The No. 18 Oregon State University wrestling team won four of the final five bouts to rally from a 14-6 (18-1, 6-1 Pac-10 Conference) deficit and beat No. 16 Cal Poly (7-4, 4-2) 21-18, Saturday night in Mott Gym.
Oregon State has won 17 straight matches since a 25-7 loss to Pac-10 leader Boise State on Nov. 22. The Beavers have beaten Cal Poly 18 straight times, raising their series advantage to 35-10-2.
Oregon State won the first two bouts as Jason Lara earned an 11-5 decision over Micah Ferguson and Kelly Kubec posted a 7-5 victory in overtime versus Boris Novachkov in a match-up of nationally-ranked wrestlers at 133 pounds. It was Novachkov’s second loss in 23 matches this season.
Cal Poly won the next three matches to build a 14-6 lead.
Filip Novachkov improved his record to 20-5 with an 11-2 major decision over Mike Mangrum at 141. Nick Fisher pinned No. 17 RJ Pena to win the 149-pound bout.
Mustang 157-pounder Chase Pami completed the run with a 14-5 major decision against Keegan Davis, two nationally ranked wrestlers.
Despite these Mustang victories, the second half of the dual meet belonged to Oregon State.
Cal Poly 165-pounder Steven Vasquez battled Oregon State’s Dan Brascetta to a 3-3 draw after two periods, but Brascetta earned an escape and take-down in the third period and held on for a 6-4 decision.
At 197, Mustang Ryan Smith and Beaver Chad Hanke traded escapes in the second and third periods after a scoreless first period. The bout appeared to be heading into overtime, but Hanke scored a take-down with 11 seconds left for a 3-1 decision, tying the dual meet at 18-18.
At heavyweight, Mustang Jim Powers recorded a take-down with 1:09 left in the third period to close the gap to 3-2; but No. 14 Clayton Jack earned an escape with 56 seconds left and clinched his match. The escape also clinched the dual meet for Oregon State with a take-down with 20 seconds remaining for the 6-2 victory.
Cal Poly’s only winner in the final five bouts was Ryan DesRoches. Ranked No. 19 at 174, DesRoches moved up to 184 and earned a 15-5 major decision against Ty Vinson, improving his record for the season to 30-7.
Cal Poly hosts UC Davis for its final dual meet of the season next Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Mott Gym.