ATHERTON, Calif. – The Hope International men's wrestling team had participants in eight different weight classes against various schools from around California, concluding a weekend full of action at the Menlo Open on Saturday.
125 – Elias Velasquez and Leonardo Cabrera-Nava
Leonardo Cabrera-Nava won his initial match, 3-0 by decision, over College of the Redwoods freshman Mateo Arredondo. He lost a narrow 4-2 decision to San Francisco State's Kingston Cruzat in his next match. In the consolation bracket, he downed Menlo's Daniel Mendoza by a 13-9 decision before falling to Emilio Escobar of CSU Bakersfield, 7-2.
Velasquez lost by pin in both of his matches – against Victor Valley College freshman Paulo Valdez and Skyline College sophomore Christian Cruz.
133 – Joshua Grajeda
Grajeda lost by pin to Victor Valley College freshman Landin Arguellas in his first match. He advanced in the consolation bracket with a win by forfeit against Westcliff's Jesus Bracamonte, but dropped a 19-3 decision by tech fall to Vanguard's Zachary Klarcyk in his final contest.
157 – Jacob Ramirez
Ramirez fell in his first match to Cal Poly freshman Michael Kase, losing 19-4 by tech fall at the 2:46 mark. Ramirez won his next two matches in the consolation bracket, downing Menlo freshman Brody Martinez in a 7-2 decision and pinning Skyline's August Bentley at the 6:35 mark. His run ended in the next match against Vanguard's Vince Partington, falling by pin at 1:34.
165 – Tomas Fulgentes
Fulgentes notched a tight 9-8 victory against Menlo freshman Tristan Johns in his opening match. In the quarterfinals, he succumbed to Westcliff's Thomas Venezia by fall at the 1:34 mark. He moved into the consolation bracket and dropped a 17-8 major decision match to Skyline's Willy LaMacchia.
174 – Ezekiel Hueter and Jeancarlos Martinez
Hueter was the lone Royal to win his first two matches and advance to the semifinals of his respective bracket. The senior pinned College of the Redwoods sophomore Damian Freixas at 1:12 in the opening match. In the quarterfinals, Hueter led 5-1 at the 3:11 mark when CSU Bakersfield Max DelBosque retired due to injury. Hueter took on Cole Han-Lindemyer of Stanford in the semifinals and lost 17-2 by tech fall. He moved into the consolation bracket and dropped a 20-4 tech fall decision to Menlo freshman Evan Ivaldi to end his run.
Martinez earned a bye into the quarterfinals before losing 19-6 by major decision against Cal Poly freshman Noah Daniels. He then lost by fall at 6:38 to Victor Valley College freshman Maximus Stevenson.
184 – Cohen Payne
Payne lost both of his matches by pin to Vanguard's Marquize Brown and Westcliff's Olajuwon Sobomehin.
197 – Levi Means
Means placed fourth in the bracket but lost both of his matches. He was pinned by Vanguard sophomore Isaiah Johnson at 1:32 in the opening match, and lost 18-6 by major decision to Lewis Garcia of Victor Valley College in the battle for third place.
285 – Griff Lawson and Matthew Olivarez
Both wrestlers went 0-2. Lawson lost by pin to Vanguard's David Baxter in the opening match, and trailed just 5-4 to Cal Poly's Anderson Palian in the third period before succumbing by fall at the 5:49 mark.
Olivarez competed with CSU Bakersfield freshman Elijah Gawronski before dropping a 10-4 decision. He took on another Roadrunner in the consolation bracket, with his tournament ending in a 5-0 loss to Xander Firm.
The Royals are next in action on Saturday, Nov. 14, facing host Arizona State as well as Arizona Christian at Desert Financial Arena. Both matches will be available by stream on ESPN+.
