The Lancers are now 5-3 in dual matches this year.
After showing impressively last week, going 1-2, but scoring the most points of any team against No. 2 St. Cloud State and then losing by just a single point to No. 1 Newberry, the Lancers came out slinging again today.
They began the day with a 31-15 win over CSU-Pueblo, winning four of the first five matches and never trailing. Then, they tied the host 'Lopes 21-21 but lost out on the tiebreaker, which was total match points. The day concluded with a 20-19 win over Western State.
Against CSU-Pueblo, Bradford Gerl (141) and Dylan Cataline (149) got things started with three-point decisions, and then Chris Santana earned a major decision (11-3) over Levi Jutila at 157 to give CBU a 10-0 lead. Kenneth Tribble then pinned Trevor Grant in 54 seconds to expand the lead to 16-4.
Zach Merrill (285) also got a pin at 2:40, and after Jimmy Martinez (125) got a forfeit win, Alex Anunciation defeated Jesse Hillhouse 4-3 in overtime for the final margin.
Against Grand Canyon, the Lancers jumped out to a 12-3 lead on the strength of a Gerl fall in 4:49 at 141 and back-to-back decisions from Santana (157) and Preston Brown (165). However, Grand Canyon scored the next 15 points to take an 18-12 lead before Merrill pinned Jordan Johnson in 1:16 at heavyweight to tie it at 18-18.
Jimmy Martinez then defeated Kyle McCrite 5-3 in overtime to give the Lancers a 21-18 lead, but Lino Estrada was able to squeak out a 4-3 win over Anunciation to tie the match at 21-21. GCU won on the tiebreaker, which was total match points (64-50).
Anunciation, though, made up for it in the nightcap, defeating Western State's Matt Greene 3-2 in the final match of the night to give the Lancers their slim 20-19 win.
The Lancers jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Western State scored 19 straight points. Merrill again stemmed the tied with a 15-2 major at heavyweight to get the Lancers within 19-13, and then Martinez got a major 9-0 win over Dustin Stigemeyer at 125 to set the stage for Anunciation's heroics.
