Jan. 31, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (3-10, 1-5 Pac-10) dropped tonight's meet against Cal Poly (7-6, 4-1 Pac-10) 35-12 after forfeiting four weight classes. The Mustangs took a forfeit at 125 pounds, cutting their automatic cushion to 18 points and leaving only five bouts to decide the meet.
Senior tri-captain Harold Penson (Richmond Heights, OH/Richmond Heights) led the way for the Cardinal as he earned his 11th win of the season. Penson opened the meet at 174 pounds by taking on junior Brett Schumann. Penson scored the first points just over a minute into the first period and tallied a second takedown with two seconds left for a 4-1 lead. Penson started the second period on top and did not relinquish control for the entire two minutes. Penson then started the third period neutral and scored a takedown with just over one minute to go in the bout and held his position for the 7-1 victory with riding time. "The win felt easy today," noted Penson, "in spite of what the team was going through."
After Penson's victory, the Mustangs built up their lead on a technical fall at 184, a forfeit at 197 and a decision at 285. With a 14-3 edge, Cal Poly was forced to forfeit at 125, giving junior Nathan Peterson (Georgetown, IN/Floyd Central) his 13th win of the year. With the Cardinal forfeiting at 133, 149 and 157 pounds, there were only two bouts left in the evening.
Junior Brendon Fox (Higginsville, MO/Higginsville) earned his varsity spot at the end of December but has struggled with an injury for the past few weeks. He came out strong tonight and only 45 seconds into the match scored a takedown and a three point nearfall for the 5-0 lead. Cal Poly freshman Jeff Owens recorded an escape and a takedown with 10 seconds to go, cutting Fox's first period lead to 5-3. In the second period, Fox held Owens for the full two minutes and chose the same starting position in the third, building his riding time to 2:42 before Owens earned a reversal. Fox quickly escaped, but Owens recorded his second takedown for his first lead at 7-6. Although riding time would send the match into overtime, Fox ended the bout with an escape for the 8-7 win. "There was a lot of drama surrounding the dual," commented Fox, "but it was nice to put that out of the way and have a good match."
The night ended with Keith Kroeger recording win at 165 pounds after taking a penalty point and a stalling point for the 4-3 margin and the 35-12 Cal Poly win.
Stanford had to forfeit four weight classes tonight due to a combination of injuries and academic commitments that conflicted with this morning's 10:00 a.m. weigh-in. "The guys who were able to go tonight did a great job," noted head coach Steve Buddie. "Everyone did a great job in practice this week and we responded very well to a tough loss last weekend. And they responded well as a team after the things presented to them today."
The Cardinal will head to San Francisco for the All Cal Invitational tomorrow and will return home for a Feb. 14th dual against UC Davis. Stanford will close out its home season on Feb. 16th against Fresno State.
Cal Poly 35, Stanford 12
(started at 174)
125 - Nathan Peterson (S) by forfeit.
133 - Nate Ybarra (CP) by forfeit.
141 - Brendon Fox (S) dec. Jeff Owens (CP), 8-7.
149 - Matt Cox (CP) by forfeit.
157 - Nick Hopping (CP) by forfeit.
165 - Keith Kroeger (CP) dec. Garrett Johnston (S), 4-3.
174 - Harold Penson (S) dec. Brett Schumann (CP), 7-1.
184 - Ryan Halsey (CP) tech. fall Mark Egesdal (S), 23-8 fall at 5:33.
197 - David Schenk (CP) by forfeit.
285 - Dan Howe (CP) dec. Shawn Ritzenthaler (S), 7-0.