Lauren RabainoThe Cal Poly wrestling team kicked off the season with an intrasquad dual meet Wednesday night with the Gold prevailing over Green 21-13.
Twenty athletes wrestled against each other in Mott Gym. Two wrestlers who stood out were Chase Pami and Eric Maldonado, head coach John Azevedo said.
Also, the 125-pound match between freshman Boris Novachkov and Micah Ferguson was the most competitive, Azevedo said, with Novachkov winning in double-overtime 6-5 in a suspenseful duel.
Maldonado beat Elwin Warsh with an 8-5 decision at 149-pounds while Ryan Williams lost at 157-pounds against Chase Pami 3-2. Also, Joel Shaw went 5-2 against Yusaf Syed at 165 pounds but couldn’t finish due to an injury, giving the match to Syed.
Evan Barbre topped Ernie Varela 4-2 at 174 pounds, giving the Green team some points, and Ryan Smith won at 184 pounds against Colin Brooks 11-5.
At 197 pounds, Bo Lukehart lost to Arturo Basulto 4-3 for a reversal.
The 285-pound match went to Jim Powers against Ryan Dunn 8-3, adding up the points for the Gold team.
The final match showed 2005-06 All-American Chad Mendes go 15-3 against Ryan Stirm.
The team’s No. 1 goal this year is to snatch a Pac-10 title, assistant coach Sammie Henson said.
“We haven’t done that yet; we’ve only got second (place),” he said.
There have been a few changes between team members since last year, with Mendes going from the 125-pound group to 141-pound and Varela and Barbre from 165 pounds to 174 pounds.
The Mustangs are off to the Michigan State Open Friday and won’t be back for a home match until Dec. 8, when they play Minnesota.