Pair Earns Runner-up Finishes

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler and true freshman Real Woods registered runner-up finishes to lead the Cardinal at the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, Wednesday, at McKenzie Arena.

Stanford's fourth-place finish (82.5) was its best at the Southern Scuffle in school history, while the Cardinal had a program-record nine wrestlers reach the podium in Chattanooga. The team score did not include points from Woods and true freshman Shane Griffith who were both wrestling unattached. With their points, the Cardinal would have been third as a team.

Traxler was up against top-ranked Bo Nickal of Penn State, who pinned his way to the finals in Chattanooga. It was no different against Traxler as Nickal earned the fall in the first period to win his third straight Southern Scuffle title at a third different weight class. Overall, Traxler went 4-1 in the tournament with a pair of technical falls and a 9-7 win over 11th-ranked Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) in the semifinals. The redshirt sophomore is now 17-4 this season and his runner-up finish was the highest by a Cardinal since Joey McKenna in 2016, who also finished second. 

Woods wrestled tough in the finals at 141 pounds against No. 4 Nick Lee of Penn State. He scored the first takedown of the bout, but gave up a point for locked hands before Lee escaped. Trailing 5-2 to start the third, Woods cut into the lead with an escape. However, injury time for Woods gave Lee choice and he went down and was able to escape in the final period to win it 6-3. Woods pulled off a 3-1 decision over No. 18 Nick Gil of Navy in a second sudden victory period in the semifinals. He is now 9-1 overall.

Dominick Mandarino was 6-1 overall and edged out Ohio's Zac Carson 12-10 in sudden victory to secure third place at 157 pounds. The sophomore's only loss came to top-ranked Jason Nolf of Penn State in the semifinals. A 5-2 decision over teammate Paul Fox advanced Mandarino to the third-place bout. He moves to 17-5 on the year.

Also placing third for the Cardinal was Griffith. The 165-pounder was 6-1 in the tournament with his only loss coming to two-time defending national champion and No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State. Griffith start the day with a fall over Ohio's Colt Yinger before earning a close 2-0 decision over Navy's Tanner Skidgel. He earned a spot in the third-place bout after Oklahoma State's Chandler Rogers defaulted due to injury with Griffith leading 6-1 after 4:54. Griffith knocked off No. 20 Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider, 7-2, in his final match. Griffith is now 20-2 overall.

Requir van der Merwe had a solid showing in Chattanooga, placing fourth with a 5-2 record at 149 pounds. The redshirt sophomore dropped a 5-2 decision to 10th-ranked Brady Berge of Penn State in the third-place bout. He began the day with a 3-0 decision over Oklahoma State's Dusty Hone and then held off No. 17 Jared Prince of Navy, 4-3. van der Merwe, who is now 13-6 this season, advanced to the third-place bout with a dominating 16-0 technical fall over CSU Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing. 

Fox went 6-2 in the tournament, taking fifth at 157 pounds. the fifth-year senior earned a 9-4 decision over Oklahoma State's Jonce Blaylock in the fifth-place bout. Fox's 11-1 major decision against Duke's Ben Anderson put Fox in the consolation semifinals against Mandarino. Fox moves to 16-4 this season and now has 90 career victories.

Fifth-year senior Mason Pengilly was 3-3 overall and took sixth for the Cardinal. He began the day with a 9-5 decision over Rider's Chris Wright before earning a 7-2 decision against Lehigh's Nick Farro. He fell into the fifth-place bout with an 11-4 setback to No. 15 Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State. Pengilly came up short, 4-2, in the fifth-place bout against Iowa State's Todd Small.

At heavyweight, Haydn Maley registered a 7-3 decision over Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State in the seventh-place bout. Maley was 5-2 in the tournament, moving him to 16-7 on the season. It was the third podium finish of the season for the redshirt freshman, who won the Princeton Open (Nov. 4) and took fourth at the Roadrunner Open (Nov. 18).

Junior Gabriel Townsell finished eighth for Stanford at 125 pounds after medically forfeiting the seventh-place bout. He was 3-2 overall in the tournament. He began Wednesday with a 13-4 major decision over Air Force's Sidney Flores before coming up short in a 9-7 decision to Chattanooga's Alonzo Allen in the second set of tiebreakers. He is now 12-6 on the year.

The Cardinal's best previous finish at the Southern Scuffle was ninth in 2016 and 2018, while the most placers it had had prior to 2019 was five.

Stanford returns to The Farm next week to play host to Utah Valley and Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 12.

Gabriel Townsell, 125 pounds | 3-2 (8th)

Mason Pengilly, 133 pounds | 3-3 (6th)

Dalton Young, 133 pounds | 1-2

Real Woods, 141 pounds (unattached) | 4-1 (2nd)

Requir van der Merwe, 149 pounds | 5-2 (4th)

Paul Fox, 157 pounds | 6-2 (5th)

Jared Hill, 157 pounds | 1-2

Dominick Mandarino, 157 pounds | 6-1 (3rd)

Shane Griffith, 165 pounds | 6-1 (3rd)

Foster Karmon, 174 pounds | 1-2

Rico Stormer, 174 pounds | 1-2

Colbey Harlan, 184 pounds | 1-2

#8 Nathan Traxler, 197 pounds | 4-1 (2nd)

Haydn Maley, 285 pounds | 5-2 (7th)

Trevor Rasmussen, 285 pounds | 1-2

David Showunmi, 285 pounds | 3-2