The road ahead for the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners wrestling team looks bright and promising. How do we know that? Their performance in the recently concluded Fourth Annual Chippewa Challenge, which has a very interesting history, speaks volumes. TO put it simply, the Chippewa challenge is an intercollegiate quad-dual meet between CSU Bakersfield, CMU Chippewas, Campbell Fighting Camels, and the American University Eagles.

The American University hosted the Chippewa Challenge this year in Washington at Bender Arena. The ultimate winners of the challenge were the Campbell Fighting Camels for the second consecutive year, but the future doesn’t seem too bleak for the Roadrunners either. There is a silver lining on the horizon.

The Roadrunners demonstrated some high-calibre athleticism and techniques, thus proving that they have indeed come a long way from the uncohesive bunch they were previously. That says a lot about the Runners’ wrestling. Last season, not a single Roadrunner wrestler advanced to the NCAA Championships. Why?

Their performance fell flat across all categories, and their legacy of participating in the NCAA Championships for 50 consecutive seasons went down the drain. That’s when head coach Luke Smith decided to mix things up a little. CSU Bakersfield welcomed two new transfer graduates this year into their wrestling program, 2021 NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari as a Redshirt Sophomore and Gerrit Nijenhuis, who will be using his final year of eligibility to compete for the Runners.

And the result? The Runners were neck to neck with the CMU Chippewas, with outstanding performances by AJ Ferrari, Nijenhuis, Escobedo, and the Runners’ HWT Jake Andrews. The Roadrunners were declared the winners beating the Chippewas at 21-20, which was decided by the first criteria of the tie-breaker, the number of matches won. Bakersfield had won 6 matches, whereas the Chippewas were at 4.

Every small victory counts till you make it big. And the Bakersfield Roadrunners have shown solidarity finally, as a team.

Is Ferrari the Runners’ nitro boost?

We believe AJ Ferrari and the Roadrunners wrestling team have a lot in common. For starters, both are in dire need of a strong comeback and a positive morale boost that will put them back on the charts. Head coach Luke Smith’s decision to have Ferrari in the Runner’s wrestling program is probably the fix and cure that both parties need. The murky haze surrounding Ferrari’s absence from the mat since 2022 due to an accident had attracted a lot of hate and negativity that still continues to cloud his return to the mat. The injuries he sustained and his inconsistency across major collegiate level challenges continue to muddle his performance with fans left wondering if he will ever be back to his former glory self.

But ever since his transfer to CSU Bakersfield, his active participation and performances towards the end of last season and the dawn of this season puts to rest the rumors that were rife. AJ Ferrari has been enjoying a winning streak that started with him being named last year’s Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week to clinching important wins in the NCWA National Duals and his stellar performance in the Chippewa Challenge, he continues to bring prosperity to the Roadrunners.

Head coach Luke Smith and the scores of Roadrunner fans have high hopes pinned on him ahead of the 2025 NCAA Championship season. Ferrari has personally come a long way since the accident mishap and is now a staunch believer with high hopes and dreams ahead of him. We look forward to the future of Roadrunners Wrestling journey.

The Runners will be facing the Oregon State Beavers at the Gill Coliseum on the 2nd of February 2025 in the Pac-12 slate. We believe that the past cannot be changed, but the future definitely holds potential. For the CSU Bakersfield Wrestling program, AJ Ferrari is that potential.