LITTLE ROCK - SIUE wrestling split its final nonconference duals of the regular season Sunday.

The Cougars overpowered Cal State Bakersfield 31-9 and dropped a 33-6 decision to 18th-ranked Little Rock.

"We wrestled pretty hard in both duals," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "Little Rock is a tough team. They have a lot of seniors and did a good job of out-wrestling us in some situations."

Eric Almarinez and Caleb Tyus each won twice for the Cougars, which now stand 6-4 overall in dual meets.

"They both wrestled really well," said Spates. "I talked to Eric about where he was at the beginning of the year to where he is now. He's really getting better match by match. With Caleb, we've come to expect that from him. He wrestles hard throughout situations and is good in all positions."

Almarinez, 141-pounder, won by major decision against CSUB's Luis Ramos 11-3. Tyus followed him at 149 pounds with a 9-1 major decision over Brock Rogers.

Almarinez and Tyus provided the only scoring for the Cougars against Little Rock. Almarinez defeated Cal Keck while Tyus toppled Brennan Van Hoecke 6-1.

SIUE returns to action next Saturday at 6 p.m. in a Mid-American Conference dual at Ohio.
    
SIUE 31 Cal State Bakersfield 9
125 - Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSUB) over Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) (Dec 11-8)
133 - Santino Sanchez (CSUB) over Marcel Lopez (SIUE) (Dec 6-5)
141 - Eric Almarinez (SIUE) over Luis Ramos (CSUB) (MD 11-3)
149 - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) over Brock Rogers (CSUB) (MD 9-1)
157 - Caine Tyus (SIUE) over Jacob Peralta (CSUB) (Fall 2:47)
165 - Bradley Gillum (SIUE) over Guillermo Escobedo (CSUB) (Dec 4-3)
174 - Dominic Lopez (SIUE) over Ryder Dearborn (CSUB) (TF 18-2 4:50)
184 - Deron Pulliam (SIUE) over Braden Smelser (CSUB) (Dec 4-3)
197 - Nick Nosler (SIUE) over Khristian Dove (CSUB) (Fall 1:36)
285 - Jake Andrews (CSUB) over Bryson Buhk (SIUE) (Dec 7-2)

Little Rock 33 SIUE 6
125 - Jeremiah Reno (Little Rock) over Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) (Fall 2:52)
133 - Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) over Marcel Lopez (SIUE) (Dec 10-5)
141 - Eric Almarinez (SIUE) over Cael Keck (Little Rock) (Dec 7-3)
149 - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) over Brennan Van Hoecke (Little Rock) (Dec 6-1)
157 - Matty Bianchi (Little Rock) over Caine Tyus (SIUE) (Dec 6-1)
165 - Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) over Bradley Gillum (SIUE) (MD 13-1)
174 - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) over Dominic Lopez (SIUE) (Fall 6:12)
184 - Triston Wills (Little Rock) over Deron Pulliam (SIUE) (Dec 4-2)
197 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) over Nick Nosler (SIUE) (TF 21-5 4:04)
285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) over Bryson Buhk (SIUE) (Dec 9-4)
174 Extra: Kodiak Cannedy (Little Rock) over Hayden Trezek (SIUE) (Fall 2:04)