Freshman Cougar wrestler wins with pin
The Lassen College wrestling team hosted their first home dual of the season against the Shasta College Knights Tuesday, Oct. 17.
Freshman wrestler Cole Mair was the highlight of the evening with his heavyweight pin during the first match.
Prior to the pin, Mair had racked up three individual points via an escape in the first round, another in the second round and a technical violation made by the Knight in the second round.
Mair finally pinned his opponent with 1:40 remaining of the third match. He thus earned six team points for Lassen and brought the Cougar crowd to its feet.
After the heavyweight division, Lassen forfeited the next three matches due to the lack of players. The score thus changed to 18-6, Shasta.
Jonathan Campos keeps a strong grip on his Shasta opponent before taking him down Tuesday, Oct. 17. Photo by Ashley GroganJonathan Campos was the next Cougar to wrestle as he took on the 174-pound division.
Campos started the match ahead with a takedown with 1:20 on the clock in the first round. However, with 20 seconds remaining, the Shasta wrestler managed to escape and bring the individual score to 2-1, Lassen.
In the second round, the Knight turned the tables with reversal at 1:45 that bumped up his point tally up to three as opposed to Campos’ two.
With one second left of the second round, the Shasta wrestler managed to pin Campos, and thus the Knights earned another six team points.
Next on the mat was Tevin Bailey for the 197-pound division.
Bailey was more than eager to win the match, and with 1:19 remaining of the first round, he took down the Knight and caused the gymnasium to erupt with cheers of support.
Later, the Knight managed to escape and thus brought the individual score up to 2-1, Lassen.
However, the Shasta wrestler’s pride didn’t last long as Bailey earned another two points via near fall at 0:45, and four points with another near fall at 0:20.
Tevin Bailey keeps calm throughout the match and wins by decision to earn the Cougars three team points. Photo by Ashley GroganIn the second round, Bailey earned four points from near falls within the first 20 seconds.
The Knight then countered with a reversal at 1:02 to bring the individual score up to 12-3, Lassen.
Bailey escaped with 32 seconds remaining of the second period to grant him another point, and thus the round ended with 13-3 on the board favoring Bailey.
In the third round, the Knight was first to advance on the score with a takedown worth two points.
Bailey was quick to escape, but another takedown by Shasta pushed Bailey near his limit.
Another escape by Bailey was followed by a single-point penalty against him.
A final takedown earned the Knight his total of 10 points, and another escape by Bailey brought him to 16.
With the 16-10, Lassen, individual score, Bailey won the match via decision. Thus, the team score was brought to 24-9, Shasta.
Mathian Salana takes down the Shasta Eagle while wrestling at home Tuesday, Oct. 17. Photo by Ashley GroganThe final match of the evening was an exhibition match with Mathian Saldana representing the Cougars on the mat.
Saldana gained two individual points with 34 remaining of the first round via a takedown of his opponent.
Saldana then fouled the Knight in the second round of the match with 1:55 on the clock.
Another takedown of the Knight gave Saldana two more points, but an escape earned Shasta another point with 1:40 on the board for round two.
The Shasta wrestler then took initiative and took down Saldana for two points with 1:20 on the board in the second round, and within 35 seconds, the Knight managed to pin Saldana for the win.
