Novachkov, seeded No. 1 and ranked No. 4 by InterMat, defeated Oregon State's Michael Mangrum, seeded No. 2 and ranked No. 5, for the second time in eight days and is now 4-1 in his career against the Beaver senior.
Eight days after earning a 5-3 decision against Mangrum in a Pacific-12 Conference dual meet Dec. 11 at Cuesta College, Novachkov pinned the Beaver senior in 10 minutes, 51 seconds, in the second tiebreaker series. The two wrestlers were tied at 3-3 after regulation and 4-4 after the first tiebreaker series.
Novachkov was in the top position of the second tiebreaker series. “A flurry ensued and, as Mangrum nearly escaped, Boris caught him on his back and pinned him,†said first-year Cal Poly head coach Brendan Buckley.
Mangrum edged Novachkov 4-3 in the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 4. The two wrestlers also split two matches a year ago.
Novachkov's four wins en route to the finals were a 6-0 decision against Darrin Boing of Ohio, a fall in 1:15 against Brad Tamashiro of Southern Oregon, a 5-1 decision over Mike Kessler of Appalachian State and an 8-3 decision versus fourth-seeded Josh Strait of Boise State.
Novachkov is now 16-2 on the year and surpassed the 100-win mark in his Cal Poly career with the win over Tamashiro. Now 103-21, Novachkov is a two-time NCAA All-American (second in 2011, seventh in 2010) and two-time Pac-12 champion. He also placed third in the Pac-12 finals as a freshman in 2008 and qualified for the NCAAs.
Meanwhile, DesRoches raised his record for the season to 16-0 with four decisions before earning a 6-4 decision against second-seeded Nick Purdue of Ohio in the 174-pound final.
DesRoches, the top seed at 174, reached the finals with a 3-0 decision over Lance Bryson of West Virginia, a 16-2 major decision against Mike Duckworth of Ohio, a 14-6 major decision over Jarrod Purvis of Adams State and a 6-1 decision against fourth-seeded Pat Martinez of Wyoming.
DesRoches has 37 career falls and a 100-31 career win-loss mark at Cal Poly. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and twice has placed third in the Pac-12 finals.
At 197 pounds, Mustang Ryan Smith finished fourth, dropping a 1-0 decision to second-seeded Alfonso Hernandez of Wyoming in the wrestleback finals. Smith was 3-2 in the tournament, lifting his mark for the season to 9-6.
Smith, the fourth seed, reached the semifinal round with an 8-2 decision over Paul Weiss of Appalachian State and a fall in 3:43 over fifth-seeded Kamron Jackson of Great Falls.
He dropped a 5-3 decision to top-seeded Cayle Byers of Oklahoma State in the semifinals, but bounced back with a 7-3 decision against Nick McDiarmid of Michigan State to earn his spot in the consolation finals.
No other Cal Poly wrestler competed in the championship or consolation finals Sunday night.
Drew Meulman reached the fifth round of wrestlebacks before losing to Dan Scherer of Stanford in a 6-3 decision. Sean Dougherty also reached the fifth round of wrestlebacks at 184 before suffering an 11-3 major decision setback against Jake Meredith of Arizona State.
Damien Arredondo dropped a 4-1 decision to Brandon Richardson of Wyoming in the fifth round of wrestlebacks at 149 pounds while Chris Calcagno fell 8-6 to Patrick Hunter of Binghamton in the fifth round of wrestlebacks at 133.
In the final team standings, Cal Poly finished sixth among 28 schools, scoring 57.5 points. Oklahoma State was the runaway team champion with 166 points, followed by 2010 team champion Wyoming at 115.5 and Oregon State at 105.
At the Reno Tournament of Champions year ago, DesRoches was second at 174 for the second straight year while Smith was fifth. Novachkov did not compete in last year's tournament but was second at 133 pounds in 2009.
Cal Poly, ranked 15th in the nation this week, returns to action Dec. 29-30 at the Midlands Open hosted by Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
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