Cal Poly to Host No. 9 Minnesota, Lindenwood for Dual Meets Sunday

Trevor Tinker earns near-fall points in Las Vegas Invitational.

Cal Poly 285-pounder Trevor Tinker scores near-fall points in Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend.

Photo by: Photo by Lawrence Slater

Cal Poly to Host No. 9 Minnesota, Lindenwood for Dual Meets Sunday

12/7/2022 12:54:00 PM | Wrestling

GAME PROGRAM

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly's home-opening dual meets Sunday feature a team with all 10 of its wrestlers ranked in the top 25 and a first-year Division I program.

Coach Jon Sioredas' Mustangs will wrestle Lindenwood from St. Charles, Missouri, at 1 p.m., followed by No. 9 Minnesota at 2:30 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center.

The Gophers, a perfect 4-0 in duals so far this year, are one of four nationally ranked wrestling teams scheduled to compete in San Luis Obispo this season. Cal Poly also will wrestle No. 7 Michigan on Jan. 6, No. 21 Stanford on Feb. 17 and No. 25 Oregon State on Feb. 19.

Minnesota, which claimed NCAA national championships in 2001, 2002 and 2007, owns dual meet victories against Binghamton, No. 24 South Dakota State, Augustana and No. 5 Oklahoma State. In addition, nine Gophers earned titles at the Bison Open.

The Minnesota roster is headed by 125-pounder Patrick McKee (4-0), 141-pounder Jake Bergeland (2-1) and 157-pounder Brayton Lee (1-1), all ranked No. 4 this week.

McKee is 77-28 in his Minnesota career and a two-time All-American while Bergeland is 78-33 as a Gopher and placed seventh in the 2022 NCAA Championships. Lee is a two-time NCAA qualifier, placing sixth in 2021, and owns an 82-22 career mark.

Minnesota head coach Brandon Eggum is in his sixth full season as head coach of the Gopgers and has been with the program for 22 years. He was a three-time NCAA All-American and two-time Big 10 champion at 184 pounds for the Gophers.

Eggum also was a silver medalist at the 2001 World Freestyle Championships and at the 2002 Pan American Freestyle Championships. He earned a bronze medalist at the 2003 U.S. National Freestyle Championships.

Minnesota has claimed 12 Big Ten team titles, the last one accomplished in 2007.

Lindenwood is 1-3 so far in duals with a 27-17 win over Harper College and losses to Northern Illinois, Missouri and Bellarmine.

Lawrence Saenz takes down his opponent
at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last week.

The Lions were members of the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference from 2011-22 before moving up to Division I on July 1. Lindenwood was an NAIA member prior to 2011.

Top Lion wrestlers include 165-pounder Gavin Londoff, who placed first in the Lindenwood Open; 174-pounder Jared Shafer, second in the Kaufman Brand Open, 184-pounder Austin Raynor, second in the Lindenwood Open, and Kaden Charboneau, runner-up in the Drury Open at 165.

Dallas Smith is in his seventh season as head coach at Lindenwood. He guided the Lions to a third-place finish in the 2022 NCAA Division I National Championships.

Smith was a four-time Division II All-American from Ouachita Baptist, placing first as a senior in 2015, second as a sophomore, third as a junior and sixth as a freshman.

Cal Poly is 1-3 all-time in dual meets against Minnesota, last meeting in 2008, and is facing Lindenwood for the first time.

The Mustangs, currently No. 23 in wIN Magazine's tournament power index and ranked No. 24 in the publication's dual meet poll, will send five nationally ranked wrestlers to the mat Sunday.

Two-time NCAA All-American Bernie Truax is ranked as high as No. 2 by WIN Magazine and also sports a No. 3 ranking from Amateur Wrestling News, No. 7 by Intermat and No. 8 by The Open Mat. Truax is 4-0 on the year, placing first in the Tiger Style Invitational three weeks ago.

Mustang 149-pounder Dom Demas is 4-1 on the year with national rankings of No., 10 by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 11 by Intermat and No. 14 by both WIN Magazine and The Open Mat. Demas placed fourth in the 2019 nationals while wrestling at Oklahoma and qualified for the 2020 nationals as well.

Antonio Lorenzo is 4-0 with a Tiger Style Invitational title as well. The 125-pounder and 2022 national qualifier is ranked No. 14 by Intermat and Amateur Wrestling News and 15th by The Open Mat.

Adam Kemp is ranked No. 19 at 184 pounds by both Amateur Wrestling News and Intermat. He will be making his 2022-23 season debut Sunday.

Cal Poly 165-pounder Legend Lamer is ranked No. 30 by Intermat with a 4-3 record, placing seventh in the Tiger Style Invitational.

Other Mustangs scheduled to compete Sunday include Wisconsin transfer Ethan Rotondo (3-4) at 133 pounds, Lawrence Saenz (1-2) at 141, Luka Wick (7-4) at 157, Jarad Priest (6-5) at 174 and Trevor Tinker (5-3) at 285.

In its lone dual meet so far this season, Cal Poly defeated California Baptist 38-9 on Nov. 5 in Riverside, Calif.

Minnesota and Lindenwood will compete against each other Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

Probable Lineups
No. 24 Cal Poly (1-0)
125 -- No. 14 Antonio Lorenzo (4-0), Sophomore, Antelope, Calif.
133 -- Ethan Rotondo (3-4), Graduate, Vancouver, Wash.
141 -- Lawrence Saenz (1-2), Junior, Vacaville, Calif.
149 -- No. 10 Dom Demas (4-1), Sixth Year, Columbus, Ohio
157 -- Luka Wick (7-4), Freshman, San Marino, Calif.
165 -- No. 30 Legend Lamer (4-3), Sophomore, Corvallis, Oregon
174 -- Jarad Priest (6-5), Freshman, Bakersfield, Calif.
184 -- No. 19 Adam Kemp (0-0), Junior, Palatine, Ill.
197 -- No. 2 Bernie Truax (4-0), Junior, Oceanside, Calif.
285 -- Trevor Tinker (5-3), Freshman, St. Louis, Missouri

No. 9 Minnesota (4-0)
125 -- No. 4 Patrick McKee (4-0), Senior, St. Michael, Minn. -OR- Troy Spratley (3-0), Freshman, Norwich, N.Y.
133 -- No. 20 Aaron Nagao (5-1), Freshman, La Habra, Calif.
141 -- No. 4 Jake Bergeland (2-1), Graduate, Hugo, Minn. -OR- Vance VomBaur (4-2), Freshman, Greeley, Colo.
149 -- No. 16 Michael Blockhus (7-0), Senior, Cresco, Iowa -OR- Marcos Polanco (8-4), Junior, West Covina, Calif.
157 -- No. 4 Brayton Lee (1-1), Senior, Brownsburg, Ind. -OR- Sebas Swiggum (3-1), Junior, Apple Valley, Minn.
165 -- No. 19 Andrew Sparks (5-2), Junior, Costa Mesa, Calif.
174 -- No. 17 Bailee O'Reilly (1-1), Graduate, Goodhue, Minn. -OR- Jared Krattiger (5-0)Senior, Waterford, Wisc.
184 -- No. 15 Isaiah Salazar (5-1), Junior, Greeley, Colo.
197 -- No. 20 Michial Foy (6-1), Graduate, Crete, Ill.
285 -- No. 24 Garrett Joles (5-2), Senior, Boyceville, Wisc. -OR- Keaton Kluever (3-4)Senior, Kaukauna, Wisc.

Lindenwood (1-3)
125 -- Austin Kegley (2-4), Junior, Ely, Iowa -OR- Ben Lindley (2-3), Senior, O'Fallon, Missouri
133 -- Ben Lindley (2-3), Senior, O'Fallon, Missouri -OR- Tanner Hitchcock (0-0), Graduate, Bonner Springs, Kansas
141 -- Kalen Napier (1-4), Junior, Fort Worth, Texas
149 -- Ben Bohr (0-4), Senior, St. Charles, Missouri
157 -- Kaden Charboneau (2-5), Sophomore, Wagoner, Okla.
165 -- Gavin Londoff (5-1), Graduate, Lake St. Louis, Missouri
174 -- Drew Gvillo (1-2), Sophomore, Bunker Hill, Illinois
184 -- Austin Raynor (8-2), Sophomore, Bordentown, N.J.
197 -- Ryan Golnick (3-2), Sophomore, Carpintersville, Illinois
285 -- David Hernandez (0-3), Sophomore, Omaha, Nebraska