Bulldog wrestling drops its home opener to Illinois, amid heavy Lemoore presence
For the record, the Bulldogs lost, but according to those who were there on a historic night, it didn’t matter. Nearly 7,000 wrestling fans were on hand to watch the University of Illinois, an NCAA top 20 team, dismantle Fresno State 33-10.
Of course, as almost every local wrestling fan knows, the dominant Illinois squad is led by two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez, unarguably the best single wrestler ever from the San Joaquin Valley, if not California.
Martinez not only won three state wrestling titles at Lemoore, but he’s won two national titles and came within seconds of winning a third last spring. He’s currently in his senior year at Illinois and during his career has lost just one match.
Martinez wasn’t the only former Tiger in attendance Friday night. Former Lemoore state finalist and Bulldog senior Sean Williams wrestled Friday night but lost his opening bout to Travis Piotrowski.
Last year’s state finalist Angel Solis, now a freshman Bulldog starter, lost his 184-pound match against Emery Parker.
Last year’s California wrestling champ, Gary Joint, was at the match but he’s redshirting this season for the Bulldogs.
Overall the Bulldogs are 1-2 in their return engagement. They were in Bakersfield on Saturday for the annual Roadrunner Open and took on Air Force on Nov. 21 in San Diego.
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