CORVALLIS, Ore. - Six Cardinal wrestlers earned automatic berths into the NCAA Championships, Sunday, at the Pac-12 Tournament in Gill Coliseum.
Clinching spots in the NCAA Championships were Gabriel Townsell (125 pounds), Mason Pengilly (133 pounds), Paul Fox (157 pounds), Keaton Subjeck (174 pounds), Nathan Traxler (197 pounds) and Nathan Butler (285 pounds). It is the second-most NCAA qualifiers in a season in program history.
As a team, Stanford finished fourth with 47.5 points. Arizona State won its second consecutive team title with 96 points. Oregon State (70) and CSU Bakersfield (52.5) finished ahead of the Cardinal, while Cal Poly (37) came in fifth.
Subjeck finished the tournament as the runner-up at 174 pounds, but had to wrestle Oregon State's Myles Terry in a true second-place match at the conclusion of the tournament to secure the automatic qualifier. Ranked ninth nationally, Subjeck put Terry on his back and earned the fall in the second period, moving him into a tie for seventh on Stanford's career pins list (21) with Scott Loescher (2003-07) and Dylan Morris (2012-16). Subjeck leads the team with 26 wins on the season.
Butler, ranked eighth nationally, picked up his second win of the season over No. 9 Tanner Hall of Arizona State in the semifinals. Tied 1-1 after regulation, Butler rode out Hall and then registered the escape in the first set of tiebreakers for the victory. In the finals, he lost an 11-2 major decision to No. 8 Amar Dhesi of Oregon State. Butler has finished top-2 at the conference tournament in three of his four seasons on The Farm.
Pengilly earned a runner-up finish at 133 pounds, falling 8-3 in the finals to 15th-ranked Ali Naser of Arizona State. The redshirt junior earned a spot in the finals with a 6-4 sudden victory decision over CSU Bakersfield's Sean Nickell. Pengilly earns a spot in the national tournament for the first time in his career. He is 4-1 on the year.
Fox was edged 6-5 by Oregon State's Hunter Willits in his first match at 157 pounds. He bounced back with an 18-7 major decision against Cal Poly's Jett Moy to advance to the third-place bout. There, he posted an 8-5 decision against CSU Bakersfield's Coleman Hammond to secure his spot in the NCAA Championships.
At 165 pounds, redshirt freshman Jared Hill earned a 10-9 come-from-behind decision over Oregon State's Rodney Williams in the third-place bout. Hill trailed 7-3 after getting thrown in the opening period, but rode Williams out in the second and then fought all the way back in the third for the win.
Traxler scored a spot in the third-place bout after a controversial end to his consolation match against Arizona State's Cade Belshay. Belshay scored a late takedown as time expired in the third to take a 4-3 lead. However, after a video review, Belshay was called for locked-hands and Traxler was awarded a point sending the match into overtime. Traxler earned the 5-4 win in the first set of tiebreakers to punch his ticket to Cleveland. In the third-place match, Traxler notched a 9-3 decision against Cal Poly's Tom Lane to move to 17-10 on the year.
Townsell finished the tournament in fourth place at 125 pounds, securing an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships as the conference had four allocations. The sophomore's 9-3 decision over Cal Poly's Yoshito Funakoshi clinched his second consecutive appearance in the national tournament. He is now 19-13 on the season.
At 149 pounds, redshirt freshman Jake Barry finished in fourth place after winning his opening round match, 7-3, against CSU Bakersfield's Kalani Tonge. He fell 11-5 to Oregon State's Josh Reyes in the third-place bout.
Going 0-2 and placing fifth for Stanford were Isaiah Locsin (141 pounds) and Austin Flores (184 pounds).
Stanford will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championships, held March 15-17 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Gabriel Townsell, 125 pounds | 1-2 (4th)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to #11 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) | 6-2 |
| dec. Yoshito Funakoshi (Cal Poly) | 9-3 |
| lost to Sergio Mendez (CSU Bakersfield) | F2:14 |
Mason Pengilly, 133 pounds | 1-1 (2nd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Sean Nickell (CSU Bakersfield) | 6-4 (SV) |
| lost to #15 Ali Naser (Arizona State) | 8-3 |
Isaiah Locsin, 141 pounds | 0-2 (5th)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield) | 7-6 |
| lost to Nikko Villareal (Arizona State) | 8-2 |
Jake Barry, 149 pounds | 1-2 (4th)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Kalani Tonge (CSU Bakersfield) | 7-3 |
| lost to #10 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) | 16-0 (5:34) |
| lost to Josh Reyes (Oregon State) | 11-5 |
Paul Fox, 157 pounds | 2-1 (3rd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Hunter Willits (Oregon State) | 6-5 |
| maj. dec. Jett Moy (Cal Poly) | 18-7 |
| dec. Coleman Hammond (CSU Bakersfield) | 8-5 |
Jared Hill, 165 pounds | 2-1 (3rd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| tech. fall Ryan Farina (Cal Poly) | 18-2 (7:00) |
| lost to #15 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) | F1:04 |
| dec. Rodney Williams (Oregon State) | 10-9 |
#9 Keaton Subjeck, 174 pounds | 2-1 (2nd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. Bryan Battisto (CSU Bakersfield) | 14-4 |
| lost to #1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) | 15-7 |
| fall Myles Terry (Oregon State) | F4:23 |
Austin Flores, 184 pounds | 0-2 (5th)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Bob Coleman (Oregon State) | 8-6 |
| lost to Dom Ducharme (CSU Bakersfield) | F3:24 |
Nathan Traxler, 197 pounds | 2-1 (3rd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to #14 Matt Williams (CSU Bakersfield) | 13-0 |
| dec. Cade Belshay (Arizona State) | 5-4 (OT) |
| dec. Tom Lane (Cal Poly) | 9-3 |
#8 Nathan Butler, 285 pounds | 1-1 (2nd)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. #9 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) | 2-1 (OT) |
| lost to #7 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) | 11-2 |