Mountaineer Open which will take place Nov. 7 inside Quinn Coliseum.
• Eastern Oregon will also only be home just a few times in 2021-22 as Senior Night will take place Friday, Nov. 19 prior to the dual against Simpson University.
• The Mountaineers first dual of the season will be on Friday, Nov. 6 against in-state rival Southern Oregon with action getting started at 6 p.m. PT inside Quinn Coliseum.
• This year's CCC Championships will take place Feb. 18-19 in Havre, Mont. with MSU-Northern hosting this year's tournament.
• The NAIA National Championships will be held March 4-5 and will be in Wichita, Kan. this year.

WEIGHT CLASS BREAKDOWN
125 Pounds
• Four athletes make up the lightest weight class on the mats. In this class this year are Luciano Fasulo, Adrian Guevara, Zach Mauras and Kreede Peterson.
• This group is relatively younger with two sophomores and two juniors making up the group. Back as returners are Fasulo, Mauras, and Peterson. Fasulo will look to lead the class after qualifying for Nationals a season ago.

133 Pounds
• Only three grapplers make up the 133-pound weight class in Trevor Martin, Raul Ruiz, and Monte Zufelt.
• Ruiz and Zufelt are both experienced returners with Martin being the true freshman of the group. 
• Zuflelt has been a two-year starter for the Mountaineers each of the last two years, while Ruiz competed in just one event last year as a true freshman.

141 Pounds
• Like the weight class before them, the 141 pound group also has just three wrestlers in Alex Edleblute, Jaxon Morlan, and Cutter Tanaka.
• Edelblute is the only returner for this group but did not wrestle during the 2020-21 season. The starting stop for this class will be up for grabs amongst what is a group of fresh faces.
149 Pounds
• Three athletes are all that make up the 149-pound class as well. In this class are Jared Brant, Vincent Cramer, and Chad Muenzer.
• Brant and Cramer are letterwinners from a season ago, while Muenzer is the newcomer. Brants will look to lead the way for this trio as redshirt-senior who has been with the Mountaineers since the 2017-18 season.
• Brant also competed in the Mountaineers lone regular season tournament last year and placed fourth in the 149-pound division.

157 Pounds
• Just a pair of wrestlers make up the 157 pound class in Ryan Ninman and Chael Williams.
• Ninman opted out of the 2020-21 season, but has been with EOU since the 2017-18 season where he has been a consistent presence in the lineup.
• Williams joined Eastern last season but also opted out of the 2020-21 season.

165 Pounds
• This class has three grapplers and is loaded with experience. Making up this trio is John Bittinger, Torivio Gallegos, and Malakai Moyer.
• All three athletes are upperclassmen and have been in the Mountaineers lineup for multiple years.
• Bittinger leads the way as a two-year starter and was a placewinner in 2019-20 at the CCC Championships.
• Both Moyer and Gallegos have competed in multiple tournaments over the years and have added depth in team scoring during the regular season.

174 Pounds
• Only one wrestler is listed this year at 174 pounds in Keegan Mulhill.
• The senior was a NAIA All-American at this class last season finishing sixth at Nationals.
• He has been a multiple-year starter for the Mountaineers and was a Scholar All-American last season.

184 Pounds
• Just one athlete makes up this group as well in Kyle Knudtson.
• Knudtson qualified for Nationals as a true freshman and was also a Scholar All-American.
• He finished the 2020-21 season with a 3-2 record at 184 pounds.

197 Pounds
• Marco Retano and Jay Smith are the two grapplers that make up the 197 pound class.
• Smith did not compete in 2020-21 but will look to make an impact this season.
• Retano has been with the Mountaineers since 2017-18 and has been a four-year starter. He is expected to redshirt this season.

285 Pounds
• Noel Orozco and Justin Wilson make up the heavyweight class and both bring a wealth of experience.
• Orozco is a returning All-American having finished seventh at Nationals a season ago and was a Scholar-American. He has been a multiple-year starter for the Mountaineers.
• Wilson has been a consistent presence for the Mountaineers in tournaments since 2018-19 and will look to contend once again this year.

Scouting the Competition
Western Wyoming Community College
• The Mustangs are coming off an impressive 2020-21 season despite the global COVID-19 pandemic. They 10 All-Americans which propelled the Mustangs to a National Runner-Up finish, just 5.5 points away from their first ever National title.
• The Mustangs also won their fourth straight Region IX / Rocky Mountain District title. Coach Castillo was named the NJCAA/NWCA National Coach of the Year and the Region IX/ Rocky Mountain District Coach of the year for the third time in four years.
• This season, the Mustangs will return seven All-Americans from last year's squad. Garrett Ricks (3rd, 125), Destin Summers (7th, 133), Caleb Nathan (4th, 141), Collin Smith (6th, 165), Andrew Nicholson (7th, 184), Tyler Scheurn (4th, 197), and Wyatt Kearn (8th, 285).

Southern Oregon Raiders
• The Raiders will have their 2021-22 season debut on Saturday when they face the Mountaineers in a dual. Last season, SOU competed in just one event in the NAIA National Championships.
• Southern does bring back a group of 21 returning wrestlers that includes five who have previously qualified for the national tournament: Justin Acuff (141), Pancho Barrera (125), Justin Coon (133), JJ Talavera (157) and Noah Talavera (165).
• Head Coach Joel Gibson is back for his second season of leading the Raider men and will look to make the most of the 2021-22 season which is expected to have a full slate of action.
• Three grapplers are nationally ranked for Southern. Two-time national qualifier Pancho Barrera leads all Raiders with a No. 13 ranking at 125 pounds. JJ Talavera is the top 149-pounder in the Cascade Conference and No. 16 in the national ranks, and Justin Coon, another returning national qualifier, is No. 16 nationally at 133.

Mountaineer Open
• This year's Mountaineer Open is expected to feature seven teams total on the men's sides including Eastern Oregon.
• Three CCC teams will come to La Grande for this year's Mountaineer Open in Southern Oregon, Warner Pacific, and Corban. Also joining the action will be Oregon State, Big Bend Community College, and Washington State.
• This year's Mountaineer Open looks to showcase athletes at nearly every weight class for Eastern Oregon. Tournament action will begin at 9 a.m. and fans can catch and follow live results by clicking the respective link above.

Up Next
• Following the three event opening week, EOU will be back in action Sunday, Nov. 14 at the Mike Clock Open hosted by Pacific University.

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