This weekend the Stanford wrestling team recorded two impressive wins, defeating San Francisco State (3-5) by a score of 25-12 and Southern Oregon (6-3) by a score of 25-3. The Cardinal (8-5) is on a three-match winning streak.

 

Stanford lost just two matches to San Francisco State. The winning wrestlers were No. 8 junior Ryan Mango at 133 pounds, freshman Alex Manley at 141 pounds, sophomore Garrett Schaner by pin at 157 pounds, redshirt sophomore Bret Baumbach at 164 pounds, redshirt junior Spence Patrick by major decision at 184 pounds, sophomore Alan Yen at 197 pounds and sophomore Dan Scherer at heavyweight.

 

Against the Southern Oregon Raiders, the Card was even more dominant, losing just one match—a 5-3 overtime decision for Southern Oregon’s Kyle Wirkuty over Manley. Mango, redshirt junior Timmy Boone, Schaner, Baumbach, No. 1 Nick Amuchastegui, Patrick, Yen and Scherer all contributed to Stanford’s rout.

 

Although the score is completely lopsided, most of the matches against the Raiders were extremely close. All matches but one—Amuchastegui’s 14-0 dismantling of Brock Gutches—were minor decisions.

 

Patrick’s match was particularly exciting. He faced an early 2-1 deficit but was able to fight back and take a 4-2 lead going into the third period. Although he did give up an escape in the third, his neutral defense was excellent, and he secured a 4-3 decision. Patrick has now won five straight matches, a season high, and is 14-9 overall (10-3 in duals). He has been wrestling extremely well lately from all positions—top, bottom and neutral.

 

Stanford’s two ranked wrestlers—Amuchastegui and Mango—continued their successful seasons with great weekends. Amuchastegui did not wrestle against San Francisco State, but he wrestled a flawless match against Southern Oregon. The redshirt senior recorded three takedowns, six near fall points, an escape and a point for riding time. There were no points in the match in which he wasn’t dominating. Amuchastegui is now 15-0 overall and 12-0 in duals. For his career, he has 109 wins, the fifth-most in program history.

 

Mango won two close matches and showed his opponents how scary he is on his feet. In his match against Julian Perez of San Francisco State, Mango secured a takedown in the final period to break a scoreless tie, and he went on to win 3-0. Against Southern Oregon he took down his opponent, Mitchell Lofstedt, four times and won 13-6. Mango has a team-high 22 wins and is an undefeated 13-0 in duals.

 

All weekend long, Stanford was able to get takedowns from neutral in key situations, ride tough on top and put together multiple moves from bottom. The team has improved greatly in its ability to put together a complete match, wrestling well from start to finish in all facets.

 

The Cardinal has momentum on its side, as the team has won three straight and four out of five. Its only loss in that span was a one-point heartbreaker to top-25 American. But Stanford has to make sure not to get complacent. There are four duals and a tournament left before the Pac-12 Championships in late February. The team needs to wrestle well in the two remaining Pac-12 duals to ensure good seeding in that tournament.

 

This Sunday, Stanford hits the mat for a huge Pac-12 match against Oregon State at 2 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.