UC Davis closed out its regular season with a bang, taking care of Cal Poly in convincing fashion at Hickey Gym on Saturday, 32-15.
Seven Aggie seniors wrestled for the last time at home, helping treat the crowd of nearly 500 to a 32-15 trouncing of Cal Poly. It was UC Davis‘ first win over the Mustangs since the 1992-1993 season.
Seniors Kyle Bank, Tyler Bernacchi, Jon Clark, Nexi Delgado, Dustin Noack, Marcos Orozco and Charles Hinriksson were all honored before the dual for their contributions to the wrestling team as well as UC Davis.
Six of the Aggies‘ seven dual victories against the Mustangs came by bonus-point decisions.
Sophomore Barrett Abel won by technical fall at 149 pounds, while Clark (184), Orozco (125), and Delgado (141) all earned major decisions in their respective classes.
The top performances of the day for the Aggies came at the heaviest weight classes. Sophomore Abe Otrambo (197) and heavyweight Ricky Alcala effectively finished off the Mustangs with back-to-back pins, pushing the UC Davis lead from 10-8 to 22-8.
With the win, the Aggies finish their regular season with a 4-4 record in Pacific-10 Conference action and 8-6 overall. The Mustangs close out the year winless in conference (0-7) and 3-12 overall.
Now that the regular season is in the books, UC Davis turns its focus to the Pac-10 Championships, which will take place Mar. 1 and 2 at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gymnasium.
Coach Lennie Zalesky expects good things from a healthy Aggies team.
“We’re a pretty tough team when we’re healthy,” he said.
UC Davis expects to contend with the Pac-10‘s best, including tournament frontrunner and national powerhouse Boise State. The Broncos took care of the Aggies in convincing fashion when the two teams met on Feb. 7, 38-3.
“They’re a tough team and I think they deserve to be ranked even higher,” Zalesky said. “We match up well with them at most of the weights and will have a chance to win our share of matches.”
KYLE HYLAND can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
