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OMAHA, Neb. -- Cal Poly 157-pound wrestler Chase Pami will compete for a national championship Saturday night.

The senior from Las Vegas, Nev., earned a 5-2 decision over No. 2 Adam Hall of Boise State in Friday morning's quarterfinal round and a 13-5 major decision over unseeded Justin Lister of Binghamton in Friday night’s semifinals at the NCAA Division I National Championships being held at the Qwest Center Omaha.

The 100th win of his Mustang career propelled Pami (pictured above), seeded seventh, into the championship finals Saturday night against top-seeded J.P. O’Connor of Harvard. O’Connor, a senior and 34-0 on the year, beat Steve Fittery of American 14-2 in the other semifinal.

Pami improved to 29-6 with his pair of wins Friday. He met Hall for the sixth time in the last two years and his only other victory over Hall in his Mustang career was a 4-3 overtime decision in the 2009 Pac-10 finals.

A seventh-place finisher in the 2009 NCAA Championships, Pami is 100-34 in his Cal Poly career. He lost to Hall 5-1 in the Pac-10 finals three weeks ago at UC Davis.

Against Hall on Friday, there was no scoring in the first period. Pami scored a two-point near fall in the second period and rode out the period for two minutes of riding time. In the final period, Pami earned an escape, gave up a takedown and posted another escape for a 4-2 lead. He finished with 1:54 in riding time for the 5-2 win.

Pami scored four takedowns and a reversal, leading all the way against Lister. Pami led 4-1 after one period, 8-2 after two and recorded two more takedowns and riding time (3:52) in the final stanza for the major decision.

"My coaches have been preaching it all year, going to my holds and to my shots, being offensive, looking to score in every position, not being satisfied with a 3-2 or 4-2 win," said Pami.

"Last year was a very tough first-round match to get through," Pami added. "Getting over that hump was huge. It felt a lot better this year, stepping out there for the first match."

Pami opened his bid for a national title this year with a 3-2 decision over Kurt Kinser of Indiana, followed by a 7-5 victory over No. 10 Shane Vernon of Oklahoma.

Pami and O’Connor have met four times over the last two years. Pami and O’Connor met in the Las Vegas Invitational in December, with O’Connor scoring a 5-4 decision. They also met three times in the 2008-09 season. O’Connor earned a 5-2 decision in the Las Vegas Invitational and a 2-1 nod in the Lone Star Duals while Pami posted a 2-1 victory in the wrestlebacks of the 2009 NCAA Championships.

"I got him earlier this year in Las Vegas, so I settled that score (from last year) a little bit," said O'Connor. "I give him a lot of credit. He's a great athlete, a really tough competitor. I wrestled him three times last year, and unfortunately he beat me when it counted.

"He's a big reason why I'm this fired up, and striving to win a national title," O'Connor added. "I took that loss to heart. It's something I think about to this day, and that's something that won't change whether or not I win a national title."

Added Pami, "We definitely have a history. I knocked him out of the All-American round last year. I'm going out there with the intent of whatever it takes to win the match, with that focus and that intensity. I just have to go out there and go to my offense, my turns, my shots."

Sophomore Boris Novachkov also is an All-American.

Cal Poly's other quarterfinalist and seeded fifth at 133 pounds, Novachkov dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to No. 4 Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. But the Fremont (Sunnyvale) High School graduate clinched All-American honors with a 6-2 victory over unseeded Matthew Fisk of Lehigh in the fifth round of wrestleback matches.

In the sixth round later Friday night, Novachkov lost to redshirt freshman and eighth-seeded Tyler Graff of Wisconsin 2-1 in overtime.

Against Oliver in the quarterfinals, there was no scoring in the first period. Oliver was penalized for stalling in the second period but rode out the period for two minutes in riding time.

After Oliver escaped to open the third period, Novachkov scored a takedown for a 3-1 lead. But Oliver notched another escape and earned enough riding time for a point to tie the match at 3-3.

There was no scoring in the sudden victory period. Novachkov earned a penalty point in the first tiebreaker period, but Oliver did the same in the second tiebreaker period as well as an escape to gain the 5-4 victory and a spot in the semifinals.

Novachkov, the lone Mustang Pac-10 champion this year, split two earlier matches with Oliver this season, losing a 4-2 decision in the finals of the Reno Tournament of Champions and bouncing back two weeks later for a 6-0 victory in a dual meet at Stillwater, Okla.

Against Fisk, Novachkov never trailed, scoring a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second period for a 4-0 advantage. Fisk notched a takedown in the third period but Novachkov escaped and earned 2:07 in riding time for another point and the win.

In the match against Graff, Novachkov gave up an escape in the second period but earned one himself in the third to tie the match at 1-1. There was no scoring in the sudden victory overtime period. Novachkov failed to earn an escape in the first tiebreaker period and Graff succeeded in the second tiebreaker period for the 2-1 win.

Novachkov is 27-5 on the year (55-17 in his Cal Poly career). He faces senior Steve Bell of Maryland for seventh and eighth place Saturday morning. Bell is 27-7 on the year and has never met Novachkov.

On Thursday, Novachkov earned a 6-3 decision against Kendric Maple of Oklahoma and a 4-1 overtime win over No. 12 Steve Mytych of Drexel.

In the wrestlebacks, junior Filip Novachkov defeated Dalton Jensen of Iowa State 6-5 Friday morning but was eliminated with a 9-5 loss to No. 5 Zack Bailey of Oklahoma later in the session.

Novachkov was 2-2 in the tournament and finishes the season 25-8. He was seeded No. 7 at 141 pounds.

Mustang 149-pounder Nick Fisher and 174-pounder Ryan DesRoches were eliminated in the wrestlebacks Thursday night.

Cal Poly is in 17th place with 27 points following Friday night's session. The Mustangs have earned a pair of All-American honors in the nationals for the first time in six years. Darrell Vasquez was fourth at 133 pounds and Vic Moreno placed sixth at 125 in 2004.

Cal Poly's only Division I national champions are Tom Kline at 191 pounds in 1969 and Mark DiGirolamo at 118 in 1976.

Championship and consolation finals are set for Saturday. The consolation finals will be televised live by ESPNU at 8 a.m. PDT with the championship finals to be broadcast by ESPN at 4:30 p.m.

Results for Cal Poly wrestlers:
First Round
133 -- No. 5 Boris Novachkov dec. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 6-3
141 -- No. 7 Filip Novachkov maj. dec. Ryan Adams (North Dakota State) 12-4
149 -- Nick Fisher was dec. by Nicholas Bertucci (Purdue) 4-1
157 -- No. 7 Chase Pami dec. Kurt Kinser (Indiana) 3-2
174 -- Ryan DesRoches was maj. dec. by Daniel Rinaldi (Rutgers) 13-4
Second Round
133 -- No. 5 Boris Novachkov dec. Steve Mytych (Drexel) 4-1 TB2
141 -- No. 7 Filip Novachkov was dec. by Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh) 6-5
157 -- No. 7 Chase Pami dec. No. 10 Shane Vernon (Oklahoma) 7-5
Quarterfinal Round
133 -- No. 5 Boris Novachkov was dec. by No. 4 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 5-4 (OT)
157 -- No. 7 Chase Pami dec. No. 2 Adam Hall (Boise State) 5-2

Wrestlebacks
Second Round
149 -- Nick Fisher was dec. by Seth Morton (Ohio) 12-6
174 -- Ryan DesRoches was dec. by Scott Giffin (Pennsylvania) 11-4
Third Round
141 -- No. 7 Filip Novachkov dec. Dalton Jensen (Iowa State) 6-5
Fourth Round
141 -- No. 7 Filip Novachkov was dec. by No. 5 Zack Bailey (Oklahoma) 9-5