Feb. 10, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - In the final contest on the Farm for the 2007-08 Cardinal wrestling team, the No. 24 Cal State Fullerton Titans came out on top, besting Stanford, 25-17. The Cardinal falls to 12-4 with the loss and 5-3 in the Pac-10.
Seniors Tanner Gardner and Josh Zupancic made the most of their Stanford home finales, combining for 11 of the 17 Stanford points. Junior Luke Feist picked up the other Stanford win, pinning his second opponent of the year in the first period.
The dual started at 141 pounds and the Titans picked up decisions in the first two bouts, earning a 10-3 win at 141 pounds and an 11-5 victory at 149 pounds.
Zupancic (32-5) brought the Cardinal within one, however, with a decisive technical fall win over Fullerton's Devin Velasquez at 157 pounds. The win was the 13th straight for the Akron, Ohio native. He has now earned bonus points in each of his last six bouts.
The Titans took a 10-5 lead with a major decision at 165 pounds, but Feist (12-9) stepped up, pinned his opponent in 2:43 and put the Cardinal in front, 11-10. The lead would be Stanford's last however, as the Titans won the next three bouts to jump out to a 21-10 advantage.
Gardner (34-1) kept the Cardinal alive with a win by fall at 125 pounds, putting Andre Gonzalez on his back in 2:50 to narrow the Stanford deficit to just four points. The pin was Gardner's 17th of the year, just one short of the program's single-season record. Gardner is just two wins short of matching Matt Gentry's career win record set in 2005 (138).
The Titans TJ Dillashaw, the nation's tenth-ranked 133-pounder, sealed the Titan win in the final bout with a 9-0 major decision.
Stanford will wrap up the regular season next week in Tempe, Ariz., battling Arizona State next Sunday at noon. The Pac-10 Championships will be hosted by the University of Oregon in Eugene this year, Mar. 2-3.
Cal State Fullerton 25, Stanford 17
125 - No. 6 Tanner Gardner (S) pinned Andre Gonzalez (F), 2:50
133 - No. 10 TJ Dillashaw (F) maj. dec. Porfirio Madrigal (S), 9-0
141 - Teddy Astorga (F) dec. Max Rosefigura (S), 10-3
149 - No. 15 Morgan Atkinson (F) dec. Lucas Espericueta (S), 11-5
157 - No. 10 Josh Zupancic (S) tech. fall Devin Velasquez (F), 19-3
165 - Teddy Bristol (F) maj. dec. Kyle Pubols (S), 12-2
174 - Luke Feist (S) pinned Todd Noel (F), 2:43
184 - No. 12 Ian Murphy (F) dec. Zack Giesen (S), 4-3
197 - John Drake (F) maj. dec. Jake Johnson (S), 10-2
Hwt - No. 5 Wade Sauer (F) maj. dec. Phillip Doerner (S), 9-1
*dual started at 141 pounds