Bakersfield College’s wrestling team got a big performance from Jacob Pendelton, who was hampered by a knee injury throughout the Meat Head Movers tournament at Cuesta College on Oct. 22.
Pendelton hurt his knee in a tournament before and reinjured it during his finals match, but still managed to finish second in the 165-weight class.
“It was tied at 5-5 when he got hurt, so we decided to take an injury default to not risk further injury,” said wrestling coach Bill Kalivas.
Kalivas also added that Pendelton’s injury was a knee sprain and they will be taking it day-by-day, and if the trainers clear him, then he should be able to compete in the next tournament.
Pendelton commented on his performance and his injury.
“I thought I worked really hard, and working with Lance [Castenada] helped me out a lot, but I still think we need to improve on basic wrestling and not to complicate things,” he said. “Our team is improving with every week and having a great coach like Kalivas makes it easier.
“I injured my knee at the Santa Ana tournament and I reinjured it when my opponent shot at my knee. I was extremely disappointed with myself that I couldn’t push through and continue the match,” he said.
BC placed 14th out of 38 teams with Fresno City taking first, Rio Hondo second and Sacramento City third.
“I think we keep wrestling better each week and I think our conditioning is good, but we need to improve on our technique,” said Kalivas. “Our technique needs work, but none of these guys have competed in the collegiate level, so it’s a learning experience for these guys. I also think they’ve improved on strategy and recognizing position, but I would like to see them improve on escaping from the bottom position and controlling the top position.
“I thought Lance Castenada wrestled well, especially coming back to get third place after a disappointing semi-final loss, and I thought Jacob did a good job the whole day getting second in the 165-weight class, but he reinjured his knee in the final match,” he said.
BC is currently ranked 15th in state and their next tournament will be the Cal State Bakersfield Open on Nov. 5.