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Cal Poly Wrestling Wraps Up Home Dual Meet Slate With 26-11 Victory
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly's four seniors entered their last home dual meet Friday night with 311 career victories. The quartet now own 315 wins as Mustangs.
Ryan DesRoches, Ryan Smith, Kelan Bragg and Boris Novachkov all earned victories to lead Cal Poly to a 26-11 victory over Arizona State in a Pac-12 dual meet Friday night before 1,017 inside Mott Gym.
The Mustangs evened their overall record at 5-5 with the win and are 3-2 in Pac-12 duals. Arizona State, which has lost eight consecutive dual meets, fell to 5-10 and 1-2.
After joining his family in the singing of the National Anthem, DesRoches opened the dual meet with a 5-3 decision over Eric Starks at 174 pounds. The nation's fourth-ranked 174-pounder jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first period with a pair of takedowns and held on for his 22nd victory in 23 matches this season.
Smith scored a spirited 15-5 major decision over Chace Eskam at 197 pounds. Now 18-9 on the year and ranked as high as No. 16 in the nation in his weight class, Smith scored six takedowns, three in the first period for an early 6-2 lead, and coasted to the win.
Mustang heavyweight Kelan Bragg (pictured at right), wrestling in his 98th career match at Cal Poly, scored a decisive takedown midway through the final period en route to a 6-1 decision over Michael Hawkins.
Novachkov improved to 24-2 and solidified his No. 2 national ranking at 141 pounds with an 11-0 major decision against Nathan Hoffer. The two-time Pac-12 champion and NCAA All-American earned his fourth shutout of the season as well as his third major in the last three weeks.
After a scoreless first period, Novachkov erupted for eight points in the second round, scoring an escape, takedown, two-point near fall and three-point near fall for an 8-0 lead and finalizing the win with a takedown and riding time in the final act.
Novachkov's victory gave Cal Poly an 18-8 lead over the visiting Sun Devils.
Mustang 157-pounder Gianpier Yanez clinched the dual meet for Cal Poly with his second collegiate victory, posting a 13-1 major decision over Kyle McIntosh. Yanez scored a takedown and two-point near fall a minute into the match, added a takedown in the second period for a 6-1 lead and wrapped up the win with an escape, takedown, three-point near call and riding time.
Mustang 165-pounder Dominic Kastl claimed a 12-3 major decision against Rush Hall as Cal Poly won the dual meet going away.
Kastl, a redshirt freshman now 7-3 on the year, notched a first-period takedown, then earned an escape and takedown in the second round for a 5-1 lead and added three takedowns and riding time in the final period for his first collegiate major.
Cal Poly won seven of the 10 bouts en route to its 14th victory in 43 dual meets against Arizona State.
The other Mustang victory Friday night was garnered by 125-pounder Britain Longmire in a 14-5 major decision over Dalton Miller. Longmire scored three takedowns in the first period for a 6-3 lead, then was held scoreless in the second round but finished strong with two takedowns, a three-point near fall and riding time for his ninth win in 14 matches this season.
Cal Poly will wrestle Utah Valley next Friday at Stanford, starting at 5:30 p.m., and will compete in the California Collegiate Open hosted by San Francisco State on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Arizona State wrestles at CSU Bakersfield on Sunday.
Arizona State (11) at Cal Poly (26):
174 -- Ryan DesRoches (CP) dec, Eric Starks (ASU) 5-3
184 -- Kevin Radford (ASU) dec. Sean Dougherty (CP) 6-5
197 -- Ryan Smith (CP) maj. dec. Chace Eskam (ASU) 15-5
285 -- Kelan Bragg (CP) dec. Michael Hawkins (ASU) 6-1
125 -- Britain Longmire (CP) maj. dec. Dalton Miller (ASU) 14-5
133 -- Shane McGough (ASU) tech. fall Michael Clemmensen (CP) 18-3 (5:20)
141 -- Boris Novachkov (CP) maj. dec. Nathan Hoffer (ASU) 11-0
149 -- Joel Smith (ASU) dec. Kyle Chene (CP) 5-3
157 -- Gianpier Yanez (CP) maj. dec. Kyle McIntosh (ASU) 13-1
165 -- Dominic Kastl (CP) maj. dec. Rush Hall (ASU) 12-3
Attendance -- 1,017
