Despite second place finishes from top-seeds Boris Novachkov and Ryan DesRoches, the Cal Poly wrestling team earned four automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships held March 15 to 17 in St. Louis. Novachkov and DesRoches will be accompanied by Dominic Kastl and Ryan Smith — in addition to any wrestlers who earn the at-large bids announced in two weeks.
Redshirt freshman Kastl earned a top seed going into the tournament and won three consecutive matches to claim the title. Kastl, wrestling at 165-pounds, earned a major decision in the first round before sneaking by fourth-seeded Cody Weishoff of Oregon State in a 6-5 match. He went on to defeat unseeded Bret Baumbach 8-1 in the final round.
Novachkov came up just shy of his third Pac-12 title (he would have been the first Mustang to win three) after earning a bye in the opening round and defeating Josh Strait in a 6-1 semifinal match. He lost just his third match of the season to Michael Mangrum in the final round. A few months prior, Novachkov pinned Mangrum in the final round of the Reno Tournament of Champions in December.
Novachkov still has a chance to become Cal Poly’s first ever three-time Division I All-American with a top eight finish at nationals.
Like Novachkov, DesRoches lost his third match of the season in the final round of the tournament to Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford. DesRoches also lost to Amuchastegui in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 15.
Senior 197-pounder Ryan Smith was upset in the second round of the championships by Boise State’s Brent Chriswell after receiving a bye in the first round. He rebounded with two straight pins of Aaron Brown and Alan Yen on his way to a third place finish.
Kyle Chene placed fourth at 149-pounds while Britain Longmire, Gianpier Yanez, Derrick Hawkins and Kelan Bragg finished fifth. In the 133-pound weight class, Jake Tanenbaum finished sixth.
The team finished in fifth place out of six teams earning 98 points. The champion, Oregon State, scored 138 followed by 2011 champion Boise State.