Conference Titles at StakeConference Titles at Stake
John P. Lozano/Stanford Athletics
Wrestling

Conference Titles at Stake

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THIS WEEK: The Stanford wrestling team (9-4, 3-1 Pac-12) travels to Tempe this week as Arizona State hosts the 57th annual tournament in Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, March 9. Ten wrestlers from each school will compete for conference titles and berths into the NCAA Championships. Wrestling gets underway at 10 a.m. PT and the finals will start at 6 p.m. PT.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Both mats will be streamed live in the first and second rounds via pac-12.com. Fans can watch the finals of the Pac-12 Championships live on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 p.m. PT. Live results will also be available on Trackwrestling.com. Stanford's Twitter account (@CardWrestling) will also provide updates throughout the day.

TICKETS TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Tickets to the championships are $30 for adult all-session passes. Students/Youth/Seniors are $20. Single session tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students/youth/seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door, by calling (480) 727-0000 or online at thesundevils.com.

THE FIELD: All five teams will be fighting for the conference crown Saturday. Host Arizona State has won the last two team titles (2017 & 2018), while Oregon State won five-straight titles prior to that. Arizona State enters the weekend as the highest ranked team at No. 17 in the InterMat Tournament Rankings, while Oregon State comes in at No. 18. The Pac-12 boasts eight individually ranked wrestlers in the InterMat top 20 polls.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: In addition to competing for team and individual conference titles, wrestlers will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships, held this year at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 21-23.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP: The Cardinal finished the regular season with a 9-4 overall record in duals. Stanford went 3-1 in Pac-12 duals with its only miscue coming at CSU Bakersfield. The Cardinal posted its first win in Corvallis, knocking off No. 18 Oregon State (19-16) on Feb. 15. The Cardinal started 2019 with a program-best fourth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. Stanford finished with nine placewinners in Chattanooga - also a school record. Five Cardinal have reached the 20-win plateau, led by redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler at 26.

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: Stanford's projected wrestlers have made a combined nine appearances at the conference championships, while five will compete for the first time. It will be the fourth appearance for Mason Pengilly (133) and the third for both Gabriel Townsell (125) and Paul Fox (157).
 


STANFORD AT THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Stanford has competed in NCAA wrestling since at least 1933, but has yet to win a conference championship as a team. Since the conference became the Pac-10 in 1980, the Cardinal's highest finish has been second, coming in 2008, 2014 and 2017. Last season, the Cardinal finished fourth but failed to crown an individual champion for the first time since 2009. No current Cardinal has won an individual title.
NCAA HOPES: Stanford sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships last season. Gabriel Townsell (125 pounds), Mason Pengilly (133 pounds), Paul Fox (157 pounds), Keaton Subjeck (174), Nathan Traxler (197 pounds) and Nathan Butler (285 pounds) represented the Cardinal in Cleveland. The group finished 34th overall with 8.5 points.

WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK: Stanford led the conference with four of the eight wrestlers of the week that were awarded in 2019. Redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler book ended the season, taking home the first honor on Jan. 9 after a runner-up finish at the Southern Scuffle. The 197-pounder was also recognized on Feb. 27 after knocking off No. 13 Eric Schultz of Nebraska. Junior Gabriel Townsell took home the accolade on Feb. 6 following a last-second win to give Stanford the dual victory over Arizona State. Graduate Rico Stormer picked up his first career honor on Feb. 20 for his performance at Oregon State, which helped Stanford earn its first win in Corvallis. In total, Stanford has tallied eight weekly honors since the awards inception in 2016.

FROM HARVARD TO STANFORD: Graduate Rico Stormer, who earned his undergraduate degree as a member of the Harvard wrestling team in 2018, is working toward's his master's in energy resources engineering at Stanford with plans to also pursue a PhD in the same field. In just one season on The Farm, Stormer has 17 wins, surpassing his three-year total of 13 with the Crimson.

INCOMING CARDINAL: Stanford has signed eight promising high school seniors to join the team in the fall. The incoming class consists of Jaden Abas (San Diego, Calif.), Nick Addison (Fair Haven, N.J.), Luciano Arroyo (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Logan Ashton (Buford, Ga.), Jackson DiSario (McDonough, Ga.), Seamus O'Malley (Lakewood, Ohio), Fabian Santillan (Eaglewood, Colo.) and Dawson Sihavong (Clovis, Calif.).

HEAD COACH JASON BORRELLI: Stanford is under the guidance of 11th-year head coach Jason Borrelli, who recently became the program's all-time winningest coach. During his time on The Farm, Borrelli has accrued a 106-79-3 record and sent 31 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships a total of 38 times. Borrelli, a former Central Michigan standout, first came to Stanford as an assistant coach in 2007 and has quickly turned the Cardinal into a national contender. Under Borrelli, the Cardinal has finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships three times, including a program-best 11th at the 2011 tournament in Philadelphia.