Redshirt senior Evan Wick ended his collegiate career with a third-place finish, claiming his fourth All-American honor, at the wrestling NCAA Championships that took place Thursday, Mar. 17 through Saturday, Mar. 19 inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Cal Poly sent five wrestlers to the tournament, placing 22nd as a team with 10 total wins.
Wick entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed at 165 pounds after finishing the regular season 16-0 and the champion of the Pac-12.
He opened with an 11-3 win over Oregon State’s Matthew Olguin and beat North Dakota State’s Luke Weber 10-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. With a 6-2 win over Peyton Hall of West Virginia, Wick solidified an All-American finish heading to the semifinal.
In the semifinal, Wick faced Stanford’s Shane Griffith for the fourth time this season. Griffith defeated Wick 7-6 on a last-second two-point takedown to end Wick’s hopes of a national championship. In the consolation semifinal, Wick defeated Iowa’s Alex Marinelli 10-4 to advance to the third-place match.
In a battle for third place, Wick defeated Cameron Amine from Michigan 3-2.
Redshirt sophomore Bernie Truax finished fourth for the second consecutive year, also earning an All-American title.
As the fifth overall seed in the 194-pound division, Truax defeated Pittsburgh’s Gregg Harvey 1-0, and a 6-2 win over Tate Samuelson from Wyoming sent him to the quarterfinal.
Truax defeated Parker Keckeisen from Northern Iowa 6-5 to claim an All-American title, sending him to the semifinals. However, he fell to Michigan’s Miles Amine 3-1 to drop into the consolation semifinals.
A 3-1 win over Kaleb Romero from Ohio State put Truax in the third-place match, where Keckeisen got his revenge, winning 6-4 for Truax to finish fourth.
This marks the first time Cal Poly has had two wrestlers finish as All Americans in 10 years.
In the 125-pound division, redshirt freshman Antonio Lorenzo fell 16-4 to Cornell’s Vito Arujau on day one. In the consolation round, Lorenzo lost 2-1 to Noah Surtin of Missouri to end his NCAA run.
15th-ranked redshirt freshman Legend Lamer also fell on day one, 3-2 to Penn’s Anthony Artalona. Lamer fell to Michael Blockus from Minnesota 5-1, ending his season.
Redshirt sophomore Adam Kemp defeated Nick Incontera from Penn 6-5 to advance to the championship round but fell 10-4 to Penn State’s Carter Starocci. In the consolation round, Kemp lost 4-1 to Anthony Mantanona from Oklahoma.
The 22nd overall team finish is the second straight top-25 finish for the Mustangs, who will look to make another run at an NCAA Championship in the 2023 season.