Bears Head West, Face Bulldogs Saturday Night

Saturday, November 30

Fresno, Calif.

8 PM

University of Northern Colorado

Fresno State

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/29/2019 10:51:00 AM | Wrestling

Northern Colorado will travel to for their second Big-12 dual of the season

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Northern Colorado wrestling is back on the mat this weekend. UNC travels west to take on Fresno State on Saturday night for the team's second Big-12 dual of the season.

Its been two weeks since the Bears have competed, but the team is still focused and motivated after early successes.

UNC defeated West Virginia, 31-10, in Bank of Colorado Arena, winning seven matches, earning bonus points in four. The win was UNC 's first win over the Mountaineers since joining the Big 12 in 2015.

Dalton Robertson stunned No. 24 Brandon Ngati in 2-1 decision win in the 285-pound match. Robertson's win earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, only the second Bear to earn the award since joining the conference.

Alan Clothier was electric in his dual debut for the Bears, getting the fall on West Virginia's Jackson Moomau at 1:16.

Five Bears made their first career dual starts against the Mountaineers, and the underclassman impressed with an undefeated record. Brody Lamb delivered the clinching win for UNC, pinning Caleb Rea to put UNC up 26-4. Andrew Alirez made his highly-anticipated debut with a 17-0 tech fall on Seth Houge in front of his hometown fans. Mosha Schwartz was aggressive in his debut, getting eight takedowns on the Mountaineers Lucas Siebert on the way to a 22-7 tech fall. Billy Higgins started the dual off with a 11-4 decision win over Scott Joll and Jace Koelzer had a 4-1 decision win over Joey Thomas.

Alirez continues to gain national attention and is listed in three national rankings. The true freshman's best ranking comes from Trackwrestling.com, where he is No. 13. Alirez is No. 18 in Intermat.com's rankings and No. 19 by The Open Mat.

Austin Matthews is ranked No. 10 by both Intermat and Open Mat, whiling being slated at No. 33 by Trackwrestling.

Clothier earns his best ranking from Open Mat at No. 15, wile being No. 23 in both Trackwrestling and FloWrestling.com's rankings.

Koelzer comes in at No. 18 by FloWrestling in the 125-pound rankings. Jacob Seely is ranked No. 27 by Trackwrestling. Robert Winters Jr. ranks No. 31 in Trackwrestling's 285-pound list.

The Bears will look to keep the season's early momentum going as they continue in their Big-12 dual schedule.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Fresno State will host UNC for its first Big 12 dual of the season and has an 0-4 record in duals this season. The Bulldogs competed in the Battle on the Midway duals, competing in three duals on a retired aircraft carrier. Fresno State fell to No. 4 Wisconsin, 8-31, while dropping duals against Navy(9-25) and No. 23 Army(9-29). Along with the early duals, Fresno State dropped its home opening dual to Rutgers, 13-23. This past weekend, the Bulldogs competed at the Roadrunner Open, winning five champions. Fresno State has five wrestlers in the national rankings. Jackson Hemauer(174) comes in at No. 13 by Trackwrestling and No. 15 by Intermat. 285-pounder Josh Hokit is No. 3 in Trackwrestling and No. 11 by Intermat. Gary Joint(133) and Jacob Wright(157) are both No. 27 by Trackwrestling, while Greg Gaxiola(149) is No. 26 by Track.

Last season, Fresno State defeated Northern Colorado 34-4 in Greeley.

Projected Lineups

Northern Colorado (1-0, 1-0 Big-12)
125 – No. 18 Jace Koelzer, RFr. (7-2, 1-0)
133 – Mosha Schwartz, Fr. (5-0, 1-0)
141 – Chris Sandoval, RSo. (4-0, 0-0) or Brody Lamb, RFr. (5-3, 1-0)
149 – No. 13 Andrew Alirez, Fr. (10-0, 1-0)
157 – Jimmy Fate, RJr. (8-1, 0-1)
165 – No. 10 Austin Matthews, RSr. (2-0, 0-0)
174 – Billy Higgins, RFr.(4-1, 1-0)
184 – No. 15 Alan Clothier, RJr. (8-0, 1-0)
197 – No. 27 Jacob Seely, RJr. (7-3, 1-0)
285 – No. 31 Robert Winters Jr., RJr. (5-4, 0-0) or Dalton Robertson, RJr. (8-2, 1-0)

Fresno State (0-4, 0-0 Big-12)
125 – Jeremey Trinh, RSo. OR Destin Summers, Fr.
133 – No. 27Gary Joint, RSo.
141 – DJ Lloren, RJr.
149 – No. 26 Greg Gaxiola, RJr.
157 – No. 27 Jacob Wright, RSo.
165 – Adam Kemp, RFr.
174 – No. 13 Jackson Hemauer, RSo.
184 – Hunter Cruz, RFr. OR Dominic Kincaid, RSr.
197 – Ryan Reyes, Fr.
285 – Randy Gonzalez, So.

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will take on Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m.(MST). The dual can be streamed live on FloWrestling.com and live scoring is available on Trackwrestling.com.

To stay up to date on all aspects of UNC Wrestling, you can visit UNCBears.com, as well as follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWrestle.