CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Freshman Joey McKenna finished as the runner-up at 141 pounds in the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while four other Cardinal placed in the tournament.
As a team, Stanford finished ninth with 59.5 points. Penn State won the team race with 183 points, while Oklahoma State (158 points) and Lehigh (104.5 point) rounded out the top 3.
McKenna, who is ranked fourth nationally, went 4-0 in the tournament to reach the finals, where he suffered his first loss of the season to top-ranked Dean Heil of Oklahoma State. Tied 1-1 after regulation, McKenna was called for a stalling point in the first tiebreaker which proved to be the difference for Heil, who was able to ride out McKenna in the second tiebreaker.
McKenna is just the second Cardinal wrestler to reach the finals of the Southern Scuffle, joining three-time All-American Tanner Gardner who did so in 2006. The rookie is 11-1 on the season.
Redshirt freshman Paul Fox (149 pounds) and redshirt sophomore Nathan Butler (285 pounds) finished seventh, while redshirt sophomores Connor Schram (125 pounds) and Garet Krohn (184 pounds) took eighth.
Up next, Stanford hosts Cal Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. PT in Burnham Pavilion. The Cardinal will then wrestle at San Francisco State and Menlo College on Sunday, Jan. 10.
Tournament Results
| 125 pounds • Brian Rossi (2-2) |
| Dec. Kenny Yanovich (Penn State), 5-2 Lost to Steven Polakowski (Minnesota), 5-4 Tech. Fall John Martin (Cleveland State), 18-2 Lost to Sean Russell (Edinboro), 12-4 |
| 125 pounds • Connor Schram (6-2, 8th) |
| Fall John Martin (Cleveland State), 3:37 Lost to Ethan Lizak (Minnesota - unattached), 8-2 Dec. Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga), 8-5 Dec. Tanner Shoap (Drexel - unattached), 6-2 Dec. Mitch Rogaliner (Michigan State), 7-3 Dec. Cortez Starkes (Gardner Webb), 3-1 Dec. Steven Polakowski (Minnesota), 6-4 (SV) Lost to #12 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), 2-1 (SV) |
| 141 pounds • #4 Joey McKenna (4-1, 2nd) |
| Maj. Dec. Matthew Kelly (Army), 12-0 Won by medical forfeit over Colt Schilling (Cal Poly) Dec. Joey Ward (North Carolina), 4-2 Dec. #16 Zach Horan (Central Michigan), 4-2 Lost to #1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 2-1 (OT) |
| 149 pounds • Paul Fox (4-2, 7th) |
| Maj. Dec. Timmy Box (Northern Colorado), 12-4 Dec. Troy Heilmann (North Carolina - unattached), 10-4 Lost to #1 Zain Retherford (Penn State), 22-6 Dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh), 9-5 Lost to Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 17-5 Dec. Chris Vassar (Gardner Webb), 6-4 (SV) |
| 149 pounds • Tommy Pawelski (1-2) |
| Lost to #8 Matthew Cimato (Drexel), 5-2 Dec. Nick Montgomery (Cleveland State), 8-6 Lost to Jonce Blaylock (Oklahoma State), 12-7 |
| 157 pounds • Walker Dempsey (1-2) |
| Lost to #3 Jason Nolf (Penn State), 25-10 Dec. John Vaughn (Cleveland State), 8-4 Lost to Spencer Nagy (Edinboro), 2-0 |
| 165 pounds • #9 Jim Wilson (1-2) |
| Dec. Garrett Peppelman (Virginia), 4-2 Lost to Tyler Marinelli (Gardner Webb - unattached), 7-3 Lost to #16 Jake Faust (Duke), 6-1 |
| 174 pounds • Peter Galli (1-2) |
| Dec. Ryan Harman (Navy), 2-1 Lost to #11 Michael Ottinger (Central Michigan), 6-1 Lost to Andrew Morgan (Cal Poly), 7-1 |
| 184 pounds • Garet Krohn (5-3, 8th) |
| Dec. Nick Corba (Cleveland State - unattached), 8-3 Won by forfeit over Shwan Shadaia (Michigan State) Lost to #6 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn), 5-2 Dec. Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan), 8-5 Dec. John Lampe (Chattanooga), 5-3 Won by medical forfeit over #13 Matt McCutcheon (Penn State) Lost to Jordan Rogers (Oklahoma State), 13-4 Lost to #19 Alex Utley (North Carolina), 9-3 |
| 184 pounds • Zach Nevills (2-2) |
| Lost to Hunter Gamble (Gardner Webb), 7-1 Fall Chris Laird (Edinboro), 4:52 Fall Mccoy Newbery (Chattanooga), 3:28 Lost to Ville Heino (Campbell), 11-1 |
| 285 pounds • Nathan Butler (4-2, 7th) |
| Dec. Newton Smerchek (Central Michigan), 3-1 (SV) Dec. William Miller (Edinboro), 3-1 Lost to #4 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State), 4-1 (OT) Maj. Dec. Cary Miller (Appalachian State - unattached), 9-1 Lost to #10 Max Wessell (Lehigh), 2-1 Dec. William Miller (Edinboro), 7-2 |
| 285 pounds • Josh Marchok (1-1) |
| Won by medical forfeit over #16 Tanner Harms (Wyoming) Lost to Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 3-2 |