Purdue
Mustang Wrestling Opens Season Saturday at Home Against No. 24 Purdue
10/31/2025 8:00:00 PM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly wrestling team officially opens its 2025-26 season this Saturday when the Mustangs host the 24th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers inside Mott Athletics Center.
The dual starts at 6 p.m. Saturday and tickets can be purchased HERE. Fans who purchase tickets to the Cal Poly home football game against Portland State at 2 p.m. Saturday will also receive admission to Saturday’s dual by showing their ticket at the door.
If you can’t make it to Saturday’s dual, you can also watch it live on the Cal Poly wrestling Twitter/X (@CalPolyWrestle) or on FloWrestling.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 28 nationally in the InterMat preseason tournament rankings, will carry four nationally ranked wrestlers into Saturday’s showdown with No. 24 Purdue. The ranked crew is led by redshirt junior Zeth Romney, who is moving up a weight class to 141 pounds this season and is currently ranked fourth in the nation. Last year, the Simi Valley, Calif. native placed third at 133 pounds at the NCAA Championships to become Cal Poly’s fourth All-American all-time at 133 and first in 15 years. The highest NCAA finisher in program history at 133 pounds, Romney was named the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year and finished the season with a 19-5 overall record, recording 13 victories over ranked opponents.
Graduate student Trevor Tinker is ranked No. 16 at 285 pounds entering the season. The three-time NCAA qualifier captured became the second wrestler in program history to win a Pac-12 Championship at heavyweight last season and the first in 32 years. He finished the year with a team-best 24-7 record, winning 22 of his matches via bonus points, including eight by technical fall and five by pin.
Redshirt junior Koda Holeman made his first NCAA appearance a year ago and enters 2025-26 ranked No. 27 in the nation at 125 pounds. Holeman finished with a 20-13 mark last season and was the only Mustang that wrestled in every single date for the team in 2024-25.
Redshirt junior Ceasar Garza, a transfer from Michigan State, is the final nationally preseason ranked wrestler for the Mustangs, checking in at No. 28 at 184 pounds. Garza is one of three transfers expected to be in the Mustangs’ starting lineup throughout the season, joining graduate student Andrew Gonzales (Ohio State) at 149 pounds and junior Luke Gayer at 165 pounds (Rutgers).
The Boilermakers boast seven nationally ranked wrestlers, including No. 3 Joey Blaze at 165 pounds, who was the NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds last season.
A handful of Cal Poly wrestlers are also competing in the Menlo Open on Saturday in Atherton, Calif.
Following Saturday’s action, Cal Poly hosts Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center for its Alumni Weekend dual.
Probable Lineups
No. 28 Cal Poly
125: No. 27/NR Koda Holeman
133: Anthony Lucio
141: No. 4/6 Zeth Romney
149: Andre Gonzales
157: Jagger French
165: Luke Gayer
174: Cash Stewart
184: No. 29/28 Ceasar Garza
197: Cole Jackson
285: No. 16/24 Trevor Tinker
No. 24 Purdue
125: Jacob Macatangay OR Isaiah Quintero
133: No. 18/19 Blake Boarman
141: No. 18/22 Greyson Clark
149: Gavin Brown OR Wyatt Krejsa
157: Stoney Buell OR Isaac Ruble
165: No. 3/3 Joey Blaze
174: No. 23/19 Brody Baumann
184: No. 23/25 James Rowley
197: No. 26/26 Ben Vanadia
285: No. 32/32 Hayden Filipovich
InterMat/FloWrestling rankings
