Lopes set for trip to George Mason

Grand Canyon	No. 5 NC State	Grand Canyon	Clarion	Grand Canyon	George Mason

Sunday, Dec. 13 8:30 a.m.		Sunday, Dec. 13 11:30 a.m.		Sunday, Dec. 13 1:00 p.m.

Location: George Mason Recreation Athletic Complex, Fairfax, Va.

PHOENIX – After two weeks off from competition, Grand Canyon is set to head out on another distant road trip this weekend. The Lopes will dual against NC State, Clarion and George Mason in a Sunday tournament hosted by George Mason in Fairfax, Va. The Lopes' first (and toughest) opponent of the day is No. 5 N.C. State who brings an unscathed 9-0 record into the match.

Last in action on Nov. 20 in Iowa, GCU won duals against Cornell (40-12) and reigning junior college champion Iowa Central Community College (28-6). The Lopes also saw action against No. 2-ranked Iowa, falling to the Hawkeyes' nationally-renowned program 44-0. Iowa's lineup boasted five players ranked in the top six in the country individually.

The three matches in Fairfax, Va. will be GCU's final road contests until Jan. 8-9 when Grand Canyon returns to the state of Virginia for the Virginia Duals. Before embarking on that trip, the Lopes will host Northern Illinois on Dec. 19 and Embry-Riddle and Lock Haven on Jan. 5 inside GCU Arena.

Scouting No. 5 North Carolina State
The Wolfpack are coming off of a momentous victory at No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. on Sunday. The 19-15 win for N.C. State vaulted them into a No. 5 national ranking, up eight spots from their No. 13 spot one week ago. The Wolfpack's impressive 2015-16 resume also includes a dominate win over No. 13 Minnesota, 31-3, on Nov. 15. After competing vs. Grand Canyon Sunday, N.C. State's challenging slate of opponents includes No. 22 Old Dominion, No. 18 Virginia, No. 16 North Carolina, No. 25 West Virginia, No. 4 Nebraska and No. 8 Missouri. Six of the Wolfpack's 10 starters are ranked in the top 20 in the nation individually including Kevin Jack (141), Tommy Gantt (157), Max Rohskopf (165), Pete Renda (184), Michael Boykin (197) and Nick Gwiazdowski (285). Gwiazdowski has won back-to-back NCAA titles after a 35-0 season last year. As a team, N.C. State has finished 19th and 16th, respectively, at the last two NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Scouting Clarion
The Golden Eagles enter Sunday's dual with a 3-4 team record including wins over Bllomsburg, Michigan State and Rider. Clarion is coming off of a fourth place finish out of 12 clubs at the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference (PSAC) championships with freshman Brock Zacherl winning an individual title at the 141-lb. weight class. Heavyweight wrestler Zach DeLuca logged a top-three finish at the tournament, following up a week which he was named PSAC and Eastern Wrestling League Wrestler of the Week. The Golden Eagles are looking to rebound this season after recording just one team dual victory in 2014-15.

Scouting George Mason
The Patriots have been very light in action to begin the 2015-16 season and are coming off of two dual losses to No. 18 Rutgers (47-0) and University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (21-19) in a tournament held at iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. George Mason is coming off of a 10-win season last year, including a victory over Grand Canyon on Feb. 19, 2015. The Patriots top returning wrester is senior Greg Flournoy (157 lbs.) who made a run at the NCAA Championships last year, finishing with an individual record of 28-12 on the season.

GCU Probable Starters
125: Trayton Libolt
133: Jauquin Olivas
141:Uzo Owuama
149: Blake Monty
157: Zack Velasquez
165: Casey Larson/Bobby Reece
174: Kenny Moore
184: Austin Trujillo/Cale Wilson
197: Austin Gaun
285: Sean Medley

Grand Canyon University Athletics

GrandCanyon

No. 5NC State

GrandCanyon

Clarion

GrandCanyon

GeorgeMason

Sunday, Dec. 138:30 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 1311:30 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 131:00 p.m.

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos

Grand
Canyon

No. 5
NC State

Grand
Canyon

Grand
Canyon

George
Mason

Sunday, Dec. 13
8:30 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 13
11:30 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 13
1:00 p.m.