Benjamin Rozak“I have no idea what happened.”
That was the response of undefeated senior Chad Mendes (18-0), ranked No. 3 in the nation at 141 pounds, after the Cal Poly wrestling team lost its Sunday afternoon Pac-10 Conference dual at Mott Gym to No. 25 Boise State. The final score was 26-5.
The Mustangs (4-4, 3-2 Pac-10) won only two of the matches.
In addition to Mendes, who defeated Cam Jones in a 10-1 major decision, Micah Ferguson (8-8) accounted for a Cal Poly positive.
Ferguson came back from dropping a technical fall Friday night in a team win over Arizona State to claim a 7-2 decision at 125 over the Broncos’ Alan Bartelli.
Cal Poly assistant coach Aaron Simpson surmised that the loss might have had something to do with the big win the Mustangs had just two nights earlier against the Sun Devils.
“The team was maybe a little satisfied with what it did Friday night,” Simpson said.
Both Mendes and Simpson said that the team was “a little flat” during Sunday’s meet.
Mendes also put forth the wrestling style of the Broncos (3-1, 2-1 Pac-10) as a reason that the Mustangs didn’t do as well as they would have liked.
“Boise (State) is heavy on the head, and we’re not used to that style,” Mendes said.
Tyler Sherfey, No. 11 in the country at 157, won a 5-2 upset decision against Cal Poly’s Chase Pami, ranked No. 9.
Adam Hall, 12th in the nation at 149, also won by decision, 8-1 over Eric Maldonado.
In exhibition, Cal Poly’s Collin Brooks (184) pinned Chris Givens of Boise State in 6 minutes, 29 seconds.
The Mustangs have a break from matches for the next two weeks, in which they will use the extra practice time to “work on conditioning and hand-fighting,” Simpson said.
They will hit the mat at Mott Gym against UC Davis at 7 p.m. Jan. 25.