OREGON CITY, Ore. – One day after a rough outing against No. 9-ranked Southern Oregon, the Linfield men's wrestling team showed signs of life – and significant improvement – Sunday at the Clackamas Open. 
 
Hosted by Clackamas Community College, ranked No. 5 in the NJCAA, the tournament brings together many of the best collegiate wrestlers in the west each December. Freshman Carlos Kisokwa and sophomore Ethan Ensrud led the young Wildcats on the day, both claiming podium finishes. 
 
The Wildcats held out several of their everyday starters in hopes they get healthy in time for the Desert Duals, later this month in Las Vegas. That tournament provides one of the only opportunities for the Linfield men to face Division III competition before the NCAA regionals in February. Thus the one-day event holds outsized importance on the Wildcats' schedule. 
 
"We're looking forward to getting our lineup healthy and facing some Division III opponents in Las Vegas," said Frank Johnson, Linfield's head coach. "But we're also looking to see improvement each time out, week to week and tournament to tournament. And I think we saw a lot of that from our young guys today." 
 
Kisokwa, in his first year of college wrestling, entered Sunday with a 3-9 record. At Clackamas, he won a pair of matches back-to-back in the consolation bracket to guarantee a sixth-place finish. All five of his matches went the distance. 
 
Ensrud went more than the distance in his fifth-place final at 184 pounds, needing overtime to claim a 4-1 win over Southern Oregon's Preston Echeverria. Ensrud finished fourth at the Mike Clock Open earlier this season, and pushed his record to 11-7 with three wins at the Clackamas tournament. 
 
"Most of our wrestlers are freshmen and sophomores, and they're still learning how to close out tight matches," said Johnson. "I saw some really good things on that front today." 
 
Max Vander Meide pinned Orion Rhinehart of Evergreen State at 141 pounds to claim his third win of the season, Lucien Lefebvre pinned Evergreen State's Jacob Inton at 165 pounds for just his second win, and heavyweight Julian Ortiz pinned Anthony Bolaños of Simon Fraser for his second win. 
 
Wildcats freshman Roan Zigenis lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Simpson's Carlos Mendez III at 197 pounds that would have evened his season record at 4-4 if he had won, but Johnson said Zigenis is learning a lot early in his first season. 
 
"I'm seeing growth, I'm seeing commitment to the process from a lot of these guys," Johnson said. "I look forward to seeing where we'll be later in the season." 
 
NEXT
Both the Linfield men and women travel to Las Vegas for the Desert Duals on December 21. 
  141: 

• DJ Gillett (Oregon State) pinned Max Vander Meide (Linfield), 0:14 
• Max Vander Meide (Linfield) pinned Orion Rhinehart (Evergreen State), 3:34 
• George Kovchegov (Clackamas-unattached) won by major decision over Max Vander Meide (Linfield), 15-6 

149: 

• Matthew Hernandez (Clackamas-unattached) won by decision over Carlos Kisokwa (Linfield), 2-1 
• Carlos Kisokwa (Linfield) won by decision over Fahad Hillesland (Treasure Valley Community College), 8-4 
• Carlos Kisokwa (Linfield) won by decision over Ryo Horikawa (SWOCC), 9-4 
• Jonathan Hernandez (Southern Oregon) won by major decision over Carlos Kisokwa (Linfield), 12-2 
• Fifth-place match: Colton Silva (Simpson) won by major decision over Carlos Kisokwa (Linfield), 12-2  

157: 

• Andrew Porter (Pacific) pinned Fermin Carrillo Rueda (Linfield), 0:38 
• Diago Silva (Simon Fraser) pinned Fermin Carrillo Rueda (Linfield), 1:13 

165: 

• William Schwertscharf (Simpson) pinned Lucien Lefebvre (Linfield), 1:13 
• Lucien Lefebvre (Linfield) pinned Jacob Inton (Evergreen State), 4:00 
• Diego Cruz (Southern Oregon) won by tech fall over Lucien Lefebvre (Linfield), 16-0 

184: 

• Ethan Ensrud (Linfield) won by decision over Carlos Garcia (Southern Oregon), 11-4 
• Ethan Ensrud (Linfield) pinned Sage Adie (Pacific), 3:44 
• Adrian Chavez-Morales (Southern Oregon) pinned Ethan Ensrud (Linfield), 3:23 
• Owen Gudmundson (Simon Fraser) won by decision over Ethan Ensrud (Linfield), 6-2 
• Fifth-place match: Ethan Ensrud (Linfield) won in sudden-victory overtime over Preston Echeverria (Southern Oregon), 4-1 

197: 

• Carson Gooley (Southern Oregon) pinned Nestor Diaz Salazar (Linfield), 2:31 
• Jonas Baekkelund (Simon Fraser) won by major decision over Nestor Diaz Salazar (Linfield), 12-0 
• Carlos Mendez III (Simpson-unattached) won by decision over Roan Zigenis (Linfield), 3-2 
• Armand Brinlee (Unattached) won by tech fall over Roan Zigenis (Linfield), 20-5 

HWT: 

• Garrett Olbrich (Pacific) won by major decision over Julian Ortiz (Linfield), 10-2 
• Julian Ortiz (Linfield) pinned Anthony Bolaños (Simon Fraser), 5:42 
• Ben Hughes (Southern Oregon) pinned Julian Ortiz (Linfield), 2:44 
• Sam Pereira (Simon Fraser) pinned Divenson Willis (Linfield), 2:22 
• Divenson Willis (Linfield) won by injury default over Logan Clayburn (SWOCC), 0:23 
• Jaden Echeverria (Southern Oregon) won by decision over Divenson Willis (Linfield), 5-3