Jan. 10, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford wrestling team (3-10-1, 0-3 Pac-10) lost twice and battled Drexel to a 21-21 draw today as part of the Stanford Duals at Burnham Pavilion. The Cardinal opened with a tight 22-18 loss at the hands of Columbia, before knotting with the Dragons. In the final dual of the day, UC Davis claimed a 28-12 victory.
The annual event included five schools and seven duals. Pac-10 representatives UC Davis and Cal State Bakersfield both went undefeated on the day with three and two wins, respectively. Columbia picked up its first win of the year over the Cardinal and Stanford and Drexel both went 0-2-1. Stanford wrestled a man short in all three matches.
For the Cardinal, redshirt freshman Nick Amuchastegui (19-4) rallied with another perfect three-win day, building his win streak to six consecutive matches. The 165-pounder now owns a team-best 12-2 dual record and leads the squad with 50 team points.
Sophomore 149-pounder Max Rosefigura (14-13) and junior 184-pounder Jake Johnson (22-12) each won two bouts on the afternoon. Other wins came from sophomore Lucas Espericueta (20-10), freshman Matt Sencenbaugh (6-19) and senior Luke Feist (13-9).
Stanford began the day against Columbia, where the 125-pound Sencenbaugh lost his opening bout to the Lions' Kevin Tao. Leading 2-1 in the final period, Sencenbaugh gave up a late three-point nearfall to give Tao the 4-2 win.
After forfeiting at 133 pounds, the Cardinal sent sophomore Cameron Teitelman (9-12) out to meet Shane Strumwasser at 141 pounds. Tied 5-5 with riding time on his side, Teitelman suffered Stanford's second frustrating loss of the dual, as Strumwasser was awarded a point on Teitelman's third caution, then escaped with time winding down to win 7-6.
With the team down 12-0, Rosefigura finally broke the Lions' streak. The sophomore held on for a 4-3 victory over 2007 NCAA qualifier Matt Dunn at 149 pounds to put Stanford on the board.
At 157 pounds, however, Espericueta was caught on his back just 19 seconds into the bout by Derek Sickles.
Now in an 18-3 hole, the second half of Stanford's lineup began a fierce comeback. Amuchastegui picked up an 8-2 win over Eren Civan, then freshman Victor Haug (7-14) took a forfeit at 174 pounds. Johnson then pushed forward with a hard-fought 6-3 win over Kenji Porter and brought the Cardinal within three.
After falling behind early to Columbia sophomore Lou Miller, Feist scored the winning takedown in the final minute of action to pick up a 4-2 decision and knot the dual score at 18. Feist's win was the 72nd of his career, tying him for 10th place on the school's career win chart.
Back from injury and wrestling in the first match of his collegiate career, redshirt freshman Matt Winterbourne (0-2) put up a valiant fight against the nation's 15th-ranked heavyweight, Ryan Flores. Flores claimed a 12-2 major decision, however, to win the dual for his team.
Stanford quickly focused its efforts on the next bout, beginning again at 125 pounds against Drexel.
Sencenbaugh rallied from behind to best Michael Gomez in the opening match of the dual, 10-6. The win was the first in a dual match for the true freshman.
Stanford fell behind when it was again forced to forfeit at the 133-pound weight class.
At 141 pounds, Teitelman went scoreless with Matt Dugan until the third period, but gave up a late nearfall to suffer his second close loss of the day, 3-0.
Rosefigura again stepped up at 149 pounds, pinning his fourth opponent of the year. With no points on the board, Rosefigura took Robert Robinson straight to his back late in the second period and stuck him in 4:51.
Drexel broke the 9-9 tie when Billy Haydt took down Espericueta late in the third period and turned him for a three-point nearfall. Haydt had the edge for a 5-4 win and put his team in front 12-9.
Amuchastegui answered for Stanford, pinning his fifth opponent of the year in 4:15. The redshirt freshman caught Scott Hunter on his back in the second period and swung the momentum back in Stanford's favor.
At 174 pounds, Haug battled Brian Stouffer to overtime, but was taken down to give Stouffer the 3-1 sudden victory decision.
With the dual tied once again, Johnson put Justin Weiller flat on his back in 3:56 and gave Stanford a six-point cushion heading into the final two matches.
Feist took an early lead on No. 11 Jon Oplinger at 197 pounds, and held onto the advantage until the third period. The nationally-ranked senior took Feist down three times in the final two minutes, however, and earned an 8-5 decision.
With the dual again in his hands, Winterbourne held Kyle Frey to just a decision, 9-3, and secured the 21-21 team draw.
Stanford then turned its attention to Pac-10 foe UC Davis, looking for its first conference win of the year.
Sencenbaugh lost a 9-0 major decision to 16th-ranked Marcos Orozco at 125 pounds to start things off, but the Cardinal benefited when Austin Quarles (3-5) took a forfeit at 133 pounds and gave Stanford a 6-3 lead.
Nexi Delgado bested Teitelman, 7-3, and Barrett Abel bested Rosefigura, 5-1, to give the Aggies back the lead at 9-6, but Espericueta and Amuchastegui teamed to quickly win it back.
Espericueta rode out Joey Wilson in the second period, then quickly escaped in the third to win 2-0. His victory secured his second consecutive 20-win season. Johnson and Espericueta are the only Stanford wrestlers to have reached the 20-win plateau so far this year.
Amuchastegui scored a reversal with 13 seconds remaining in the match to upend 2007 NCAA qualifier Dustin Noack at 165 pounds, 2-1.
Haug was pinned by Tyler Bernacchi in the 174-pound bout (2:28) and Johnson suffered his first loss of the day at the hands of Jon Clark, 12-6. Feist scored the tying takedown with two seconds left to force overtime with Abe Otrambo, but lost 7-5 after giving up a sudden victory takedown.
With the match sealed in UC Davis' favor, Stanford forfeited the heavyweight bout to bring the final score to 28-12.
The Cardinal returns to action on Friday, taking on Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. at 7 p.m. (MT).
Columbia 22, Stanford 18
125 - Kevin Tao (C) dec. Matt Sencenbaugh (S), 4-2
133 - Andrew Grabfelder (C) by forfeit
141 - Shane Strumwasser (C) dec. Cameron Teitelman (S), 7-6
149 - Max Rosefigura (S) dec. Matt Dunn (C), 4-3
157 - Derek Sickles (C) pinned Lucas Espericueta (S), 0:19
165 - Nick Amuchastegui (S) dec. Eren Civan (C), 8-2
174 - Victor Haug (S) by forfeit
184 - Jake Johnson (S) dec. Kenji Porter (C), 6-3
197 - Luke Feist (S) dec. Lou Miller (C), 4-2
HWT - No. 15 Ryan Flores (C) maj. dec. Matt Winterbourne (S), 12-2
Drexel 21, Stanford 21
125 - Matt Sencenbaugh (S) dec. Michael Gomez (D), 10-6
133 - Frank Cimato (D) by forfeit
141 - Matt Dugan (D) dec. Cameron Teitelman (S), 3-0
149 - Max Rosefigura (S) pinned Robert Robinson (D), 4:51
157 - Billy Haydt (D) dec. Lucas Espericueta (S), 5-4
165 - Nick Amuchastegui (S) pinned Scott Hunter (D), 4:15
174 - Brian Stouffer (D) dec. Victor Haug (S), 3-1 (OT)
184 - Jake Johnson (S) pinned Justin Wieller (D), 3:56
197 - No. 11 Jon Oplinger (D) dec. Luke Feist (S), 8-5
HWT - Kyle Frey (D) dec. Matt Winterbourne (S), 9-3
UC Davis 28, Stanford 12
125 - No. 16 Marcos Orozco (U) maj. dec. Matt Sencenbaugh (S), 9-0
133 - Austin Quarles (S) by forfeit
141 - Nexi Delgado (U) dec. Cameron Teitelman (S), 7-3
149 - Barrett Abel (U) dec. Max Rosefigura (S), 5-1
157 - Lucas Espericueta (S) dec. Joey Wilson (U), 2-0
165 - Nick Amuchastegui (S) dec. Dustin Noack (U), 2-1
174 - Tyler Bernacchi (U) pinned Victor Haug (S), 2:28
184 - Jon Clark (U) dec. Jake Johnson (S), 12-6
197 - Abe Otrambo (U) dec. Luke Feist (S), 7-5 (OT)
HWT - Ricky Alcala (U) by forfeit