Cal Poly Wrestling Ranked No. 23 in Preseason WIN Magazine Poll

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The Cal Poly wrestling team is ranked No. 23 and three Mustangs are in the top 20 of their weight classes in preseason rankings released this week by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine.

First-year Mustang head coach Brendan Buckley welcomed nine returning lettermen, including seven starters, along with five redshirts and 14 newcomers to the first day of practice earlier this week.

Among the veterans on the roster is Boris Novachkov, the 2011 NCAA runner-up at 141 pounds who is ranked No. 2 by WIN. Novachkov went 31-2 last season and his only two losses were 3-2 decisions against Kellen Russell of Michigan, who is ranked No. 1 at 141.

Also returning are Ryan DesRoches, ranked No. 15 at 165, and Ryan Smith, ranked No. 18 at 197.

DesRoches, expected to wrestle at 174 this season, was 33-8 a year ago with a team-leading 14 falls, while Smith was 22-11 overall. Both were national qualifiers.

Penn State, which earned its first NCAA team championship in over 50 years last March in Philadelphia, has been tabbed by WIN to repeat this winter.

The rest of the top five include No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Oklahoma State and, tied at No. 4, Minnesota and Lehigh.

Cal Poly opens its 2011-12 season at the Roadrunner Open hosted by Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 5.