UC Davis went into the weekend looking for its first Pacific-10 Conference win of the season. It came through on Friday night, taking care of Cal State Fullerton in a close one.
The Aggies edged the Titans 23-20 in front of a home crowd at the Pavilion. The victory was also the Aggies’ first home win of the season.
Trevor Machado-Ching got things started early, earning the first win for UC Davis at the 157 slot. Joey Wilson kept it going with a 14-5 major decision over Sam Silva at 165. Cal State Fullerton came right back with two victories of its own, getting a decision at 174 and a fall at 184.
The Aggies then won four of the last six duals to fend off the Titans for a narrow three-point victory. Ricky Alcala, Brandon Low and Barrett Abel – each ranked No. 15 in the country in their respective weight classes – earned wins for UC Davis.
The final bout decided the dual. The Aggies were down 20-19 going into Abel’s matchup at 149. He dominated the final dual, earning a 15-4 major decision over Nick Jordan.
UC Davis had a tougher time on Saturday, though, as No. 10 Boise State earned a 30-13 win.
The match started in the Aggies favor with a forfeit by the Broncos at 197, giving the Aggies a quick six-point lead. Things continued to go the Aggies way when Alcala earned a decision to give the Aggies a 9-0 lead. The Aggies dropped the next bout, but quickly recovered with a 15-6 major decision by Low at the 133 slot.
The Aggies’ lead of 13-3 would not stand, though. The Broncos won the next six duals in dominating fashion, with three major decisions and a fall.
“It’s never fun to get beat like that and hopefully we can improve a little before conference,” coach Lennie Zalesky said. “It’s always good to see a quality team like Boise State and we’ll learn from that.”
The Aggies next chance to improve comes this weekend when they will face San Francisco State and Stanford on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
KYLE HYLAND can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
