Patrick TrautfieldWith two consecutive first-period pins in the 197-pound and heavyweight matches, the Cal Poly wrestling team earned a 25-15 home win over Pac-10 rival Cal State Bakersfield on Friday night in Mott Gym.
Senior Matt Monteiro (197) and senior heavyweight Cody Parker both took down their Roadrunner opponents, spiking a momentum drive for the Mustangs.
“Matt and Cody both went against good wrestlers. They weren’t weak wrestlers and it set the tone,” Cal Poly head coach John Azevedo said.
The 12th-ranked Monteiro pinned Brandon Halsey to help the Mustangs get out of an 8-3 deficit.
The 17th-ranked Parker followed suit with another first-period pin against Eric Parker in the heavyweight division, putting Cal Poly ahead for a lead that would last until the end.
“I’ve wrestled him a few times before so that helps and as a senior, I’ve got a lot of confidence under my belt,” Parker said. “We stepped up and took care of business.”
Cal Poly improved to 4-6 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-10. Cal State Bakersfield fell to 4-5 and 2-4.
With a 15-8 lead, Cal Poly took three of the remaining five matches.
Cal Poly seventh-ranked senior Darrell Vasquez (133) posted five takedowns in a 13-4 win over John Cardenas.
Cal State Bakersfield was defeated with decisions twice more to solidify the Cal Poly win courtesy of senior Dave Roberts (141) and redshirt freshman Chase Pami (157).
Roberts, who was recovering earlier this season from arthroscopic knee surgery, competed in a dual meet at home for the first time this season.
“Roberts had a big win,” Azevedo said. “He went out and wrestled solid and composed.”
Roberts recorded his 8-3 victory over Matt Schumm.
Cal State Bakersfield’s Brandon Doyle struggled for a late comeback with a win against sophomore Eric Maldonado. Last-second takedowns kept them both on their toes, and Doyle slipped in a reversal with nine seconds left in the third period to finish with a 5-4 win.
But the Mustangs had the upper hand as Pami took the win in the final match of the night. Pami and the Roadrunners’ Jeremy Doyle alternated takedowns until Pami won a 9-8 decision.
“It was a good win for the guys,” Azevedo said. “It was a tough trip in Michigan (last week) and they came out here to compete hard and have fun.”
The beginning of the dual meet started on shaky ground as the Mustangs fell behind 8-0 at 165 and 174 pounds. But junior Yuri Kalika (184) sparked a team comeback with an 11-5 win over Brandon Ceremello.
The Mustangs regained momentum this week after going 0-3 last week at the Chippewa Challenge hosted by Central Michigan.
The Mustangs visit San Francisco State for a nonconference dual meet at 2 p.m. Friday before visiting Pac-10 foe Stanford at 7 p.m. the same day.
Cal Poly’s next home contest is a Pac-10 dual meet against Oregon State at 2 p.m. Feb. 4.