Falcons Wrap Up Competition at Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open

Feb. 8, 2009

GOLDEN, Colo. - Finishing with six placewinners, a group of Air Force wrestlers competed Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, hosted by Colorado School of Mines.

The Falcons' top showing came from freshman Karl Oeser (Wichita, Kan.) who took first place at 184 pounds. Oeser opened with a pair of falls over Grand Canyon's Kevin Treftz and CSM's Sam Speak before getting a 5-4 tie-break decision over Chris Leak of Chadron State. Oeser then met teammate Akira Nervik (Jr., Bellflower, Calif.) in the championship bout and came away with a close 3-2 decision.

Meanwhile, Nervik's road to a second-place finish in the weight class included decisions over a pair of WWC foes, Northern Colorado's Ryan Johnson and Wyoming's Michael Poulos, as well as a fall over Grand Canyon's Aurel Dan.

Samuel Sheppard (Jr., Ramstein AB, Germany) was the Falcons' top performer at 125 pounds. Winning a 10-5 decision over Mesa State's Steven Reynolds in the opening round, Sheppard then registered a fall over Dustin Hass of Chadron State. He won his third-straight bout with an 11-9 decision over Pablo Mascarenas of Colorado School of Mines to move into the championship bout with 19th-ranked Tony Mustari of Northern Colorado. There Sheppard dropped his first contest of the day to finish second in his weight class.

Junior Michael Erickson (Springfield, Va.) compiled a 3-2 record on the day to finish fourth at 165 pounds. Erickson posted a 10-1 major decision over CSM's Jacob Guynes in the opening round before winning a 5-2 decision against Kyle Johnson of CSU-Pueblo. After dropping a major decision to eventual champion Jordan Larsen of Colorado School of Mines, Erickson picked up another win over Guynes in the consolation bracket. In his final bout of the day, Erickson lost the third-place match-up to Embry-Riddle's Steven Stotler.

Sophomore Josh Larson (WIndsor, Colo.) also went 3-2 on Saturday to place fifth at 197 pounds. Larson opened with a 7-3 decision over Northern Colorado's Patrick Carey before pinning Ryan Van Doren of Embry-Riddle in a time of 2:34. Following a pair of losses, Larson wrapped things up with a 7-1 decision over Mesa State's Shane Miller in the fifth-place contest.

Also placing for the Falcons was freshman Wesley Stowe (The Colony, Texas), who captured sixth place at 174 pounds.

The Falcons close out their home slate next week, Feb. 12, when they host Northern Colorado in a conference dual meet. The match is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. in Clune Arena.

Complete Results in PDF Format

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