Viking wrestlers suffer tough losses

The Portland State wrestling team had a tough time over the break, dropping four dual meets.

The Viks suffered three losses in mid-December at the UC Davis invite. PSU lost to Wartburg (Iowa), Menlo and host UC Davis. Going into the final match PSU was holding onto a lead of 20-15 against Menlo. Menlo’s Jose Sanchez won it for the Oaks when he pinned Zac Enoch at 1:30, giving the Oaks the 21-20 win.

The Vikings’ last meet, against No. 2 ranked Southern Oregon’s Raiders, was decided in the final match at 197 pounds. Raider Wes Balensifer pinned Randy Davidson at 5:34 to give Southern Oregon the 21-15 win. The Viks fell behind early to the second-ranked Raiders 12-3, but made a comeback winning four of their next five matches. This gave the Vikings a tie at 15-15, before Balensifer’s pin put the Raider ahead.

Individual success came from 15th-ranked Jeremy Wilson at 184 pounds. Wilson improved his unblemished record to 8-0 in duals and moved up to fifth place in career wins as a Viking with 102. Wilson wasn’t alone in success against Southern Oregon: Casey Kotter had a solid 11-5 win over Marc Harris at 125 pounds, Ben Arbogast defeated Shannon Slover 6-4 at 149 pounds, Shawn Keinonen defeated Chris Huntley 8-6 at 165 pounds, and at 174 pounds, Quinn Collett won by a 9-4 decision over Abe Haddon.

The Vikings will be at home again tomorrow to face Cal Sate Fullerton in the Peter Stott Center at 7 p.m.