ASHLAND, Ore. – The Linfield men's and women's wrestling teams, in their second year as NCAA programs and consisting almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores, ran into a buzzsaw Saturday in the form of NAIA powerhouse Southern Oregon. The SOU women are ranked No. 5 in the country and the SOU men are No. 20. 
 
"We're still building the foundation here," Linfield coach Frank Johnson said afterward. "We're recruiting hard and developing the student-athletes we have, and we hope to be ready to give teams like Southern Oregon a run for their money in the years ahead. We'll get there, but we're not there yet." 
 
The Linfield women only wrestled two bouts in Ashland, giving up eight forfeits on the way to a 50-0 loss. A handful of injuries and a second-year team without a lot of depth contributed to the tough day. 
 
On the men's side, heavyweight Jacob Barnes improved his season record to 16-2 with a hard-fought 16-12 win over the Raiders' Sebastian Echeverria. It was the second time in a row the two had wrestled each other – they met in the third-place match last Sunday at the Clackamas Open, also a Barnes victory. 
 
Linfield's other points in the dual came at 133 pounds, where Wildcats true freshman Max Vander Meide collected his first college win in a forfeit. The Raiders won the dual 45-9. 
 
"Our wrestlers are learning to battle, learning what it takes to win at this level," Johnson said. "This is good experience for us as we keep building and maturing." 
 
NEXT
The Linfield women travel to the Women's West Coast Tournament of Champions Dec. 16 in Roseville, Calif. The men's team will compete in a series of exhibition matches against California colleges next weekend. 
 
At Ashland, Ore.
 
Women
Southern Oregon 50, Linfield -0
101: Karly Scott (SOU) won by forfeit
109: Diamond Lopez (SOU) won by forfeit
116: Marissa Kurtz (SOU) won by forfeit 
123: Trynadii Rocha (SOU) pinned Riley Omonaka (Linfield), 5:24
130: Carolina Moreno (SOU) won by forfeit  
136: Desinee Lopez (SOU) won by forfeit
143: Sophie Keeefer (SOU) pinned Klaira Flatt (Linfield), 2:41
155: Sabrina Sifuentez (SOU) won by forfeit
170: Desi Matheny (SOU) won by forfeit
191: Ramona. Jimenez (SOU) won by forfeit 
 
Men
Southern Oregon 45, Linfield 9
125: Vonn Fenn (SOU) won by tech fall over Shoaib Amanzad (Linfield), 18-1 
133: Max Vander Meide (Linfield) won by forfeit 
141: Anthony Perez (SOU) won by tech fall over Sean Craven (Linfield), 16-0
149: Travis Thorpe (SOU) won by forfeit
157: #21 Dylan Straley (SOU) won by tech fall over Jakob Jarvis (Linfield), 18-0 
165: Noah Talavera (SOU) won by forfeit
174: #8 Alex Hernandez (SOU) pinned Ethan Ensrud (Linfield), 5:29
184: John White (SOU) pinned Darrius Walker (Linfield), 1:07
197: #16 Andrew Herrera (SOU) pinned Divenson Willis (Linfield), 4:32
HWT: Jacob Barnes (Linfield) won by decision over Sebastian Echeverria (SOU), 16-12