NCAA Championships
Cal Poly Wrestling Wraps Up Season at NCAA Championships
3/20/2026 5:00:00 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cal Poly wrestling team saw its season come to a close Friday during Day 2 of the NCAA Championships inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Andre Gonzales, the Mustangs’ lone remaining wrestler after Day 1 of the national tournament, gave No. 5 seed Koy Buesgens from NC State everything he could handle in their second round consolation match at 149 pounds on Friday, nearly securing a takedown in the third period. However, a first period takedown by Buesgens proved to be the difference as he outlasted Gonzales for a 4-1 decision, knocking the San Diego native out of the NCAA Championships.
The defeat not only ended Gonzales’ season, but his collegiate wrestling career. After spending four years at Ohio State, Gonzales joined the Mustangs in 2025-26 for his final season of eligibility, compiling a 17-13 record and finishing as the Pac-12 runner-up at 149 pounds to qualify for his first NCAA Championship. The Poway High product went 1-2 at NCAAs.
Cal Poly’s other three NCAA qualifiers — Koda Holeman (125), Ceasar Garza (184) and Trevor Tinker (285) — were all eliminated during Day 1 of the tournament on Thursday.
The Mustangs had yet another incredibly successful season. Cal Poly earned a top 25 national ranking for the sixth straight season and sent at least four wrestlers to NCAAs for the fifth consecutive year, just the second time in program history the Mustangs have accomplished that feat and the first time since qualifying at least five from 2003 to 2007.
The Mustangs earned a program record three Pac-12 individual titles and established new program records for placers at a pair of prestigious tournaments — the Midlands Championships (six) and Cliff Keen Invitational (five). Cal Poly also secured a fourth-place finish as a team at Midlands, a program record.
Full Cal Poly NCAA Championship 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
No. 5 Koy Buesgens (NC State) dec. No. 27 Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly), 4-1
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
