STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford wrestling team hosts No. 22 Utah Valley and Harvard for a pair of duals on Saturday at Burnham Pavilion beginning 10:30 a.m. Admission is free.
Utah Valley and Harvard will square off first, followed by Stanford and Utah Valley at noon and then the Cardinal and Crimson at 1:30 p.m.
Stanford is coming off a program-best fourth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. The Cardinal finished with nine placewinners - also a school record. Redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler was named the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week after going 4-1 in the tournament and finishing as the runner-up at 197 pounds.
A runner-up finish at the Southern Scuffle helping the team to its best tournament finish in Chattanooga has earned @nathantraxler4 @pac12 Wrestler of the Week honors!
— Stanford Wrestling (@CardWrestling) January 9, 2019
??? » https://t.co/9436kuZ9mw#GoStanford #CardinalCaliber pic.twitter.com/CNf8jMz8hn
Stanford has three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the InterMat individual polls. Traxler, a 2018 NCAA qualifier, is the highest-ranked Cardinal at No. 8 at 197 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Requir van der Merwe is No. 15 at 149 pounds, while returning All-American and redshirt senior Paul Fox comes in at No. 20 at 157 pounds.
Jason Borrelli, now in his 11th season as the Cardinal head coach, is coming off his 100th career win as Stanford defeated No. 11 Northwestern on Dec. 17. Chris Horpel is Stanford's all-time winningest coach with 105 dual victories.
Ranked 22nd nationally in InterMat's dual team rankings, Utah Valley is 6-5 to start the season, including victories over Big Ten foes Rutgers and Purdue. The Wolverines boast five ranked wrestlers, led by redshirt freshman Tate Orndorff, who is No. 10 at 285 pounds.
Harvard will wrestle its first duals of the season this weekend. The Crimson has won three of the last four meetings with Stanford and owns a 4-3 all-time record against the Cardinal. The trip to Stanford is Harvard's first since 1999. Head coach Jay Weiss is in his 25th season at the helm of the Crimson program.
Probable Matchups
| Weight | Stanford | Harvard | Utah Valley |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | Brian Rossi | Nolan Hellickson | Josh Jensen |
| 133 | Mason Pengilly OR Dalton Young | Lukus Stricker | Isaiah Delgado OR Dylan Gregerson |
| 141 | Jack Ramalia OR Brandon Kier | Ryan Friedman OR Tucker Ribman | #11 Matt Findlay |
| 149 | #15 Requir van der Merwe OR Steven Abbate | Brock Wilson OR Robert Groves | Landon Knutzen OR Cameron Haddock |
| 157 | #20 Paul Fox OR Dominick Mandarino | Hunter Ladnier | Matthew Ontiveros |
| 165 | Brandon Dallavia OR Jared Hill | Josh Kim OR Tyler Tarsi | #11 Demetrius Romero |
| 174 | Rico Stormer OR Foster Karmon | Leo Tarantino | #13 Kimball Bastian OR Kyle Snelling |
| 184 | Colbey Harlan OR Austin Flores | Cliffton Wang OR Pierce Bausano | Will Sumner |
| 197 | #8 Nathan Traxler (STAN) | Cole Bateman | #13 Tanner Orndorff OR Ashton Seely |
| 285 | Haydn Maley OR David Showunmi | Evan Callahan | #10 Tate Orndorff OR Benjamin Andrew |