Head Coach Jon Sioredas crouched beside Zeth Romney on the edge of the mat before his bout went to overtime.
The redshirt junior was in his first match wrestling at the 141-pound weight class in three years, battling two-time NCAA qualifier Greyson Clarke.
Over the offseason, he decided to move up to the weight he wrestled at as a true freshman in 2022. Across nine matches at 141 pounds, Romney went 7-2 and captured the Menlo Open title.
The decision to move up a weight class came after a historic 2025 season, as he became the fourth All-American for Cal Poly at 133 pounds and the first Mustang in 15 years to earn All-American honors.
Kneeling beside him, Sioredas offered some advice.
“Know where you want to go,” Sioredas said. “Let’s stand up when you finish, and not put him in his best position.”
Eventually, after two overtime periods, Romney escaped from No. 18-ranked Clark and captured a 6-5 win.
“He had to dig deep,” Sioredas explained. “He wrestled a kid that’s actually very, very good.”
Romney’s victory was one of four bouts that Cal Poly won Saturday night in their 19-13 season-opening loss to Purdue at Mott Athletics Center, marking the first time the two programs squared off since 2014.
According to Intermat’s rankings, the No. 28 Mustangs (0-1) had four wrestlers individually ranked, while the No. 24 Boilermakers (1-0) had six.
Saturday also marked the third straight year that Cal Poly hosted a ranked Big Ten opponent on opening night, as they played No. 14 Rutgers in 2023 and No. 30 Indiana to open the season in 2024.
For Sioredas, facing a ranked opponent is much less about recording an upset win as it is about testing his lineup and seeing how they can improve.
“Purdue was the perfect team for us this year to challenge ourselves, and I knew we had a chance,” Sioredas said. “Now we just have to keep getting better.”
All three of last year’s NCAA qualifiers win individual bouts
Redshirt junior Koda Holeman took the mat two bouts prior to Romney, jumpstarting the night at 125 pounds with six takedowns for a 20-8 victory.
After earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships last year, Holeman’s mindset coming into this season is all about believing in himself.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work in the past spring, summer and fall,” Holeman said. “I just have to trust that it’s enough and go show people what I’ve been working on.”
Nicknamed “The Ironman” for not missing a single match last year, Holeman entered the match ranked No. 27.
“It’s really hard to go out and do this sport if you don’t love it,” he explained. “I always try to think about having fun, because one day my body won’t be able to move like this.”
Graduate student Trevor Tinker ended the night with a ranked win at heavyweight, defeating No. 32 Hayden Filipovich with a 9-3 decision.
Tinker entered the season ranked No. 16 after capturing the Pac-12 heavyweight title and earning his third straight NCAA Championships appearance last year.
Without Lamer brothers, new transfers fill the roster
Saturday night was the first time in nine years there were zero members of the Lamer family on Cal Poly’s roster. Since Brawley Lamer came to San Luis Obispo as a freshman in the 2017-18 season, the Mustangs have had at least one of the four brothers on the team since then.
At the end of last season, they were set to lose Legend Lamer, as he ran out of eligibility and graduated.
But after 149-pounder Chance Lamer — a three-time NCAA qualifier — announced he’d be transferring to Nebraska in April, his younger brother Daschle also transferred, heading to Oregon State.
Daschle was an alternate for the NCAA Championships, and had the 184-pound roster spot set for Cal Poly.
To fill the roster, Sioredas brought in three transfers from Big Ten schools.
At 184 pounds, redshirt junior Ceasar Garza made his debut as a Mustang, ranked No. 29 heading into the match.
A transfer from Michigan State, Garza recorded an upset win as he defeated No. 23 James Rowley 10-7.
“He’s a bundle of energy,” Sioredas said. “He’s put in a lot of work in the off-season and he’s in incredible shape.”
Making his debut was also 149-pound Graduate student Andre Gonzales, previously at Ohio State, who fell 4-1 in sudden victory.
Coming from Rutgers, 165-pound redshirt junior Luke Gayer took on one of the best wrestlers in the country in Joey Blaze, last year’s NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds. Gayer fell 19-4.
“Our guys that had success tonight know where they’re good and they get in those positions, where the other guys fight and battle really hard,” Sioredas said. “From a team standpoint, that’s what we’re going to address starting next week.”
Cal Poly will have some time to rest before they host Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 14 for the first conference match of the season.
The 125-pound bout will kick off the dual at 7 p.m. from Mott Athletics Center.