Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. ~Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
And to answer your question - yes, it is typical to hire people without qualifications or training for mysql jobs, so it's rather strange for the company to change their policy from 'mysql experience' to 'Math/CompSci degree wanted'. Maybe they figured out they need someone generally good,
and not just for this single task they had in mind.