George Mason
Mustang Wrestling Opens NWCA National Duals Friday
1/9/2025 8:30:00 AM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly wrestling team travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, this week to battle some of the top mid-major schools in the country at the NWCA Division I National Dual Meet Championships this Friday and Saturday at University of Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome.
Fourteen of the best mid-major programs in the nation are slated to compete in the two-day dual tournament, including No. 5 Northern Iowa, No. 15 Little Rock, No. 16 South Dakota State, No. 26 Wyoming and No. 29 Northern Colorado. The Mustangs, seeded ninth out of 14 teams in the tournament, open their showing at the event at 8 a.m. PST Friday against No. 6 George Mason. Cal Poly is guaranteed to wrestle in at least four duals across the two days of action.
The entirety of the dual tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling and live results will be available on TrackWrestling.
This marks the first time since 2017 that men’s Division I teams will take part in the NWCA National Duals, however, only mid-major schools are wrestling in the tournament.
Cal Poly will be taking 14 wrestlers to the tournament, including five nationally ranked wrestlers — No. 3 Zeth Romney at 133 pounds, No. 7 Chance Lamer at 149 pounds, No. 28 Luka Wick at 165 pounds, No. 29 Trevor Tinker at 285 pounds and No. 30 Koda Holeman at 125 pounds.
This week’s duals will mark the first action on the mat for Romney since he captured the 133-pound title at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 7. Romney defeated four ranked opponents en route to becoming the first Mustang in 15 years to capture a title at 133 pounds at the tournament. The performance earned him Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career and second time this season. Romney enters the NWCA National Duals with a 9-1 overall record and 1-1 mark in duals.
The NWCA National Duals will also mark the return of Chance Lamer, who hasn’t wrestled since earning a 5-1 decision over No. 10 Jaden Abas in a home dual with Stanford on Nov. 16. The two-time NCAA Round of 12 qualifier is a perfect 5-0 on the year and 2-0 in duals.
Cal Poly, No. 22 in the latest FloWrestling Team Tournament rankings, saw seven wrestlers compete during its last action on the mat at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30. Holeman (125) and Cash Stewart (165) both advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective weight classes and Holeman received his first Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week award for his performance.
The Mustangs (0-4) will be eying their first dual victory of the season when they battle George Mason for the first time in program history on Friday. The Patriots are 8-0 in duals this season and received two votes in the latest NWCA National Coaches Poll. According to InterMat, George Mason currently boasts four nationally ranked wrestlers — No. 23 Kaden Cassidy at 149 pounds, No. 23 DJ McGee at 157, No. 23 Evan Maag at 165 and No. 25 Malachi DuVall at 184.
The winner of the dual between Cal Poly and George Mason will advance to the quarterfinals to face the winner of Little Rock (7-1) and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (2-2) at 10 a.m. PST Friday. The loser will move to the consolation bracket and wrestle the loser of Little Rock and SIUE at noon PST Friday. Regardless of the result in their opening dual Friday, the Mustangs will take on an opponent in their second dual they will host within the next five weeks as both SIUE and Little Rock are set to visit Mott Athletics Center.
Following the NWCA National Duals, Cal Poly returns home for the first time since Dec. 19 to host a dual with SIUE at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Cal Poly NWCA National Duals Roster
Season record in parentheses
125: No. 30/32 Koda Holeman (11-7, 3-1 Duals)
133: No. 3/4 Zeth Romney (9-1, 1-1 Duals)
141: Alek VanBebber (7-8, 0-0 Duals)
149: Gavin Fernandez (4-5, 0-1 Duals)
149: No. 7/8 Chance Lamer (5-0, 2-0 Duals)
157: Devin Alexander (6-4, 0-0 Duals)
157: Legend Lamer (6-6, 1-2 Duals)
165: Cash Stewart (7-6, 0-2 Duals)
165: NR/No. 28 Luka Wick (3-4, 1-1 Duals)
174: Blake Hinrichsen (6-6, 1-1 Duals)
184: Jake Honey (5-4, 0-0 Duals)
197: Tyler Hodges (4-6, 0-1 Duals)
197: Wesley Wilson (1-4, 0-0 Duals)
285: No. 29/32 Trevor Tinker (12-5, 3-1 Duals)
InterMat/FloWrestling rankings
