Cal Poly Wrestling Team to Compete in Reno Tournament of Champions

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly is among five teams ranked in the top 25 who will compete in the 17th annual Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday at the Reno Events Center.

The 28-team tournament begins at 9 a.m. and will conclude with the championship and consolation finals at 6 p.m..

Wyoming enters the one-day event as defending team champion. The No. 13 Cowboys seek to fend off No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Oregon State, the No. 15 Mustangs and No. 21 Stanford  for its second tournament title.

A year ago, Mustang 174-pounder Ryan DesRoches (pictured at right) placed second in the RTOC for the second straight year while Ryan Smith was fifth at 197. Boris Novachkov did not compete in last year's tournament but was second at 133 pounds in 2009.

Both DesRoches and Novachkov are ranked No. 4 by InterMat this week and Novachkov also is ranked No. 3 by several other publications. They were the only Mustangs to win their matches in a 36-6 loss to Oregon State in a Pacific-12 Conference dual meet Sunday at Cuesta College.

Novachkov earned a 5-3 decision against then-No. 3 Mike Mangrum at 141 pounds and now owns a 3-1 career mark against the Beaver wrestler. DesRoches posted a 4-0 decision against then-No. 19 Ty Vinson and is now 2-0 against him in his Mustang career.

The 285-pound bracket could feature a rematch between Mustang Atticus Disney, ranked as high as No. 13 this week, against Oregon State's Clayton Jack. Jack edged Disney 3-2 in Sunday's dual meet and is 3-1 against Disney all time.

DesRoches earned the 174-pound title in the Las Vegas Invitational earlier this month while Novachkov and Disney both placed fifth in their weight classes.

DesRoches will take a 12-0 mark into the RTOC. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and twice has placed third in the Pac-12 finals. DesRoches has 37 career falls and a 95-31 career win-loss mark at Cal Poly. He won all five of his Las Vegas Invitational matches by decision, including tiebreaker wins in the semifinals and final.

Novachkov is 11-2 and Disney 5-3. Novachkov, 98-21 in his career at Cal Poly, is a two-time NCAA All-American (second in 2011, seventh in 2010) and two-time Pac-12 champion. He also palced third in the Pac-12 finals as a freshman in 2008 and qualified for the NCAAs.

Disney is 17-15 in his two seasons at Cal Poly after transferring from Minnesota.

In last year's RTOC, Mustang 133-pounder Brandan Rocha went 3-2 while 125-pounder Britain Longmire, 133-pounder Jake Tanenbaum and 165-pounder Steven Vasquez all posted 2-2 marks.

Rocha is ranked No. 32 at 133 pounds by WrestlingReport.com while Mustang 197-pounder Ryan Smith also is ranked No. 32 in his weight class.

Cal Poly's lineup for the RTOC includes Michael Clemmensen (0-3) at 125 pounds, Rocha (4-4) and Tanenbaum (5-3) at 133, Novachkov (11-2) at 141, Adam Aslam (1-6) at 149, Elijah Jackson (1-3) at 157, Vasquez (4-1) at 165, DesRoches (12-0) at 174, Sean Dougherty (4-5) and Derrick Hawkins (0-2) at 184, Smith (6-4) at 197 and Disney (5-3), Drew Meulman (2-2) and KelenBragg (3-3) at 285.

Cal Poly is ranked No. 9 in this week's National Wrestling Media Association Division I Mid-Major Poll. Cornell is No. 1, followed by Lehigh and Wyoming.