2024-25 Wrestling Season Has Begun
Friday November 1st the Big Bend Vikings Men's Wrestling team traveled to Coeur d'Alene to take on the North Idaho Cardinals, the fifth-ranked dual team in the country. This match was a historic one for Big Bend, as it represented their first match as full members of the prestigious National Junior College Association of America (NJCAA) after a long stint in the NCWA.
The Cardinals welcomed Big Bend to the NJCAA by handing them a tough 46-6 loss, with NIC taking nine of the ten matches. The Vikings lone win came from freshman 133 pounder Simon Cervantes, who picked up a pin over NIC's Damian Zazueta. In addition to Cervantes' effort, several Vikings were on the cusp of pulling out victories before ultimately falling. In particular, freshmen Tristan Fay (141 lbs) and Hunter Tibodeau (285 lbs) were both leading in the final period before ultimately succumbing to untimely mistakes. Despite the losses, the freshmen-heavy Vikings squad displayed extraordinary toughness, and showed that they have a bright future. With some more experience and work, they should be right in the mix with the rest of their conference to qualify for Nationals next March.
On Sunday November 3, the Viking Wrestling team headed to La Grande, Oregon to take part in the Mountaineer Open tournament, put on by Eastern Oregon University.
The Mountaineer Open is a tough tournament that featured several conference opponents including Clackamas, Umpqua and North Idaho, plus several four-year universities like Eastern Oregon, Corban, Arizona Christian and Providence. Despite facing stiff competition, the Vikings had a successful tournament with four placers.
Simon Cervantes at 133 lbs, Jaden Lopez at 165 lbs, and Drake Wood at 184 lbs all took fifth, and Hunter Tibodeau took third at 285 pounds. Impressively, Big Bend went four-for-four with three pins in placing matches. Freshman Simon Cervantes impressed, with three pins and a tech, plus three wins over wrestlers from four-year schools en route to his fifth place finish. Jaden Lopez had two pins on the day, including one in the opening round over a conference opponent from Clackamas. At 184 pounds, Drake Wood dropped a tough major decision 12-4, to Ridge Kehr from the University of Idaho. However, Drake wasn't done, and he fought his way back through the backside of the bracket with two pins and a major to find himself in the fifth place match. For that match, he would be facing the same opponent he had lost to before, Ridge Kehr of Idaho. But in the rematch, Drake dominated, pinning his opponent to take fifth place. However, the most impressive performance of the day belonged to Hunter Tibodeau. Hunter rolled to the semis with a 19-3 tech fall, before dropping a close 6-4 decision to Darrian Hoobery of Eastern Oregon University. Hunter then dominated on the back half over bracket, with three straight decisive wins to make the third place match. Waiting for him in that match was Ray Griffin of NIC, a conference opponent. Just two days prior, Tibodeau had taken a tough loss to Griffin via pin in the last few seconds of the match after dominating most of the match. But this time was different. In the last match of the night, Hunter hit a beautiful arm spin and took Griffin straight to his back and secured the pin in just one minute, eleven seconds.
Up next for Big Bend will be the Mike Clock open at Pacific University on November 10th. As always, keep up with the Vikings on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as through the NWACSports Network's livestream video platform, where available.