After rolling off three straight wins, head coach John Azevedo looked to his team’s contests against No. 12 Boise State to solidify its legitimacy from a national perspective.
“We (were) definitely looking to win and prove ourselves as a top-10 program,” Azevedo said.
Boise State rode a technical fall by No.1-ranked Kirk Smith and victories in two matches over nationally-ranked wrestlers as the Broncos defeated No. 15 Cal Poly 23-13 in a Pac-10 Conference dual meet Sunday afternoon in Mott Gym.
“We were looking to go out and battle and be our best,” Azevedo said.
Smith earned a 20-4 technical fall against Mustang 184-pounder Kelan Bragg, lifting his record to 17-0 for the season, as Boise State improved to 11-2 and 4-0 in the Pac-10.
Cal Poly (6-3, 3-1) won two of its nine matches including a forfeit due to an injured Boise State’s Andrew Hochstrasser, who is ranked third in the nation.
No. 4 Filip Novachkov lost to No. 12 Levi Jones after surrendering an early 5-1 lead. Jones held on for an 8-5 victory, moving him up to second in the Pac-10 with a 14-3 record. Novachkov, ranked first in the conference, fell to 18-5.
Ranked 10th in the nation, Cal Poly’s Chase Pami had similar luck facing Boise State’s Adam Hall, ranked No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the Pac-10.
Pami escaped to start the second period after a scoreless first. It was his only lead as Hall notched four takedowns in a 11-6 decision. Pami fell to 20-5 and Hall moved up to 20-2.
Cal Poly’s Ryan Smith gave his team an early 4-0 lead with a 12-3 major decision against Matt Casperson at 197 pounds. Smith scored four takedowns, an escape, riding time and two penalty points for his 15th win in 24 matches this season.
Steven Vasquez earned the other win at 165, with a 6-5 decision over Michael Cuthbertson. Vasquez scored a takedown with 50 seconds left in the final period to take a 6-4 lead and secure the win.
Vasquez’ win (10-8) closed Boise State’s lead to 15-13, but the Broncos posted victories at 174 and 184 to clinch the dual meet.
At 174, Mustang sophomore Ryan DesRoches surrendered two takedowns, an escape and riding time in a 6-3 loss to No. 15 Nate Lee.
Mustang 285-pounder Jim Powers extended Sam Zylstra into overtime before giving up a takedown in a 5-3 sudden-victory setback.
Cal Poly will host Arizona State on Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. and Oregon State on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. for two more Pac-10 matches in Mott Gym.