Lopes set for Virginia Duals

Grand Canyon	Chattanooga	Grand Canyon	Rider

Friday, Jan. 8 7:00 a.m.		Friday, Jan. 8 9:00 a.m.

Location: Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Va.

PHOENIX – After picking up their most lop-sided win of the season in GCU Arena on Tuesday, the Grand Canyon wrestling team heads back to the East Coast to participate in the Virginia Duals in Hamtpon, Va. The National College portion of the tournament features 12 Division I schools separated into four separate pools. GCU is competing in the York River Pool where they will face Tennessee at Chattanooga and Rider University. How the Lopes fare in pool play will determine which bracket they advance to in the championship rounds of the Virginia Duals.

Earlier this week, the Antelopes were able to sweep Embry-Riddle 41-0 and battle Lock Haven to a tight 16-15 loss. Grand Canyon's win over Embry-Riddle marked the first sweep under head coach Jon Sioredas and first since also sweeping Embry-Riddle in February 2014. Austin Trujillo pinned his opponent at the 184-pound class to put the Lopes up 33-0. 6 of GCU's 9 wrestlers picked up wins via major decision, technical fall, fall or forfeit to catapault the Lopes to 41 points on the day, their most since January 2014. The second matchup of the day was tightly contested throughout. In a dual that was nearly completely decided by decisions alone, Lock Haven's Tristan Sponseller claimed the 184-pound match via a major decision, enabling the Golden Eagles to edge Grand Canyon by one point.

The Virginia Duals offer a special connection for Sioredas, who competed in the tournament as a high school wrestler, a collegiate wrestler, a collegiate assistant coach and now as a collegiate head coach. Additionally, Sioredas graduated from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga -- the Lopes' first opponent in the tournament. As a wrestler for the Mocs, Sioredas finished as an All-American and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. Prior to being named Grand Canyon's head coach, Sioredas also served as an assistant coach for Chattanooga.

Scouting Chattanooga
The Mocs sport a 5-2 record entering the Virginia Duals, with their only two losses coming in tightly-contested duals vs. No. 24 Stanford and No. 17 Ohio. The early success comes for Chattanooga comes with a very young team, as six freshmen are featured in the probable starting lineup including standout Kamaal Shakur at the 157-pound weight class, boasting a 15-4 record individually. Jared Johnson is the Mocs' top wrestler, featuring a No. 11 ranking as a heavyweight. Chattanooga is a member of the Southern Conference and was picked to win the league this season after going a perfect 7-0 in conference a year ago.

Scouting Rider
The Broncs enter the tournament with a 3-4 record in duals but are coming off of an impressive showing at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. to end the 2015 calendar year. Rider placed 5th out of 42 teams in a field that included 10 top-25 teams. Chad Walsh (157) is 14-4 on the season and Conor Brennan (165) is 16-2, anchoring the middle of the Broncs' lineup. Both wrestlers also placed 3rd at the Midlands Championships to help vault the team to a 5th-place finish. Rider was ranked as high as 10th in the nation last season and finished out the year in 27th place at the NCAA Championships.

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

Grand
Canyon

Chattanooga

Grand
Canyon

Rider

Friday, Jan. 8
7:00 a.m.

Friday, Jan. 8
9:00 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

Austin Trujillo

Zackary Velasquez

Grand Canyon University Athletics