Three Mustang wrestlers clinched NCAA championship berths led by No. 20 Trevor Tinker, who won his first career heavyweight title at the Pac-12 Championships.
The Mustangs travelled to Corvallis, Oregon, where Tinker, No. 9 133-pound junior Zeth Romney and No. 9 149-pound redshirt junior Chance Lamer punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships starting on March 20.
Cal Poly placed third overall with 70 points behind Pac-12 champions Little Rock, with 86.5 points, and second place Oregon State’s 81.5 points.
Romney, No. 24 165-pounder Luka Wick and 184-pounder Daschle Lamer all took second at their respective weights.
The Mustangs had five wrestlers in title matches and three went to overtime, but no other Cal Poly wrestler matched Tinker’s success.
A perfect heavyweight title run
Tinker went completely untouched in the tournament, not allowing a single point to either wrestler he faced on Thursday.
He won the second heavyweight title in program history, and the first at the weight since 1993.
“In the same arena last year, I didn’t have the outcome I wanted,” Tinker said. “Coming back and flipping that around this year in the same arena has been super cool.”
Coming in as the No. 2 seed, Tinker’s first match of the night was against No. 3 seed Brett Mower, where he cruised to an 11-0 major decision win.
He was just as good the second time around, beating No. 1 seed Jake Andrews 8-0 in another major decision.
Thursday’s action pushes Tinker’s current win streak to 12. The last time he lost was back in early December at the Cliff Keen Invitationals.
He will put the streak on the line again at the NCAA Championships later in March, as the title holder for each weight class gets an automatic bid to the tournament.
“I’m super excited to go, there’s no weight of qualifying for the tournament on my shoulders, I get to go out and just wrestle,” Tinker said.
NCAA Bound
Zeth Romney fell 4-1 in overtime in his title bout, but he still clinched a berth in the NCAA championships later this March.
No. 9 ranked Romney faced off against Little Rock’s No. 6 ranked Nasir Bailey, who Romney had already faced twice this season.
Each wrestler had won one of their previous matchups, but Bailey had the advantage on Thursday night.
Even with the loss, Romney clinched a bid to his second NCAA championship in the last two years, and will look to continue his strong season.
He continues to improve on his results from last year, and has been able to relax in situations he struggled in during previous years.
“This year there was no weight on my shoulders,” Romney said. “I was just ready to go out there and compete.”
Chance Lamer will also be wrestling in the NCAA’s this year, as three tournament spots were up for grabs in the stacked 149-pound group.
Lamer lost his first match, but bounced back with a 19-4 technical fall victory in the third place playoff.
Three of the top 11 wrestlers in Lamer’s weight class are in the Pac-12. With third place at the Pac-12 championships, Lamer did enough to secure a NCAA spot.
Late drama
The Mustangs competed in three title bouts that went to overtime, coming up short in all three.
Redshirt freshman Daschle Lamer led in the 184-pound final until the final seconds of the bout, before giving up a takedown to even up the score.
Going up against Oregon State’s Tj McDonnell, the home-mat advantage and momentum were against Lamer entering overtime.
Mcdonnell finished the bout with a takedown, securing the 184-pound title for the home crowd.
While it was a tough loss, coach Sioredas believes it will be fuel for Lamer throughout the rest of Cal Poly career.
“It was a freshman mistake, and we’re going to learn from it and he’s going to remember this match for a really, really long time, I promise you,” Sioredas said.
No. 30 ranked 125-pounder redshirt sophomore Koda Holeman came into the championships as the No. 1 seed.
He started with a dominant 16-2 major decision in the first match of the day.
Holeman had two chances to clinch a national berth, first in his title match and then in a true second-place bout. However, he fell in both bouts, missing out on the first NCAA appearance of his career.
No. 2 seed Wick won his 165 pound semifinal match in dramatic fashion, landing a pin midway through the second period over No. 3 seed Kekana Fouret.
It was a revenge match for Wick, who lost to Fouret earlier this year in their Feb. 7 dual meet.
“I’ve been pissed about that match for a couple weeks now,” Wick said. “It’s really nice to get that win.”
Wick ultimately lost in overtime of his title match, but still has an outside shot at the NCAA tournament through an at-large bid.
Romney’s overtime bout also contributed to the Mustangs’ overall 1-4 record in title matches.
The three qualified Mustang wrestlers turn their attention to the three-day NCAA Tournament running from March 20-22 in Philadelphia.