It was a difficult weekend for the Stanford wrestling team, which fell to Arizona State (30-7), Penn (27-6) and Rutgers (33-3) on Sunday at the Stanford Duals in Burnham Pavilion. The Cardinal dropped to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-12. ASU now stands at 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12, while Penn improved to 4-1 and Rutgers is 10-1 on the year.
The Cardinal dropped eight of 10 bouts to ASU, but Bret Baumbach’s performance against the Sun Devils was a rare bright spot on the afternoon. The redshirt junior scored Stanford’s first points of the dual with an 11-3 major decision over Hans Rasmusson at 165 pounds. Baumbach led 6-1 after the first period as he scored two takedowns and registered two back points.
Rasmusson chose down to start the second and Baumbach capitalized with two more near fall points. He chose down to start the third and recorded the escape. After Rasmusson scored a takedown, Baumbach tallied another escape and tacked on his final point with 3:09 in riding time.
Stanford got back on the board in the final bout against the Sun Devils, when redshirt freshman Evan Silver picked up a 3-1 decision over Dalton Miller at 125 pounds. A takedown in the first period for Silver proved to be the difference-maker.
All in all, Stanford was outscored 74-21, with the Sun Devils earning three major decisions.
Against Penn, Baumbach was again one of just two Cardinal wrestlers to earn a win. He posted an 8-4 decision over Brad Wukie at 165 pounds. Trailing 4-3 after the first period, Baumbach tallied a takedown in the second to capture the lead. He finished off Wukie in the third with an escape and another takedown.
Junior heavyweight Dan Scherer also scored points for Stanford against Penn. He recorded a 3-1 sudden victory decision over Steven Graziano. Each wrestler scored an escape to force the extra time, where Scherer capitalized with a takedown.
Silver registered the lone win for the Cardinal against Rutgers. The 125-pounder trailed 4-3 after two periods. He chose down to start the third and scored an escape to force overtime. There, Silver recorded a takedown against Joseph Langel III for the sudden victory decision (6-4).
Also against the Scarlet Knights, true freshman Dylan Morris put up a good fight against 10th-ranked Greg Zannetti at 174 pounds. Morris came up just short in the final period, falling 7-5.
In the other duals of the day, Rutgers defeated Arizona State, 21-12, and Penn topped the Sun Devils, 27-10.
Stanford hits the road next week, travelling to the East Coast for four duals. The Cardinal will take on Brown, Maryland and Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 12 in College Park, Md. Stanford will wrap up the weekend at American University in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Jan. 13.