Stanford wrestling continued one of the best seasons in its history with two big wins over the weekend. On Friday night the Cardinal (13-4) dominated Simpson University on Senior Night, winning 35-7 at the Ford Center. Stanford followed up that win with a 33-8 blowout road win at San Francisco State. The Cardinal’s 13 dual-meet wins are tied for the second most in the program’s history.
On Senior Night, Stanford won eight of the 10 bouts, including three by forfeit, to coast to victory. Neither team recorded a pin, but the Cardinal did pick up two major decisions — seniors Donovan Halpin and Alan Yen, fittingly, earned those decisions with 10-0 and 13-5 victories at 149 and 197 pounds, respectively. The third Cardinal senior in action, Kyle Meyer, added to the bounty by picking up a 7-2 win at 174 pounds.
The other Stanford wins on the night came from sophomores Peter Russo and Peter Galli. Russo picked up his fifth win of the year in a tight 4-2 match against Simpson’s Anthony Vega at 141 pounds. Galli held off a late rally to Simpson’s Richard Ortiz to pick up a 10-5 victory at 157 pounds. Galli had led 8-0 in the third period before Ortiz began to mount his comeback.
In Saturday’s match in San Francisco, the Card again picked up the win in eight of 10 bouts. Unlike the day earlier, Stanford had to fight for all eight wins, as San Francisco State did not forfeit at any of the weights.
Seniors Bret Baumbach and Dan Scherer, who did not wrestle on Senior Night, secured statement wins. Baumbach picked up a major decision, beating Tavis Ino of San Fransico State 9-0 at 157 pounds. Scherer secured a fall in just 1:25, his fastest of the season, against Jesse Campos at 197 pounds.
Freshman Tommy Pawelski picked up his 18th win of the season at 125 pounds, beating Marc Collier 10-0 in a major decision. Halpin improved to 2-0 on the weekend with a 6-1 decision against Conrad Snell at 149 pounds, and Galli also notched his second win of the weekend with a 9-1 major decision. Meyer added to the memories of Senior Night weekend by securing a fall in 2:31 against Calvin Nicholls at 174 pounds.
Sophomores Tommy Kimbrell and Josh Marchok picked up 2-1 and 5-1 wins at 184 and 285 pounds, to bring Stanford’s point total to 33.
The Cardinal is headed to the desert for its next set of competitions. Stanford will take on Grand Canyon in Phoenix at 1 p.m. on Feb. 3 and then head down the road to Tempe, Ariz., for a 5 p.m. bout with Arizona State that same day. The dual against the Sun Devils will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Sam Fisher at safisher ‘at’ stanford.edu.