NCAA Championships
Gonzales Still Alive After Day 1 of NCAA Championships
3/19/2026 10:00:00 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Andre Gonzales is still alive and fighting through the consolation bracket after Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
Cal Poly’s three other NCAA qualifiers all saw their seasons come to a close on Thursday as Koda Holeman (125), Ceasar Garza (184) and Trevor Tinker (285) all went 0-2.
Making his first appearance at NCAAs, Gonzales battled his way to a dramatic victory in the first round of consolation matches at 149 pounds to extend his season. The San Diego native and Poway High product trailed No. 22 Eligh Rivera from Princeton 8-5 in the final period of their loser-go home match after being taken down with just over a minute left. Gonzales made it 8-6 with an escape with about 46 seconds remaining and then rose to the occasion and grabbed a takedown with just 11 seconds left in the match.
The takedown allowed Gonzales to take a 9-8 lead and the graduate student fended off Rivera for the remaining seconds to secure his first career victory at the NCAA Championships. It was his fourth win over a ranked opponent this season and it allowed him to book a ticket to Day 2 of nationals on Friday.
Gonzales, seeded 27th out of 33 wrestlers in his weight class, dropped a tight 5-1 decision to No. 6 Caleb Tyus from SIUE in his opening match at NCAAs. Gonzales, who is in his final year of eligibility, will wrestle No. 5 Koy Buesgens from NC State in a second-round consolation match at 9 a.m. PDT Friday.
Holeman, seeded 15th at 125 pounds, and Garza, the No. 23 seed at 184, both suffered narrow 4-1 defeats in overtime in their first-round matches. Each then dropped decisions in consolation matches to end their seasons.
Holeman, the 125-pound Pac-12 champion, finishes the year with a 19-7 record. Garza, the 184-pound Pac-12 champion, ends his first season as a Mustang with an impressive 18-4 mark. Both will return next year for their final seasons on the mat.
Tinker, the No. 22 seed, dropped a 7-4 decision to No. 11 Devon Dawson from Northern Illinois in his opening match before dropping a hard-fought major decision to No. 6 Nathan Taylor from Lehigh in the heavyweight consolations. The St. Louis, Missouri native finishes his Cal Poly career with a 73-40. This season, the 10th four-time NCAA qualifier in Division I program history became the first Mustang to repeat as a Pac-12 champion in their weight class since Chase Pami in 2008-09 (157 pounds) and the first two-time heavyweight champion in Cal Poly history.
Quarterfinal and second round consolation matches at the NCAA Championships get underway at 9 a.m. PDT Friday live on ESPNU.
Cal Poly Results
125
No. 18 Spencer Moore (Illinois) dec. No. 15 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 4-1 SV
No. 31 Desmond Pleasant (Drexel) dec. No. 15 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 7-4
149
No. 6 Caleb Tyus (SIUE) dec. No. 27 Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly), 5-1
No. 27 Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly) dec. No. 22 Eligh Rivera (Princeton), 9-8
184
No. 10 Caleb Campos (American) dec. No. 23 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly), 4-1 SV
No. 26 Chase Kranitz (Pitt) dec. No. 23 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly), 11-5
285
No. 11 Devon Dawson (NIU) dec. No. 22 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 7-4
No. 6 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) maj. No. 22 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 15-7
