Cal Poly wrestler Filip Novachkov defeated No. 17 Ryan Prater of Illinois 9-8 in the championship match of the 141-pound bracket at the Missouri Open on Sunday.
Novachkov won a 12-0 major decision in his first match over Indianapolis’ Irwin Matt. He also pinned third-seeded Eric Graham in 1:09 and defeated No. 2 seed Justin Accordino 6-2.
Fellow Mustang Chase Pami, the third seed at 157 pounds, pinned No. 6 seed Ryan Moyer in 5:32 before winning a 3-2 decision over Patrick Wright of Missouri. In the final match, Pami was defeated by top-seeded Michael Chandler, also of Missouri, 5-1.
Four other Mustangs had strong finishes in Missouri: Joel Shaw (fourth at 165 pounds), Ryan DesRoches (fifth at 174), Eric Maldonado (sixth at 149) and Ryan Smith (sixth at 184).
Competing unattached, Boris Novachkov won the 141-pound title and Geoffrey Doss took the 149-pound championship at the Cal State Fullerton Open, also on Sunday.
Novachkov won his first match with an 11-2 major decision over Tony Denegall, shut out Cal State Fullerton’s Armando Gonzalez 2-0, took a 6-4 decision from Elijah Nacita and defeated Cal State Fullerton’s Teddy Astorga in the final 5-0.
After a pin in his first match, Doss recorded a 12-3 major decision over Calvin Miller in round two and then an 11-2 major decision over Jarell Price. Doss proceeded to pin Cal State Fullerton’s Nick Blackshaw en route to his championship victory over Tyler Chang, 9-5.
The Mustangs will return to competition at the Las Vegas Invitational starting Dec 5.