Cal Poly defeated Texas A&M Tuesday night in a pre-playoff tour match.
The Mustangs got a big defensive effort from No. 8 Ryan Wenstrom, and the big loose forward also scored two tries on the night.
It was a well-contested match, but A&M found it difficult to break through. A break from flyhalf Jack Marchant got the Mustangs in the A&M 22 and then center Coby Baker fended off a couple of tacklers for the first try. Baker converted and would add a penalty a little bit later to make it 10-0 after 20 minutes. Soon it was 22-0 after lock Wyatt O’Connor and Wenstrom surged over. A&M answered with a long-range penalty goal from Alex Park, but once again Cal Poly put the pressure on. This time it was a loose ball gathered by Wenstrom and he powered through and then took off for a long-range try.
Just before halftime A&M got over the line after some sustained time in the Cal Poly 22. A penalty led to a quick tap and prop Ryan Meehan dummied and was over.
The second half scoring was a little slower. Vice captain and prop Quinton Tindel scored for Cal Poly off a tap move, and with about six minutes to go Aggie No. 8 Eric Hawkins grabbed an errant Mustangs pass off the top of his boots and thundered on for 55 meters to score.
Overall, it was a good showing by Cal Poly.
