Cal Poly to Host Boise State for Pac-12 Dual Wrestling Meet Sunday
Cal Poly to Host Boise State for Pac-12 Dual Wrestling Meet Sunday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 6, 2014
Cal Poly to Host Boise State for Pac-12 Dual Meet Sunday
-- Cal Poly Wrestling --
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly continues its three-match homestand Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. Pac-12 dual wrestling meet against Boise State in the Mott Athletics Center.
Coach Brendan Buckley's Mustangs own a 2-2 dual meet record and are coming off a 35-6 loss against North Dakota State last Saturday. Boise State, coached by Greg Randall, is 1-1 in duals, losing to Wyoming 17-15 and defeating Oregon State 19-18. Both matches were in November.
Boise State will visit Stanford on Thursday and Bakersfield on Friday before coming to San Luis Obispo on Sunday.
Both teams are 1-0 in Pac-12 duals. Cal Poly defeated Bakersfield 25-6 on Nov. 7.
Boise State has won six straight Pac-12 duals. The Broncos' last loss in a Pac-12 match on the road was two years ago at Cal Poly in a 22-20 setback on Jan. 8, 2012.
Boise State leads in the all-time series against Cal Poly with 15 wins against 10 losses. The Broncos won last year's dual in Boise, 43-3.
Both teams will send a pair of top-20 wrestlers into Sunday's dual meet, according to rankings by InterMat.
Cal Poly 133-pound sophomore Devon Lotito sports a 14-7 record and climbed one notch to No. 19 in this week's InterMat rankings following Saturday's 6-1 win over North Dakota State's Justin LaValle.
Lotito placed third in the Reno Tournament of Champions and seventh in the Midlands Championship while posting a 3-2 mark in the Las Vegas Invitational. He is the defending Pac-12 champion at 133 pounds.
Junior Dominic Kastl is ranked No. 20 at 174 pounds with an 8-2 record. He has not wrestled since the Reno Tournament of Champions due to a sprained ankle.
Kastl captured the Pac-12 title at 165 pounds two years ago but missed the entire 2012-13 season due to a lower back injury. Earlier this year he placed sixth in the Roadrunner Open and split four matches in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Boise State's pair of nationally ranked wrestlers are 184-pounder Jake Swartz, ranked No. 7 with a 5-2 record, and 285-pounder J.T. Felix, ranked No. 5 with a 13-2 mark. Bronco 149-pounder Chris Castillo is 9-3 on the year and ranked in the top 20 by other publications.
Felix captured top honors at 285 pounds in the Cowboy Open and placed second in the Las Vegas Invitational and third in the Midlands. Swartz was third at Las Vegas, sixth at the Midlands and also competed in the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, losing his match on a takedown in overtime.
In addition to Lotito and Kastl, other Cal Poly wrestlers with winning records expected to compete in Sunday's dual meet are Jacob Leon (7-6) or Colt Shorts (9-7) at 141 pounds, Blake Kastl (13-6) at 149, Sean Dougherty (9-7) at 184 and Spencer Empey (11-8) at 285.
Cal Poly wraps up its three-match homestand Saturday, Jan. 18, by hosting Menlo College at 2 p.m.
Boise State at Cal Poly (Sunday, Mott Athletics Center, 1 p.m.):
125 -- Britain Longmire (CP) (9-5), Senior, Las Vegas, NV vs. Rami Haddadin (BS) (9-5), Sophomore, Sandy, UT
133 -- Devon Lotito (CP) (14-7), Sophomore, Bethlehem, PA vs. Ty Stevenson (BS) (6-10), Freshman, McKinleyville, CA or Matt Nader (BS) (2-4), Freshman, Orange, CA
141 -- Colt Shorts (CP) (9-7), Freshman, Canonsburg, PA or Jacob Leon (CP) (7-6), Freshman, Covina, CA vs. Travis Himmelman (BS) (7-7), Sophomore, Evergreen, CO or Brian Owen (BS) (0-0), Senior, Spokane, WA
149 -- Blake Kastl (CP) (13-6), St. Paris, OH vs. Chris Castillo (BS) (9-3), Sophomore, Zillah, WA
157 -- Xavier Johnson (CP) (2-7) or Kyle Chené (CP) (7-8), Senior, Newport Beach, CA vs. Holden Packard (BS) (8-6), Junior, Boise, ID
165 -- Sohrab Movahedi (CP) (5-9), Freshman, Northridge, CA vs. Steven Hernandez (BS) (0-0), Junior, Las Vegas, NV
174 -- Dominic Kastl (CP) (8-2), Junior, Gilroy, CA or Kent Beecham (CP) (5-5), Freshman, Los Osos, CA vs. Austin Dewey (BS) (5-5), Freshman, Boise, ID
184 -- Sean Dougherty (CP) (9-7), Senior, Walnut Creek, CA vs. Jake Swartz (BS) (5-2), Senior, Auburn, WA
197 -- Nicolas Johnson (CP) (2-9), Freshman, Murrieta, CA vs. Cody Dixon (BS) (9-5), Senior, Ontario, CA
285 -- Spencer Empey (CP) (11-8), Freshman, Sparks, NV vs. J.T. Felix (BS) (13-2), Senior, Riverside, CA
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Eric Burdick
Associate Director of Athletics Communications
(Football, Baseball, Wrestling, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Swimming SID)
Cal Poly
Mott Gym, Room 123
1 Grand Avenue
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0388
(805) 756-6550 (office)
(805) 550-3427 (cell)
Associate Director of Athletics Communications
(Football, Baseball, Wrestling, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Swimming SID)
Cal Poly
Mott Gym, Room 123
1 Grand Avenue
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0388
(805) 756-6550 (office)
(805) 550-3427 (cell)
(805) 756-2650 (fax)
eburdick@calpoly.edu
eburdick@calpoly.edu