March 20, 2004
St. Louis, Missouri - Matt Gentry defeated Jake Percival of Ohio to take the NCAA crown at 157 pounds. Gentry is the first national wrestling champion in Stanford history. The 4-2 decision over Percival left Gentry with an unblemished 41-0 record for the season. "It's a great experience, quite an honor. Stanford Athletics is an amazing program and I feel grateful to be able to wrestle for them," said the NCAA and Pac-10 champion.
The final at 157 pounds featured the only match-up at the NCAA tournament between undefeated wrestlers. Gentry not only became the first Stanford wrestler to reach the finals, but also won the match to give Stanford its first national champion. Gentry won the match on a reversal to take the 4-2 decision. It was the second time this season Gentry has beaten Percival, who came into the tournament as the number four seed. The two wrestlers had faced off earlier at the NWCA All-Star Classic, and Gentry came away with the 13-10 victory in that match-up. With the national championship riding on today's match, Gentry duplicated the result.
Gentry was the only Stanford wrestler to compete on Saturday after four of his teammates had been knocked earlier in the tournament. Tanner Gardner (125), Paul Gross (133), Brad Metzler (141), and Imad Kharbush (174) cheered on Gentry in Stanford's most successful NCAA tournament appearance.
Ten different schools won championships on the day, as the Oklahoma State Cowboys took home their 32nd tournament title with a team score of 123.5 points. Stanford placed 19th with 29.5 team points.
125 pounds
Tanner Gardner (0-2); lost to Mike Mormille (Cornell), 4-2; lost to Matt Valenti (Penn), 10-7.
133 pounds
Paul Gross (2-2); lost to Matt Keller (Nebraska), 11-9; def. Trent Goodale (Iowa) by fall in 3:52. def. Josh Keefe (UT-Chattanooga), 14-7; lost to Derek Moore (UC Davis), 11-5.
141 pounds
Brad Metzler (3-2); def. Dereka Sola (Millersville), 5-0; lost to Nate Gallick (Iowa State), 6-3; def. Kevin Artis (UNC Greensboro) by major decision 10-0; def. Doug McGraw (Penn), 3-1; lost to Coyte Cooper (Indiana), 7-3.
157 pounds
Matt Gentry (national champion, 5-0); def. Dave Miller (Rider) by fall in 4:18; def. Chris Horning (Clarion), 8-4; def. Philip Simpson, Jr. (Army), 8-2; def. Ryan Bertin, Jr. (Michigan), 6-4 in sudden victory; def. Jake Percival (Ohio), 4-2.
174 pounds
Imad Kharbush (0-2); lost to Matt Herrington (Penn), 7-2; lost to Leonel Sanchez (Cal State Fullerton), 4-3.