BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's wrestling team honoured its three graduating seniors Saturday at the West Gym where it hosted Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual meets against the Adams State (Colorado) Grizzlies and the San Francisco State Gators.
 
Taniela Feliciano-Takafua (Sunnyvale, California), Sam Patton (Calgary) and Zack Stratton (Spokane Valley, Washington) were all recognized for their dedication in their time as NCAA wrestlers at SFU.
 
"This group is an exceptionally resilient one," said SFU associate coach Clete Hanson. "With a cancelled season during COVID, they had to deal with the fact that they got their experience kind of cut short and they didn't get a year to develop more on the mats.

"We're a big believer in making our matches count and using that as a litmus test. When you get that taken away from you, it puts a bit more pressure on because time is running out. There are a lot of individuals who after seeing some initial failures on the mats might have backed down. Not this group. They showed up every day to work and push each other, going about it the right way. So, it's been a really, really good group to work with. I'm excited for to see how they all finish up here and excited about their futures after the wrestling season. And I'm sure those are good opportunities."
 

On Saturday, Feliciano-Takafua went undefeated in his last home event, winning both his bouts. He beat Abraham Garcia of Adams State by technical fall 18-3 and pinned San Francisco State's Emilio Franco Sandoval at 7:04.
 
"I wrestled okay in the first match. Nothing to be upset with," Feliciano-Takafua said. "The second match, I feel like I held back. With a lot of heavyweights I wrestle, they're waiting for me to shoot so they can counter-score on me. That's something I have to get over, trust my coaches and the work I've done. I feel like the more wrestling that happens, the better it is for me, but I don't think I showed it in that last match."

Feliciano-Takafua is undefeated in four matches so far this season, with two victories by pin, and two by technical fall.
 
Patton was upended in his matches, but Saturday was a memorable one.
 
"I'm super grateful the last match of my career was at home in front of family and friends," he said. "It definitely stings to go out on a loss, but I'm pretty happy with my experience here. I've met some of my best friends, and it's just taught me how to work hard. The SFU wrestling program has definitely played a big part in shaping me into the man I am today, so I am very fortunate I came here. Again, it would have been nice to finish on top of the national podium, but not every dream comes true. Still, I'm very grateful and very fortunate."

Patton will be moving back home to Calgary this week to start a new job.

Stratton did not wrestle Saturday because of injury.

"This is my fifth year now. I've started every year, so I've always been on that team where we're travelling every semester," Stratton said. "I'm just thankful for that adversity you always have to face between athletics, school, and things like that. Having to coordinate coaches, professors, all those little life lessons you pick up that help you mature as you get into your 20s and get ready to start a real career. I'm going to head back home with my degree and start working with a building supply company I've been working at over the past few summers.
 

Junior Ryan Hicks (149 pounds), junior Magnus McCrackin (157), sophomore Peter McCrackin (174) and sophomore Sam Pereira (197) all recorded wins on Saturday.
 
Hicks (Maple Ridge, B.C.) beat Travis Vialpando of Adams State 14-9, while Peter McCrackin topped the Grizzlies' Samuel Loera 10-6. Magnus McCrackin earned a full six points for the Red Leafs as ASU forfeited the 157-pound bout. Pereira earned a 14-2 majority decision over Laith Gilmore of the Gators.
 
SFU fell 29-17 to Adams State, which received votes in the National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA Division II rankings, and 39-10 to San Francisco State.

"Both of those teams came out strong," said SFU head coach Clete Hanson. "I still I think we're technically kind of where we need to be, but we just didn't have enough kind of push and gumption for some of our attacks. That's something we've been talking about, but I thought we saw a lot of bright spots over the weekend.

"Ryan's match, particularly when he went down early, was really good. The kid from Adams Stateis ranked higher right now, but I felt we were the aggressor, and dictating pace. We were asserting ourselves correctly in that match, so that was good to see. Nela looks great, which is what we want to see with him in this back half of the semester. So, he's looking to get where he needs to be."

The next event for the Red Leafs is the Oaks Wrestling Open on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Menlo College in Atherton, California.
 

RV Adams State (Colorado) 29, Simon Fraser 17
125        Isaiah Gamez (Adams State) over Marques Calapiz (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (TF 15-0 3:20), 5-0 ASU
133        Dale Van Matre (Adams State) over Jagvir Grewal (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (TF 17-1 3:33), 10-0 ASU
141        Angel Flores (Adams State) over Sam Patton (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (Fall 3:49), 16-0 ASU
149        Ryan Hicks (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Travis Vialpando (Adams State) (Dec 14-9), 16-3 ASU
157        Magnus McCrackin (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Unknown (Forfeit), 16-9 ASU
165        Aaden Valdez (Adams State) over Patrik Leder (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (MD 13-1), 20-9 ASU
174        Peter McCrackin (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Samuel Loera (Adams State) (Dec 10-6), 20-12 ASU
184        Hunter Tobiasson (Adams State) over Owen Gudmundson (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (Fall 1:52), 26-12
197        No. 9 Ben Tonnessen (Adams State) over Sam Pereira (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (Dec 6-1), 29-12 ASU
285        Taniela Feliciano-Takafua (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Abraham Garcia (Adams State) (TF 18-3 4:13), 29-17 ASU
 
San Francisco State 39, Simon Fraser 10
125        Hayden Ancheta (San Francisco State) over Marques Calapiz (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (TF 17-2 5:41), 5-0 SFSU
133        Tony Margiotta (San Francisco State) over Jagvir Grewal (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (TF 15-0 1:37), 10-0 SFSU
141        Johnny Lopez (San Francisco State) over Sam Patton (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (Fall 2:04), 16-0 SFSU
149        Lawrence Saenz (San Francisco State) over Ryan Hicks (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (TF 15-0 7:00), 21-0 SFSU
157        Basil Othman (San Francisco State) over Magnus McCrackin (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (Fall 0:27), 27-0 SFSU
165        Kydyn Lima (San Francisco State) over Patrik Leder (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (MD 16-7), 31-0 SFSU
174        Gage Mettler (San Francisco State) over Peter McCrackin (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (MD 10-0), 35-0 SFSU
184        Kweli Hernandez-Maitre (San Francisco State) over Ricky Feroce (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) (MD 13-3), 39-0
197        Sam Pereira (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Laith Gilmore (San Francisco State) (MD 14-2), 39-4 SFSU
285        Taniela Feliciano-Takafua (Simon Fraser (B.C.)) over Emilio Franco Sandoval (San Francisco State) (Fall 7:04), 39-10 SFSU
 
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