Jan. 18, 2004
Davis, Calif. - Four Cardinal wrestlers finished atop their weight classes, emerging as champions at the Aggie Open. Tanner Gardner (125), Brad Metzler (141), Luis Vendrell (149), and Matt Gentry (157) all took home first-place finishes. John Garfinkel (184) reached the finals, but came away with second place. Seven other Stanford wrestlers were place winners at the annual tournament. No team scores were kept during the event.
True freshman Tanner Gardner finally capitalized on a season of impressive wrestling, taking home his first collegiate tournament title. Gardner cruised through the bracket, notching two major decisions and two falls in his four matches. He defeated Richard Byrd of Embry Riddle 8-0 in the final. Brad Metzler won all four of his matches, defeating Cal Poly's David Roberts 6-0 in the final. Metzler now has a 14-match win streak dating back to November. This was his second tournament title of the season. Matt Gentry, likewise, had little opposition to his title run. Gentry tallied two technical falls and a major decision before beating Gerry Abas, currently a Fresno State coach and a three-time NCAA finalist, by a score of 9-3 in the final. This was Gentry's third tournament title of the season and left him with an unblemished 28-0 record on the season.
At 149 pounds, Stanford completely dominated the event. Two Stanford wrestlers, Luis Vendrell and Ray Blake, met in the final. Blake, ineligible for the regular season, selflessly agreed to give the title to his teammate. Both Blake and Vendrell recorded four wins on the day, with Blake earning a victory over Fresno State's Casey Olsen, ranked #11 nationally. In addition, Stanford's Scott Loescher took home fourth place for the Cardinal.
Besides the four individual titles, Stanford wrestlers also took home several silver and bronze medals. John Garfinkel (184) reached the final after a two victories, including wins over Fresno State's Brett Sloan and Greg Gifford, 20th in the nation. In the final, Garfinkel fell to Brandon Bear of Davis by a score of 7-1. Both Paul Gross (133) and Imad Kharbush (174) took home third place. They both suffered first round defeats before storming through the consolation brackets. Gross won six matches on his way to his third place finish, including three pins. Kharbush recorded seven straight victories to take home the bronze. Stanford's other place winners were: Brian Perry (165) who took home fourth place; Ryan Hagen (174) who finished fifth; and Ian Bork (197) who finished in sixth place.
The Cardinal returns to action this Friday at Cal Poly, and then comes home the following weekend to host the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The meet against the Titans is preceeded by Stanford's first wrestling reunion event, which will also serve as a tribute to Stanford's long-time head coach Chris Horpel.
COMPLETE STANFORD RESULTS
2004 AGGIE OPEN
125 pounds
Tanner Gardner (4-0, 1st place); def. Brian Watanabe (SF State) by major dec, 11-2; def. John Hanks (Cal Poly) by fall in 3:26; def. Joey Lucas (Oregon) by fall in 2:33; def. Richard Byrd (Embry Riddle) by major dec, 8-0.
133
Paul Gross (6-1, 3rd place); lost to Cesar Correa (UCD), 5-2; def. Adam Berry (Unattached) by fall in 3:40; def. David Ramos (Fullerton) by fall in :49; def. Brandon Palmer (Oklahoma) by fall in 4:55; def. Chris Sanchez (Fullerton) by major dec, 14-3; def. Cesar Correa (UCD), 5-4; def. Andy Kim (Cal Poly), 10-3.
Juston Johnson (1-2); lost to Jason Harless (Oregon), 5-1; def. Brandon Barrett (Lassen) by major dec, 17-6; lost to David Espinoza (UCD), 8-5.
141
Brad Metzler (4-0, 1st place); def. Matt Schumm (Bakersfield), 5-4; def. Brian Tice (Fullerton), 6-0; def. Jeff Bristol (UCD), 3-2; def. David Roberts (Cal Poly), 6-0.
Chris Hayworth (2-2); def. Matt Fleming (Aggie WC), 8-1; def. Jeff Johnson (SF State) by major dec, 16-2; lost to Jeff Bristol (UCD), 4-0; lost to Elliot Tracy (Oregon), 5-0.
149
(*Finals not wrestled; Stanford Co-Champions)
Luis Vendrell (4-0, 1st place); def. Scott Loescher (Unattached - STAN), 3-1 SV; def. Morgan Atkinson (Fullerton), 6-3; def. Kevin Jones (UCD), 7-4; def. Ray Blake (Unattached - STAN) by forfeit*
**Ray Blake (4-1, 2nd place); def. Brandon Doyle (Bakersfield), 8-3; def. Josh Zupancic (Unattached - STAN), 8-1; def. Dan Murphree (UCD - Unattached) by major dec, 11-1; def. Casey Olsen (Fresno St.), 5-2; lost to Luis Vendrell (STAN) by forfeit.
**Scott Loescher (6-2, 4th place); def. Nick Budeski (Boise State) by major dec, 13-3; lost to Luis Vendrell (STAN), 3-1 SV); def. Chris Brines (UCD) by default; def. Brandon Doyle (Bakersfield), 6-3; def. Lucas Anderson (Fresno St), 7-1; def. Zach Flake (Lassen), 10-3; def. Kevin Jones (UCD), 5-1; lost to Casey Olsen (Fresno St), 8-2.
Zack Hensley (2-2); def. Chris Brines (UCD) by forfeit; lost to Dan Murphree (UCD - Unattached), 9-5; def. Nick Budeski (Boise St) by major dec, 14-6; lost to Josh Zupancic (Unattached - STAN), 5-4.
Brendon Fox (2-2); def. Gabe Rubala (Iowa), 4-3; lost to Kevin Jones (UCD), 7-1; def. Josh Zupancic (Unattached - STAN), 3-1; lost to Daniel Alejandro (Bakersfield), 4-1.
**Josh Zupancic (2-2); lost to Ray Blake (Unattached - STAN), 8-1; def. Jon Sharpe (Bakersfield) by TF in 4:17; def. Zack Hensley (STAN), 5-4; lost to Brendon Fox (STAN), 3-1.
157
Matt Gentry (4-0, 1st place); def. Ben Shapiro (Cal Poly) by TF in 4:22; def. Marcus Glass (STAN) by TF in 4:18; def. Ben Cherrington (Boise St) by major dec, 10-0; def. Gerry Abas (Unatt. - Fresno), 9-3.
Marcus Glass (1-2); def. Joe Cobo (Fullerton), 5-1; lost to Matt Gentry (STAN) by TF in 4:18; lost to Justin Switzler (SF State - UN), 7-6.
Paul Navarro (0-2); lost to Ryan Braum (UC San Diego), 3-1; lost to Clark Davidson (Lassen), 10-0.
Alex Himel (0-2); lost to Matt Lambert (Fullerton), 19-8; lost to Jaime Alvarez (SF State), 14-5.
165
Brian Perry (4-2, 4th place); def. Nick Monty (Lassen) by major dec, 9-1; lost to Mark Perry (Iowa) by fall in 3:05; def. Jared Schultz (Unattached), 4-0; def. Erik Shortenhaus (Cal Poly), 5-3; def. Russell Brunson (Boise St), 9-6; lost to Sean Sheets (Fresno State), 2-1.
Scott Polley (2-2); lost to Hurshid Haldarov (Sierra College), 7-6; def. Matt Bryant (Lassen) by fall in 3:45; def. John Nunez (UN) by major dec, 14-3; lost to Darren Kirby (UN), 5-2.
Sam Lofland (1-2); def. Erik Shortenhaus (Cal Poly), 3-2; lost to Mark Perry (Iowa) by fall in :36; lost to Steve Gee (Cal Poly), 5-0.
Miguel Matta (0-2); lost to Bryan Bachar (UCD), 5-3; lost to Nick Monty (Lassen), 4-2.
174
Imad Kharbush (7-1, 3rd place); lost to Dan Price (UCD) by fall in 1:10; def. Trevor Brady (Cal Poly) by major dec, 13-0; def. Paul Schon (UCD) by major dec, 8-0; def. Mark Allen (Oregon) by fall in 2:38; def. Sam Temko (Cal Poly), 7-0; def. Chet McBee (Oregon), 6-1; def. Jim Medeiros (UN), 5-3 SV; def. Frank Richmond (UCD), 5-0.
Ryan Hagen (4-2, 5th place); def. Brandon Woods (UN) by fall in :55; lost to Eddie Gifford (UN), 12-4; def. Dan Price (UCD), 3-0; def. Jon Carlisle (Boise State), 3-2; lost to Frank Richmond (UCD), 2-1; Def. Jim Medeiros (UN) by injury default.
184
John Garfinkel (2-1, 2nd place); def. Brett Sloan (UN- Fresno State) by fall in 3:06; def. Greg Gifford (Fresno State), 4-3; lost to Brandon Bear (UCD), 7-1.
Mark Egesdal (0-2); lost to Greg Gifford (Fresno State), 10-4; lost to Jatinder Singh (Fresno State), 12-6.
Nico Beck (0-2); lost to Kyle Kleinschmidt (UC San Diego), 7-0; lost to Brett Sloan (Fresno State) by fall in 2:30.
197
Ian Bork (3-3, 6th place); def. Thomas Abia (Cal Poly) by fall in :09; lost to KC Walsh (Boise State), 15-6; def. Drew Martinez (Unattached - STAN), 3-0; def. Larry Ozowara (Unattached - STAN), 3-0; lost to Jake Butler (UN), 9-0.
Larry Ozowara (2-2); def. Evan Hendrix (UCD), 5-3; lost to Jake Leair (Oregon), 3-0; def. Sandeep Singh (Fresno State), 8-6; lost to Ian Bork (STAN), 3-0.
**Phil Doerner (2-2); def. Riley Schmidtke (Cal Poly), 8-7; lost to Ronnie Silva (UCD), 13-1; def. Thomas Abia (Cal Poly) by fall in 3:46; lost to Jake Butler (UN) by fall in :55.
**Drew Martinez (2-2); lost to Elias Soto (UN - Oregon), 6-5; def. Milorad Dordevich (Aggie WC), 5-1; def. Riley Schmidtke (Cal Poly), 7-4; lost to Ian Bork (STAN), 3-0.
285
Shawn Ritzenthaler (1-2); def. Ben Reynolds (UCD), 5-1; lost to Arturo Basulto (Cal Poly), 6-1; lost to Mikal Brewer (Unattached - STAN), 3-1.
**Mikal Brewer (1-2); lost to Dan Howe (Cal Poly), 8-0; def. Shawn Ritzenthaler (STAN), 3-1; lost to Justin Moody (Boise State), 10-5.
**Wrestled unattached