The SF State wrestling team won its home opener against UC Davis last Saturday.

The Division II Gators squeaked by with a 24-23 win over the Division I Aggies and extended their winning streak to five dual meets.

"This is just like icing on the cake to beat teams like this," said SF State Head Wrestling Coach Lars Jensen. "We had some guys that hadn't wrestled that much and they performed."

The Gators won three matches, lost five and received two forfeits during their dual meet, which awarded them just enough points to edge out the Aggies.

Junior Steve Franklin earned the only pin of the night for the Gators when he defeated John Thurston in the sixth minute of the heavyweight match.

"It felt like we were the underdogs and it just shows we had more heart," Franklin said. "Anytime you can beat a Division I school, it's awesome, but it was our home opener to boot. It was amazing."

Junior Vincent Bordi and sophomore Pierre Bondoc earned the other two wins for the Gators. Bordi defeated Rory McBryde in the 197-weight division by a 5-2 decision. Bondoc, who subbed for injured senior Curtis Schurkamp, defeated Christopher Armendariz in the 125-weight division by a 7-3 decision.

"After I won my match, we won at heavyweights and then 125s and got a forfeit at 133s," Bordi said. "The wins gave us momentum. We got those key matches to win the dual."

The Gators were awarded 12 points alone in Aggies forfeits. Freshmen Naveed Bagheri received the forfeit in the 133-weight division and junior Lucas Duckwall received a forfeit in the 174-weight division.

Junior Ian Wrenn lost to Joey Wilson in the 157-weight division by a 15-4 major decision. Though Wrenn lost, the third string substitute kept from getting pinned in the evening's final match and insured the Gators' win.

"Our starter went down with an ankle injury and we put [Wrenn] in there and he just got it out," said Jensen. "He's our wrestler of the week for his performance."

The Gators' win improved the team's overall record to 6-4, and they remain 2-0 in their conference.

"We got about six weeks left in the season and we are looking forward to Regionals and Nationals," Jensen said. "We haven't won too much in the last couple years, but now we are slowly turning the program around."

The SF State wrestling team remains at home to take on Chadron State and Cal Baptist in two individual dual meets on Friday.