Three Champions at Fullerton Open

FULLERTON, Calif. ? Iowa State crowned three champions at the Fullerton Open hosted by Cal-State Fullerton Saturday. Travis Paulson, Jake Varner and Kurt Backes each earned their second title in as many tournaments on the season. Cyler Sanderson, Mitch Mueller and David Bertolino finished runners-up in their respective weight classes.

Two-time All-American Travis Paulson recorded four decisions and a technical fall en route to the 165-pound title. In the title match, Paulson scored a 3-2 decision over Arizona State's Pat Pitsch. The senior is unbeaten on the season at 9-0.

Redshirt freshman, Jake Varner, cruised to the 184-pound title as he pinned two of his opponents in less than two minutes. Varner has accumulated six pins thus far in the season and remains unbeaten at 8-0.

At 197-pounds, Kurt Backes opened with a 15-0 technical fall and won the next two matches by default. Backes pinned Matt Montiero in 3:56, claiming the title. Backes is also unbeaten on the season at 8-0.

Finishing second at 141-pounds by a score of 1-0 was redshirt freshman Mitch Mueller. Muller finished second to UC Davis' Derek Moore. Mueller won three matches by decision (8-6, 7-1, 8-6) and another with a 17-5 major decision.

Cyler Sanderson took second-place at 149-pounds. Sanderson scored two major decisions and pinned his other two opponents. He met Cal State Fullerton's Moran Atkinson in the championship match and fell by an 8-6 decision.

Junior David Bertolino finished runner-up at 174-pounds. In his opening bout, Bertolino won with a 4:46 pin over Cal State Fullerton's Ryan Budd and then took an 11-3 major decision. In the semi-finals, Bertolino met fellow Iowa State wrestler, Grant Turner, and emerged with an 8-6 decision. Bertolino suffered a 14-12 loss to Nathaniel Augustson in the championship bout. Turner rebounded to take third place by scoring a 7-3 decision over Jeff Prentice of UC Davis.

Also placing third for Iowa State were Nick Fanthorpe (125), Nick Gallick (133) and David Zabriskie (HWT). Laramie Shaffer placed fourth at 133-pounds.

The Cyclones will resume dual meet action Nov. 26 as they play host to Arizona State at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

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Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

David Bertolino

Nick Fanthorpe

Nick Gallick

Mitch Mueller

Travis Paulson

Cyler Sanderson

Laramie Shaffer

Grant Turner

Jake Varner

David Zabriskie

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