North Dakota State
Cal Poly Drops Non-Conference Dual Meet to North Dakota State, 35-6
1/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Devon Lotito and Spencer Empey were Cal Poly's only winners as the Mustangs dropped a 35-6 decision to North Dakota State in a non-conference dual wrestling meet Saturday afternoon in the Mott Athletics Center.
Cal Poly falls to 2-2 in duals with the loss and will host Boise State next Sunday (Jan. 12) for a 1 p.m. Pac-12 dual meet while North Dakota State improved to 3-3. The Bison wrestle at Bakersfield on Monday night.
Lotito (below) posted a 6-1 decision over Justin LaValle at 133 pounds to improve to 14-7 on the year while Empey was a 9-7 winner over John Gusewelle at 285 pounds to lift his record to 11-8.
After a scoreless first period, Lotito scored an escape and takedown in the second period for a 3-0 lead and, after surrendering an early escape in the final period, closed out the match with a takedown and over two minutes of riding time.
Empey (right in photo at right) trailed Gusewelle 2-1 after the first period, but tallied an escape, takedown and three-point near fall in the second period for a 7-2 lead. Gusewelle scored a pair of reversals to close the gap to 7-6 but Empey produced a reversal of his own midway through the final period to clinch the victory.
North Dakota State received falls from 141-pounder Clayton Cathey and 197-pounder Tyler Lehmann and technical falls from its two nationally ranked wrestlers, 165-pounder Steven Monk and 174-pounder Hayden Zillmer, en route to the dual meet win.
Monk is ranked No. 4 in the nation and sports a 17-1 record while Zillmer is ranked 16th and improved to 16-4 with his win Saturday.
Cal Poly wrestling, presented by Meathead Movers, wrestled in its home dual meet opener.
North Dakota State (35) at Cal Poly (6):
125 -- Hunter Weber (NDS) dec. Britain Longmire (CP) 3-0
133 -- Devon Lotito (CP) dec. Justin LaValle (NDS) 6-1
141 -- Clay Cathey (NDS) pinned Jacob Leon (CP) 2:34
149 -- Tyler Diamond (NDS) dec. Blake Kastl (CP) 6-0
157 -- Nick Olejnik (NDS) dec. Xavier Johnson (CP) 5-2
165 -- Steven Monk (NDS) tech. fall over Sohrab Movahedi (CP) 16-1 (6:45)
174 -- Hayden Zillmer (NDS) tech. fall over Stefan Weidemann (CP) 21-6 (6:13)
184 -- Kurtis Julson (NDS) maj. dec. Kent Beecham (CP) 16-2
197 -- Tyler Lehmann (NDS) pinned Nicolas Johnson (CP) 1:52
285 -- Spencer Empey (CP) dec. John Gusewelle (NDS) 9-7
Photos by Ray Ambler
