Grand Canyon University Athletics
Ryan Becerra
GCU Wrestling to Face Some of Nation's Best This Season
9/20/2010 6:51:46 PM | Wrestling
Fresh of a top-20 national finish, the Grand Canyon University wrestling squad, which begins its fourth season next month, has announced its 2010-11 schedule which features the Grand Canyon Duals on New Year’s Day, a home dual with in-state power Arizona State University, home-and-home duals with Prescott’s Embry Riddle University, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the prestigious NWCA National Duals.
“Without a doubt, we will be wrestling one of the toughest schedules of any school in Division II,” said fourth-year Head Coach R.C. LaHaye. “With teams like Arizona State and tournaments like the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, along with National Duals and matchups with several of last year’s top 10 teams in the nation, we are seeking out the best possible competition to prepare us for the postseason.”
GCU’s season begins on Oct. 23 with a trip to Riverside, Calif. for the California Baptist Open. The Antelopes will close out the month by hosting the Purple & Black Dual at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 in the new, state-of-the-art Wrestling Room in the soon-to-be completed, 55,000 square foot Student Recreation Center on the GCU campus.
November is highlighted by a trip to Prescott for the Embry Riddle Open on Nov. 6 and the highly-anticipated dual against ASU at 1 p.m. on Nov. 13. The month will conclude with the Cal State Fullerton Open on Nov. 20 in Fullerton, Calif.
On Dec. 1, the Antelopes will make a return trip to Prescott for a dual with Embry Riddle University. Following the dual, the squad will head to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3-4, which features top schools from all over the country.
The new year will get started with a bang, as GCU will host the 2011 Grand Canyon Duals on Jan. 1. The University of Nebraska at Kearney, St. Cloud State University and Newberry College, all of which finished in the top 10 last season, are among the schools that will be in attendance at the all-day event. A trip to the esteemed NWCA National Duals from Jan. 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa follows. The ‘Lopes then will host conference opponent New Mexico Highlands University at 7 p.m. on Jan. 13 and travel to the Mile High Duals in Prescott on Jan. 14. GCU will finish the month on the road with duals against Cal Baptist and conference runner-up San Francisco State University on Jan. 21, Colorado State University-Pueblo on Jan. 26 and top-10 national finisher Western State College on Jan. 28.
Embry Riddle comes to Phoenix to open the month of February at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1, before closing out the regular season with duals in Colorado against conference foes Fort Hayes State University and Mesa State College on Feb. 9, respectively, and the season finale on Feb. 11 at the Colorado School of Mines.
The NCAA Super Regionals will be held on Feb. 26 in San Francisco, with the NCAA Division II National Championships taking place from March 11-12 in Kearney, Neb.
LaHaye returns 2010 NCAA All-Americans Victor Carazo (Salido, CA/Grace M. Davis, Modesto JC) and Ryan Becerra (Gilbert, AZ/Highland, Cal State Bakersfield) and national qualifier Todd Wilcox (Sacramento, CA/Folsom, Sierra College) to a team that improved from 1-16-1 in 2008-09 and picked to finish 11th in the 2009-10 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll to 12-8 and a tie for fourth place in the RMAC.
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