Doug Pfeiler

“It was a good way to finish before a long break,” said head coach Keegan Davis. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)

Men's Wrestling 12/22/2019 1:29:00 AM Jarett Thoren, Director of Athletic Communications

Corban Men’s Wrestling Earns a Pair of Team Triumphs at Northwest Duals

ALBANY, Ore. – The Corban University men's wrestling team met up with a quartet of foes at Saturday's Northwest Collegiate Duals, including a familiar adversary from the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) in Southern Oregon.

RESULTS

The Navy and Gold split the day's matches, defeating Highline Community College (30-18) and Pacific University (24-3) before falling to the Raiders (24-19) and Umpqua Community College (25-21).

"It was a good way to finish before a long break," said head coach Keegan Davis. "The guys wrestled and battled for each point and put together a good performance for the day."

No. 7-ranked Levi Perry, Cooper McCullough, and Falemalama Van Weggen led the way for Corban, with each going unbeaten on the day.

Making his debut for the Warriors, Nick Nelson was impressive at 174 pounds. Nelson pinned Pacific's Zack Chavez (1:19) and Southern Oregon's Kama Suzuki-Scott (6:49) as part of a 2-1 performance at the event.

"Nick stepped up in his debut performance and battled his heart out," added Davis. "Cooper showed heart by coming back from a six-point deficit, evening the score and then pulling off the win in overtime."

McCullough's triumph over the Raiders' Noah Talavera (SV-1, 10-8) was a thrilling one, earning a trio of points for the Warriors with a sudden victory in overtime.

Falling by just six points to SOU, Corban showed a marked improvement against its CCC rival since the last time the two squads lined up on November 21. It's a testament to the program's continued growth, with the Navy and Gold's momentum as high as ever.

The Warriors close the book on the 2019 portion of their inaugural season, taking a 3-7 dual record into the new year.

It'll be trial by fire for Corban in 2020, as the squad will travel down to Atherton, Calif. to participate in the Menlo Tournament, hosted by the No. 11-ranked program in the NAIA, Menlo College.

The matchup will feature a number of high-powered matchups, the chief of which will be the 184-pound clash between No. 7 Perry and No. 1-ranked Anthony Orozco.