Feb. 9, 2004
Fresno, Calif. - Martin Luther King Jr. had just won the Nobel Peace Prize. James Bond's "Goldfinger" was a hit at the box office. The Beatles sat atop the music charts with "Hard Day's Night." 1964 also marked the only time in history the Stanford Cardinal had defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs in a wrestling match. Until tonight.
Carrying the high with them of defeating Oregon State for the first time in history on Saturday night, the Cardinal wrestlers stormed into Fresno on Sunday night, promptly took seven out of ten matches, and then turned around and strutted out of North Gym. The win took Stanford's season record to 8-4, 4-2 Pac-10.
The meet began at 197 pounds where Stanford's Larry Ozowara completed a perfect individual weekend by defeating Fresno's Sandeep Singh. Ozowara set the tone for the Cardinal by finishing his seventh and final takedown in the bout with only three seconds left on the clock to get the major decison in the bout, tallying a bonus point for the team. After narrow losses to Shawn Ritzenthaler (285) and Tanner Gardner (125), the meet would be smooth sailing for the Cardinal as they won the next six bouts to put the meet well out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Also collecting bonus wins for the Cardinal on the night were Brad Metzler (141), Luis Vendrell (149), Imad Kharbush (174), who all scored major decisions for Stanford and Matt Gentry (157) who received a forfeit. The dual win is Stanford's fifth straight victory, and has many on the west coast "dreaming" of a possible Pac-10 title. "I would say Arizona State would have to be the team to beat right now, but we've certainly got ten believers in our wrestling room these days. Let's just say that nothing this team does surprises me anymore. It has been a rewarding season so far, and we haven't peaked yet," said Cardinal coach Steve Buddie.
With only two dual meets remaining, Stanford travels to UC Davis next Friday, February 13 to take on the Aggies at 7:00 pm. Stanford's next and final home dual will then be on Saturday, February 14th at Burnham Pavilion against Portland State.
Stanford (28) at Fresno State (9)
197- Larry Ozowara (SU) maj. dec. Sandeep Singh (FS) 15-6 (4-0 SU)
Hwt- No. 9 Clint Walbeck (FS) dec. Shawn Ritzenthaler (SU) 9-3 (4-3 SU)
125- Christian Bowerman(FS) dec. Tanner Gardner (SU) 4-3 (6-4 FS)
133- Paul Gross (SU) dec. Sal Gonzalez (FS) 5-3 (7-6 SU)
141- Brad Metzler (SU) maj. dec. Garrett Spooner (FS) 10-2 (11-6 SU)
149- Luis Vendrell (SU) maj. dec. Ben Martinez (FS) 14-2 (15-6 SU)
157- No. 2 Matt Gentry (SU) win by forfeit (21-6 SU)
165- Brian Perry (SU) dec. Shane Seibert (FS) 6-4 (24-6 SU)
174- Imad Kharbush (SU) maj. dec. Anthony Rubalcava (FS) 10-2 (28-6 SU)
184- Greg Gifford (FS) dec. John Garfinkel (SU) 7-2 (28-9 SU)