Cal Poly to Compete in Collegiate Wrestling Duals at New Orleans

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Next Monday, Cal Poly will wrestle Lehigh and North Carolina State on the first day of competition in the Collegiate Duals at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Mustangs are ranked No. 28 by InterMat while Lehigh is No. 21 and North Carolina State 12th. Cal Poly meets Lehigh at 2 pm PST and North Carolina State at 4 pm PST.

Depending on other results in Red Pool play, Cal Poly will wrestle either No. 4 Ohio State, no. 19 Northern Iowa or unranked Lock Haven in the final round Tuesday.

Six more teams are competing in the Blue Pool, but Cal Poly will not wrestle any of them. That pool consists of No. 1 Penn State, no. 6 Cornell, no. 13 Iowa State, no. 18 North Carolina, no. 30 Oregon State and unranked Central Michigan.

Cal Poly is 2-1 in dual meets so far this season with wins over California Baptist and Lindenwood and a 22-12 loss to No. 9 Minnesota last weekend.

Lehigh sports a 3-3 mark after falling 24-12 to Penn State on Dec. 4. The Mountain Hawks have defeated Oregon State, Sacred Heart and Oklahoma.

North Carolina State sports a perfect 5-0 mark with victories over Appalachian State, Lock Haven, Nebraska, Central Michigan and Illinois.

Cal Poly will take 14 wrestlers to the birthplace of jazz, led by two-time NCAA All-American and three-time national qualifier Bernie Truax, who sports a perfect 6-0 mark at 197 pounds after earning a fall in just 24 seconds and a technical fall in last weekend’s dual meets. Truax is ranked Nos. 2-3 this week.

Mustang 157-pound redshirt freshman Elijah Blake is 5-0 after placing first in the Roadrunner Open last month while 149-pounder Dom Demas, the transfer from Oklahoma, has compiled a 5-1 mark and a No. 13th national ranking.

Other nationally ranked Mustangs are No. 14 Antonio Lorenzo (4-1) at 125 pounds, No. 32 Legend Lamer (4-4) at 165 and No. 19 Adam Kemp (0-1) at 184.

Other Mustangs headed to New Orleans are 133-pounder Ethan Rotondo (4-5), 141-pounders Lawrence Saenz (2-3) and Zeth Romney (3-2), 157-pounder Luka Wick (8-5), 174- pounder Jarad Priest (7-6), 184-pounder Brawley Lamer (2-3) and 285-pounders Trevor Tinker (7-3) and Nathan Glass (8-6).

Cal Poly’s next home dual meet will be against No. 5 Michigan on Friday, Jan. 6, at 7 pm inside Mott Athletics Center.