STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford wrestling team celebrated another successful season at its annual awards banquet at the Stanford Stadium Skybox on Saturday night. The Cardinal recognized numerous wrestlers with team awards and bid farewell to its four seniors, Jordan Bryan, Josh Lauderdale, Alex Manley and Garrett Schaner, who gave memorable speeches during the event.
Stanford finished the 2014-15 campaign 11-4 overall in duals, marking the third-highest winning percentage in program history. For just the second time in school history, Stanford crowned multiple conference champions in consecutive seasons with Jim Wilson (165 pounds) and Nathan Butler (285 pounds) returning to The Farm with hardware.
Under the direction of seventh-year head coach Jason Borrelli, Stanford finished third at the conference championship and tied a program-record with five wrestlers qualifying for the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. Wilson became the program’s 17th All-American and Cardinal’s first since 2012, placing eighth at the national tournament. He is just the seventh Cardinal underclassman to achieve All-America status.
Wilson took home the Vern Jones Outstanding Wrestler award, given to the wrestler that made the most outstanding athletic contribution to the accomplishment of the team. He also shared the BAGUBA Award, given to the individual that best exemplifies what the coaches look for in a Stanford wrestler, with freshman Isaiah Locsin.
Wilson led the team with a 34-7 record this season, improving his career mark to 69-15. He placed first at the Reno Tournament of Champions, helping the Cardinal to a second-place finish as a team which is a program-best. He is the first Cardinal wrestler since Tanner Gardner (2007-08) to capture back-to-back conference titles and the first freshman and sophomore to do so since Dave Lee (1985-86).
Locsin went 11-5 during his rookie campaign, which was cut short due to injuries. The 141-pounder was the runner-up at the Reno Tournament of Champions and finished 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle. He was 5-2 in dual matches, contributing 18 points to the team.
Butler was named the team’s Outstanding Newcomer after posting a 29-9 overall record for the Cardinal. Just the fourth freshman in school history to win a Pac-12 title, he qualified for his first national tournament, finishing 1-2 in St. Louis. His 29 wins on the season tied Zack Giesen and Nick Amuchastegui for the fourth-most by a freshman in program history. The heavyweight took third at the Roadrunner Open (Nov. 16), Keystone Classic (Nov. 23) and the Reno Tournament of Champions (Dec. 21).
Most Improved went to Schaner, who finished his career with a season-best 23-17 record. He defeated Oregon State’s Abraham Rodriguez in a true second-place match at the conference tournament to automatically qualify for his first NCAA tournament. There, the Big Rapids, Michigan native upset the No. 6 seed in the opening round, finishing his run 2-2 in the national spotlight. One of three team captains, Schaner ends his time on The Farm with 51 career wins.
The Coaches Award, given to the individual(s) who made the most significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement, or special leadership, went to Bryan, Lauderdale and freshman Mason Pengilly. The trio all were called upon to wrestle up this season and fill in at duals when starters were injured.
Bryan, a walk-on from Los Angeles, found himself in the lineup at 141 and 149 pounds this season. A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Bryan will graduate this June with a degree in math and computational science. Lauderdale also contributed to the team this season, wrestling at 149 and 157 pounds, including going up against two top-10 opponents on back-to-back nights for the Cardinal. He will complete his electrical engineering degree this June.
It was a similar scenario for Pengilly (10-11), who entered the year as a 125-pounder, but found himself wrestling at 141 pounds in the conference tournament where he finished fifth. He was the runner-up at the Roadrunner Open (Nov. 16) and took sixth at the Keystone Classic (Nov. 23) at 125 pounds.
Seven wrestlers were recognized with the Tod Surmon Award for their outstanding performance at a home dual this season. The winners were as follows: Connor Schram (Northwestern), Zach Nevills (North Carolina & Brown), Dylan Morris (Menlo), Keaton Subjeck (Cal Poly), Ryan Davies (Air Force), Maxwell Hvolbek (Arizona State) and Schaner (San Francisco State).
Stanford wrestlers continued to excel in the classroom this year. Butler garnered Outstanding Scholar-Athlete honors, given to the wrestler that best combines academics and athletics. Stanford again led the conference with seven wrestlers earning Pac-12 All-Academic honors. Joining Butler on the first team was Schaner, while Davies, Hvolbek, Schram, Subjeck and Josh Marchok picked up second team accolades.