March 2, 2013
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior Bret Baumbach captured the 165-pound title as Stanford finished fifth overall (103.5 points) at the 2013 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
Baumbach becomes the 15th conference champion in school history. He posted a 4-1 decision over Boise State's Holden Packard in the semifinals and a 7-1 decision over top-seeded Seth Thomas of Oregon State in the final.
Baumbach, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is now 22-10 and receives an automatic berth into the 2013 NCAA Championships, held this year in Des Moines, Iowa.
Redshirt freshman Evan Silver was the runner-up for the Cardinal at 125 pounds. He defeated Oregon State's Joey Palmer, 8-3, in the semifinal. Silver fell to top-seeded Tyler Iwamura of CSU Bakersfield, 6-2, in the finals. He is now 25-13 this season.
Junior heavyweight Dan Scherer took fourth for Stanford and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career. He fell to fourth-ranked Chad Hanke of Oregon State in the first round, 5-1. Scherer captured a 2-0 decision over CSU Bakersfield's Sammy Cervantes in the consolation round before falling 4-2 to No. 16 Levi Cooper of Arizona State in the second tiebreaker.
Also finishing fourth for Stanford was sophomore Alex Manley (133 pounds), senior Timmy Boone (149 pounds), junior Michael Sojka (197 pounds).
Oregon State won its second straight Pac-12 team championships, nabbing three individual titles and scoring 158.0 points overall. Boise State finished second with 136.5 points, while host Arizona State took third with 110.5 points. CSU Bakersfield (108.5) finished just ahead of the Cardinal, while Cal Poly finished sixth (82.0)
Stanford now awaits the announcement of the at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament to see if any other Cardinal wrestlers will join Baumbach and Scherer in Des Moines, Iowa, March 21-23.
Stanford's Tournament Results:
125 pounds
Evan Silver (1-1, 2nd): dec. Joey Palmer (Oregon State) 8-3; lost to Tyler Iwamura (CSU Bakersfield) 6-2.
133 pounds
Alex Manley (1-2, 4th): lost to Drew Van Anrooy (Oregon State) 11-4; won by medical forfeit over #20 Ian Nickell (CSU Bakersfield); lost to Drew Van Anrooy (Oregon State) 8-2.
141 pounds
Josh Lauderdale (0-3, 6th): lost to Travis Himmelman (Boise State) 15-2; lost to Matt Kraus (Arizona State) 12-4; lost to Brandon Rocha (Cal Poly) 4-2.
149 pounds
Timmy Boone (1-2, 4th): lost to # 2 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State), 25-8 (6:31); dec. Dalton Kelley (CSU Bakersfield) 7-0; lost to Nathan Hoffer (Arizona State) 4-0.
157 pounds
Kyle Meyer (1-2, 4th): lost to Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield) 9-5; dec. Joel Smith (Arizona State) 7-5; lost to Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield) 7-6.
165 pounds
Bret Baumbach (2-0, 1st): dec. Holden Packard (Boise State) 4-1; dec. Seth Thomas (Oregon State) 7-1.
174 pounds
Thomas Kimbrell (1-2, 5th): lost to #19 Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield) 17-0 (3:00); lost to Cody Weishoff (Oregon State) 10-4; maj. dec. Mitch Woods (Cal Poly) 10-2.
184 pounds
Ryan Davies (1-2, 5th): lost to #9 Jake Swartz (Boise State) 5-1; lost to #18 Ty Vinson (Oregon State) 3-2; dec. Sean Pollock (CSU Bakersfield) 7-4.
197 pounds
Michael Sojka (1-2, 4th): lost to #10 Jake Meredith (Arizona State) 5-0; dec. Frankie Hurtado (CSU Bakersfield) 2-0; lost to Cody Dixon (Boise State) 3-2.
285 pounds
Dan Scherer (1-2, 4th): lost to #4 Chad Hanke (Oregon State) 5-1; dec. Sammy Cervantes (CSU Bakersfield) 2-0; lost to #16 Levi Cooper (Arizona State) 4-2 (2OT).