NCAA National Championship
Cal Poly Sends Quartet to NCAA Wrestling Championship
3/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly senior 141-pounder Boris Novachkov has a chance to do something no other Cal Poly wrestler has been able to accomplish -- achieve NCAA Division I All-American status three times.
Novachkov and three other Mustang wrestlers -- 165-pounder Dominic Kastl, 174-pounder Ryan DesRoches and 197-pounder Ryan Smith -- will compete in the 2012 NCAA Division I National Championship, which starts a three-day run Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Novachkov (pictured at right) placed seventh at 133 pounds in 2010 and was runner-up at 141 pounds a year ago, dropping a 3-2 decision to Kellen Russell of Michigan in the finals. Novachkov also lost to Russell by the same score in the Las Vegas Invitational earlier that season, his only losses in a stellar 31-2 junior campaign.
Nine former Mustang wrestlers have earned a pair of All-American certificates by placing in the top eight at the nationals. They are Tom Kline, Chase Pami, Vic Moreno, Chad Mendes, Darrell Vasquez, Mark Tracey, Rodger Warner, Gary Fischer and Louie Montano. Novachkov joined the list a year ago.
Novachkov attempted to be Cal Poly's first three-time Pac-12 individual champion two weeks ago at Boise State, but settled for second place after dropping a 5-4 decision to Michael Mangrum of Oregon State in the final round.
Novachkov, a four-time NCAA qualifier, will take a 28-3 record into the national championship this week. The Fremont High School (Sunnyvale) graduate is seeded sixth at 141 pounds and will face the winner of a pigtail match between Evan Henderson of North Carolina and Zack Kemmerer of Penn in his first match Thursday morning.
Novachkov has earned decisions against both wrestlers this season -- 4-0 over Kemmerer at the NWCA All-Star Classic in November in Tempe, Ariz., and 8-1 over Henderson in the Las Vegas Invitational in December.
Kastl, the Mustangs' lone Pac-12 champion this season, will take a 12-3 record into the nationals. The Gilroy High School graduate and redshirt freshman will face 10th-seeded Cody Yohn of Minnesota in the opening round Thursday. Yohn has a 19-9 record to date and is a junior.
DesRoches, second-place finisher in the Pac-12 finals, improving on his pair of third-place finishes in 2010 and 2011, is seeded sixth at 174 pounds and will take a 24-3 record into his first-round match against Phillip Joseph of Eastern Michigan. Joseph, a sophomore with a 20-8 record, has not faced DesRoches in his collegiate career.
Smith sports a 21-11 record and will take on Cody Yohn's older brother, Sonny Yohn of Minnesota, in the opening round. Sonny Yohn also is seeded 10th and the senior has a 26-5 record. Smith placed third at 197 pounds in the Pac-12 finals and has qualified for the nationals twice.
A year ago, Novachkov joined Eric Osborne (1987-88), Jake Gaeir (1993-94), Chad Mendes (2006, 2008) and Chase Pami (2008-09) as two-time Pac-12 champions.
Novachkov, ranked No. 2 in the nation in his weight class in all four major polls earlier this season, is currently ranked No. 4 by WIN Magazine, No. 5 by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 6 by InterMat.
Novachkov won titles at the Cowboy Open and Reno Tournament of Champions while finishing fifth at the Las Vegas Invitational earlier this season. He was 13-0 in dual meets this season and 115-22 in his Mustang career. Novachkov placed third in the Pac-12 finals as a freshman in 2008.
DesRoches suffered his first loss of the year against top-ranked Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford in an 8-0 major decision Jan. 15 and also fell 3-2 to No. 18 Dorian Henderson of Missouri in the NWCA National Duals four weeks ago. He won his first 19 matches of the season, finished 9-2 in duals and was edged by Amuchastegui 5-4 in the Pac-12 finals.
DesRoches earned first-place finishes in the Cowboy Open, Las Vegas Invitational and Reno Tournament of Champions. The Riverside High School (Deer Park, Wash.) graduate is 107-34 in his Mustang career, is a three-time NCAA qualifier and is ranked No. 4 at 174 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 5 by WIN Magazine and No. 7 by InterMat.
Smith, who dropped out of the national rankings in late December, bounced back with victories in nine of his last 12 bouts, including losses to Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming, the nation's top-ranked 184-pounder who wrestled up a weight class in the Jan. 20 dual, and No. 7 Brent Haynes of Missouri in the NWCA National Duals.
Smith placed second in the Roadrunner Open, fourth in the Reno Tournament of Champions and posted a 3-2 mark in the Midlands. He is 68-46 in his Mustang career, qualified for the NCAA finals a year ago and has placed second, third and fifth in the Pac-12 finals.
Smith is ranked No. 17 by WIN Magazine, No. 18 by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 20 by InterMat.
The Mustangs (6-7 overall, 3-2 Pac-12 duals) competed in five tournaments in the first two months of the season before heading into the dual meet portion of its 2011-12 schedule. Cal Poly defeated CSU Bakersfield 28-10, Menlo College 40-6, Boise State 22-20, San Francisco State 25-13, Arizona State 26-11 and Rutgers 24-22.
The Mustangs competed in the Cowboy Open (non-scoring), Roadrunner Open (non-scoring), Las Vegas Invitational (11th), Reno Tournament of Champions (sixth), Midlands Championships (33rd) and California Collegiate Open (non-scoring) this season before finishing fifth in the Pac-12 finals.
First-year Mustang head coach Brendan Buckley has guided his team to national tournament power rankings of No. 16 by WIN Magazine and No. 25 by InterMat. The Mustangs are unranked in the NWCA Coaches Poll.
Competition on Thursday begins with pigtails and first-round matches at 9 a.m. PDT. The second round and wrestlebacks begin at 4:30 p.m. PDT. Friday's schedule includes quarterfinals and wrestlebacks at 8 a.m. PDT and semifinals and wrestlebacks at 4 p.m. PDT.
Wrestleback semifinals and matches for third through eighth places will be contested Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT, with the championship finals slated for 4:30 p.m. PDT.
ESPN will televise the finals live, part of its coverage of more than 50 hours of the NCAA Championship across multiple platforms. Beginning Thursday, ESPN3 will provide coverage of hundreds of individual matches throughout the three-day tournament. Two of the four quarterfinals, as well as the semifinals, will be televised Friday on ESPNU in side-by-side format, allowing viewers to watch two matches at the same time.
Cal Poly wrestling is presented by Meathead Movers.
