LA GRANDE, Ore. – Newly appointed head coach Nolan Harris didn't want to kick off the 2023-24 regular season any other way than scheduling an NAIA Top 25 opponent right out the gate, as the RV Corban University Men's Wrestling team dropped a single-point dual to the No. 17-ranked Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers in their first head-to-head matchup of the season, with the final scoreboard reading 20-19.
To view the full dual results, click HERE.
"It was nice to get the opportunity to compete and see where we are at," Coach Harris stated earlier this evening. "We looked good at times and flat at others, sometimes even within the same match. Consistency will come with the maturity of a season, but I'm proud of the overall effort of the team."
Coach Harris continued with his evaluation of tonight's outcome by sharing" A guy like Jesse found a way to close out his first career match with a victory in a hostile environment, and both Luke and David were able to pick up bonus points for the team. Although we won half of the matches, however, we ultimately lost the bonus point battle by one point which was the deciding factor. We know what areas we need to improve on now, and that'll be valuable information moving forward."
The Warriors (0-1) fell behind early tonight by dropping the first three weight classes via two major decisions and a pin to trail 14-0, but would begin to rebound starting in the 149-weight class with sophomore Luke Jensen securing a major decision 24-12 over EOU's Josh Collins. Redshirt junior David Rubio would pick up a weight class forfeiture in the 157-class to bring Corban back to within four points.
Freshman Jesse Rubio replaced his brother in the 165-weight class to kick off his collegiate career and didn't disappoint, taking a hard-fought victory tonight 3-2 over the Mounties' Cody Glenn to earn his first win in the navy and gold singlets. The 174-weight class was handled with ease by Warriors' senior Matthew Bartlett over EOU's Wylee Lindeen, providing Corban with a 16-14 lead on the road.
However, back-to-back decisions in the 184 and 197 weight classes would allow Eastern Oregon to jump back into the overall lead, leaving the Warriors in need of a pin or major decision in the final class to either win outright or tie the dual. Senior Sven Lukner was able to establish himself early and rack up easy points against the Mountaineers' big man Darrian Hoobery, but an 8-3 final decision wasn't enough for Corban to eke out a Top 25 upset to start the season.
Corban men's wrestling will spend the night in eastern Oregon in to participate in the Mountaineer Open throughout the day tomorrow in their first high profile tournament of the season, which will begin at 9am and hosted back at Quinn Coliseum.
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