After a season that saw the Cardinal wrestling team come the closest it ever has in program history to winning a conference title, Stanford was unable to improve upon its 38th-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships, tying for 40th in this year’s tournament in Oklahoma City.
Fifth-year senior Ryan Mango lasted the longest of Stanford’s wrestlers before he was eliminated from the consolation bracket on Friday night by Minnesota’s David Thorn, who would go on to finish fifth in the 133-pound weight class on Saturday. The No. 11 seed Mango notched victories against Chuck Zeisloft of Rider, Dominick Malone of Northwestern and 14th-seeded Zane Richards of Illinois before his All-American career came to an end against Thorn.
Sophomore 165-pounder Jim Wilson notched a pair of victories at the championships, while sophomore 125-pounder Evan Silver and senior 197-pounder Dan Scherer notched a win each. Scherer was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury in his first-round match, an exciting 11-9 decision on Thursday over No. 16 seed Alex Polizzi of Northwestern that came down to the final moments.
The Cardinal won a school-record four Pac-12 individual titles this year and tied its high for NCAA qualifiers with five. Stanford lost team captain Bret Baumbach, a senior and 2013 Pac-12 champion, to a career-ending injury last month.
Contact Joseph Beyda at jbeyda ‘at’ stanford.edu.