Pair of Wins

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford prevailed in a pair of duals, upsetting No. 22 Utah Valley (20-19) and avenging last year's loss to Harvard (26-12), Saturday, at Burnham Pavilion.

The Cardinal improved to 5-0 on the season, while the Wolverines are now 7-6 and the Crimson dropped to 0-2. Five Stanford wrestlers picked up a pair of wins on Saturday.

Against Utah Valley, Stanford won four of its five bouts by bonus points to edge the Wolverines. Eighth-ranked Nathan Traxler sealed the dual win, holding off No. 13 Tanner Orndorff, 9-7, at 197 pounds. 

Fifth-year senior Mason Pengilly got the Cardinal on the board with a 12-0 major decision over Isaiah Delgado at 133 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Requir van der Merwe, who is new to the rankings this week at No. 15, dominated Cameron Haddock with a 16-0 technical fall at 149 pounds.

Sophomore Dominick Mandarino extended the Cardinal lead to 13-6 with an exciting 22-12 major decision over Landon Knutzen at 157 pounds. Mandarino racked up five takedowns and eight near fall points in the win.

Fifth-year Rico Stormer also posted a big win for the Cardinal, registering a 23-10 major decision over Kyle Snelling at 174 pounds. Stormer finished with eight takedowns and 2:51 of riding time.

Fifth-year senior Brian Rossi returned to the mat for the first time since November 19, 2017. The 125-pounder fell to Utah Valley's Josh Jensen, 4-1. Fellow fifth-year senior and captain Paul Fox wrestled up for the team at 165 pounds, dropping an 8-0 major decision to 11th-ranked Demetrius Romero.

Stanford won seven of its 10 bouts against Harvard, who defeated the Cardinal 21-20 last year in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Stanford turned in four wins by bonus points.

Pengilly recorded his second shutout major decision of the day, defeating Lukus Stricker, 13-0, at 133 pounds. Pengilly is now 3-0 in duals this season.

Junior Brandon Kier gave Stanford the lead for good at 141 pounds. Trailing Harvard's Ryan Friedman 3-0 going into the final period, Kier scored a reversal to start the third. After Friedman escaped, Kier secured a takedown, but Friedman escaped again to lead 5-4. Kier managed to score a takedown as time expired, but Friedman was awarded a point for riding time to knot the score at 6-6. Kier finished a takedown with three seconds left in sudden victory to win it 8-6.

At 149 pounds, van der Merwe continued to wrestle well, posting an 11-2 major decision against Brock Wilson. He tallied four takedowns, a reversal and secured the riding time point in the win. He is now 15-6 overall and 4-1 in duals this season.

Mandarino earned his second victory of the afternoon with a 10-4 decision over Hunder Ladnier at 157 pounds. He moves to 19-5 overall and 4-0 in duals. 

Stormer, who graduated from Harvard in 2018 and is now working towards his master's at Stanford in energy resources engineering, earned a hard-fought 7-4 decision over Leo Tarantino at 174 pounds. Stormer is now 5-0 in duals this season.

Traxler tallied a 17-5 major decision against Cole Bateman at 197 pounds to help put the dual out of reach for the Crimson. He improved to 19-4 overall and 5-0 in duals. 

Redshirt freshman Haydn Maley capped things off for Stanford with a 16-0 second-period technical fall over Evan Callahan at heavyweight. He quickly scored a takedown in the opening period and racked up 12 near fall points in the first for a 14-0 lead. He chose to start on top in the second and finished off Callahan with two more near fall points. He improves to 2-1 in duals this season. 

Stanford will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 25 against Cal Baptist. The Cardinal and Lancers will square off at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.
 

Stanford 20, No. 22 Utah Valley 19

Stanford 26, Harvard 12