Liam Lucas Continues To Dominate

After having only one athlete place the weekend prior, BBCC hoped to up their play as they hosted their one and only tournament in the Big Bend Scramble on Saturday November 18th at the Devries Activity Center. This tournament had massive ramifications for the Vikings Wrestling Program as it would allow them to gage where they are at in comparison to those that stand in their way of the national tournament in March. Head Coach Daviaire Dickerson had this to say regarding the overall success of the competition "The Big Bend Scramble is a microcosm of our conference tournament. All of the teams in the NCWA Northwestern conference were present, giving the Viking wrestlers an idea of what they need to do to punch their ticket to the National tournament in March. Overall, it was clear that the race for conference champion will come down to Big Bend and Grays Harbor. The Big Bend Men's team showed out with a multitude of impressive conference wins that will be of great benefit when seeds are being assigned in the postseason. In the round-robin style tournament, the Vikes won the vast majority of their matches."

With Liam Lucas being the standout for the Vikes the weekend prior, Lucas picked up right where he left off dominating the competition. "Liam Lucas, the starting 165 pound returning conference champ and national qualifier had a rematch of last year's conference finals against WSU. Liam left no doubt, winning the match with a decisive 10-2 major decision" highlighted Dickerson.

After a successful Big Bend Scramble, BBCC had the opportunity to compete in the Spokane Open the following day where Raymond Rodriguez was the standout for the Vikes as Dickerson had this to say regrading Rodriguez's performance "Freshman Raymond Rodriguez, our 125 pounder out of Port Angeles was the Viking's highest finisher. Raymond took a bye in the first round and followed that up with a first round pin over Lucas CamachoSchulz from Pacific University. He then ran up against one of those Division 1 wrestlers from Utah Valley, and Raymond got caught for an early pin to send him to consolations. In the consos, Raymond had a conference matchup with Logan Heath of Washington State, and Raymond came up with an impressive pin with no time left on the clock in the first period. If Raymond had managed to win his next match he would have been guaranteed to place, but unfortunately he lost his last match, falling just short of placing. This was Raymond's best tournament yet, and we believe that his progress will continue to accelerate."

After a very busy month of November for BBCC Wrestling, Daviaire Dickerson recaped the month by saying "The Spokane Open wrapped up a month of competition that was an absolute meat grinder. For all four weeks of November, the Vikings have had a competition every Saturday and Sunday, plus a full conference schedule. This tournament was the light at the end of the tunnel. But it was always going to be a tough end of the month. In attendance at the tournament were some of the most highly ranked NAIA schools like Menlo and Providence, along with a NCAA D1 school, Utah Valley. Overall, most of the team struggled against the elite level of competition, but there were some bright spots."

Dickerson remains optimistic regarding the remainder of the squad. "The Vikes wrestled as well as they have all season. They all displayed high levels of energy, intensity and conditioning. In some instances their technique left something to be desired, but, overall they were able to dominate their opponents physically and come out on top, just about all of the Vikings should be seeded highly going into the conference tournament as a result of their statement wins at the Big Bend Scramble." said Dickerson.

BBCC prepares for the Clackamas Open on December 3rd hoping to continue progressing to their ultimate goal. 

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