The overhead buzzer sounded midway through Cal Poly Wrestling’s second dual of the day. Without hesitation, Ceasar Garza hopped to his feet and readied himself in the middle of Mott Athletic Center’s wrestling mat for the third period.
His opponent was sitting on his knees, still trying to catch his breath after five minutes of wrestling.
Garza was tired, too. Two periods of wrestling can leave anyone exhausted. Your arms feel heavy, your grip strength weakens and your breath shortens.
Everything is much harder in the third period – the final two minutes. But Garza’s prepared to compete, no matter how tired he is.
“I push myself to the point of exhaustion,” the No. 20-ranked 184-pounder said. “No matter what drill it is.”
With an 18-5 lead heading into the third period, the redshirt junior needed just two more points to pick up a win against David Alonso of Cal Baptist University. A seventh takedown would give him three more points, pushing him over the 15 points needed to secure a technical fall victory.
In collegiate wrestling, a technical fall, or “tech fall,” occurs when a wrestler has a 15-point advantage, ending the match immediately. It’s similar to a mercy rule.
Garza interlocked his hands onto the back of Alonso’s neck. Feeling his energy fade, he struck at his legs, wrapping both arms around them and bringing Alonso to the ground.
The referee raised his right arm into the air and formed the three-point sign, giving Garza a takedown for the 21-5 win just 15 seconds into the third period.
It marked his second win of the day on Saturday, Dec. 20, as Cal Poly (2-2) hosted Drexel and Cal Baptist for a non-conference double-dual.
The Mustangs started with a 24-11 loss to Drexel (4-2). The second match looked to be heading the same route, as they trailed Cal Baptist (1-5) by nine points through the first three bouts.
But a switch flipped, and Cal Poly stormed back with six straight individual wins to capture a 26-15 win over the Lancers.
“We came out flat [in the first match],” head coach Jon Sioredas said. “After the break, we had a good little heart-to-heart, and we decided we have two options here. We can feel sorry for ourselves, or we can go out and fight.”
Cal Poly was without two of their ranked wrestlers, as No. 5-ranked 141-pound redshirt junior Zeth Romney was not in the lineup due to a shoulder injury he suffered during the Cliff Keen Invitational tournament.
They were also down No. 32-ranked 157-pound redshirt freshman Jagger French, who moved into the rankings in late November.
After the loss to Drexel, the rest of the lineup stepped up.
“I thought they wrestled lights-out,” Sioredas said. “That performance in that last match, that’s us wrestling to our ability.”
No. 20-ranked 285-pound graduate student Trevor Tinker followed up Garza’s tech fall with one of his own, securing a 17-2 win in just one minute and 30 seconds. After suffering a loss against Drexel, the three-time NCAA qualifier Tinker bounced back to capture his seventh win of the year.
No. 17-ranked 125-pound Koda Holeman put on a show, taking down his opponent four times and pinning him against the green flooring to finalize the win against the Lancers.
Holeman was the only other Mustang besides Garza to go 2-0 on Saturday, as the redshirt junior picked up his eighth and ninth wins of the year.
In the second match, Sioredas was much happier with the team’s effort, preaching effort over outcome.
“Seven minutes of hard wrestling, no matter what,” he said. “When we can get ten guys doing that, we’re going to be in a special place. That’s the goal.”
Garza, who transferred to Cal Poly from Michigan State ahead of this season, embodies that aggressive mindset.
“He just keeps going and keeps going and it just starts to soften guys up,” Sioredas said. “You’re gonna have to score a lot of points if you want to beat Ceasar. He’s going to keep coming, and that’s fun to coach.”
In a sport where fatigue catches up quickly, Garza excels when he’s tired – and Sioredas knows why.
“When you love wrestling and you love what you do, you’re okay with getting tired, and you’ll continue to wrestle and score points,” Sioredas said. “Sometimes where one might struggle is when there’s a fear of failure or fear of fatigue, and all of a sudden you see that performance anxiety. Ceasar, he thrives.”
Over three years at Michigan State, the Oakdale, Calif. native compiled a 38-34 record.
He wrestled his true freshman season, going 1-2 at the Big Ten Championships as the No. 11 seed before taking a redshirt his sophomore year. He still wrestled in open tournaments so he could continue developing, going 10-6 across a few matches and open tournaments.
In his final season as a Wolverine last year, he went 14-15 overall.
Now halfway through his first season with Cal Poly, Garza leads the team in wins with a record of 12-2.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Garza said. “These coaches are awesome. They truly believe in me and the rest of my teammates. Every day in the room, you have a great community, guys are smiling, laughing and it’s awesome.”
His impact on Cal Poly’s program has been quick. He captured a win against a ranked opponent in their season opening dual against Purdue, and then took the 184-pound title at the Roadrunner Open in late November with four victories.
En route to the title, he defeated last year’s 184-pound conference champion – TJ McDonnell, ranked No. 30 at the time – and was awarded the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
At the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas on Dec. 5 and 6, Garza went 4-2 and placed seventh, helping Cal Poly to one of their most impressive tournament showings. He was one of five Mustangs to place as they finished ninth overall in the tournament.
Being a two-time state champion from Oakdale High School in California, Garza says being closer to home was a big part of coming to wrestle in San Luis Obispo. But for the transfer student, the culture was even more impactful.
“You take a visit [to Cal Poly] and you see how cool everything is, and it’s close to home, that helps out,” he explained. “There’s a lot of factors, but the wrestling and the culture and the environment is a big reason why I’m here.”
If healthy, Cal Poly will carry at least four nationally ranked wrestlers into the Ken Craft Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., where they’ll face top competition from across the country.
The two-day tournament – hosted by Northwestern – will take place on Dec. 29 and 30 and will feature 37 teams in total, with seven of the top 15 teams in the country in attendance.
“Midlands are a big one for our guys,” Sioredas said. “I’m glad we finished with a little momentum.”
And with Garza emerging as a cornerstone of Cal Poly’s lineup, Sioredas is excited to see how far he can go.
“Super excited for him, man,” he said. “We’re just seeing the beginning of what he’s capable of.”