STANFORD, Calif. – Redshirt freshman Haydn Maley and freshman Shane Griffith represented the California RTC last weekend at the World Team Trials in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Griffith, who dropped down to 74 kg from 79 kg at the U.S. Open in junior freestyle tournament, was the No. 2 seed in the mini tournament. He earned an 11-0 first period technical fall over Aaron Bancroft (Backyard Wrestling Club) in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, he faced the No. 6 seed Phillip Conigliaro, a Harvard commit, and registered a 10-0 technical fall in 5:17. In the finals, he took out top seed and U.S. Open runner-up Danny Braunagel (Illinois RTC) in 4:16.
In the best-of-three tournament finals, Griffth fell to U.S. Open champion David Carr (Iowa State RTC) 6-3 in the first match and 6-4 in the second to finish as the runner-up.
Maley placed fourth in the Senior Greco Roman tournament at 130 kg. As the No. 4 seed, he defeated Wes Catheart, 10-2 in 1:19. In the mini tournament semifinals, Maley lost by technical fall to the U.S. Open champion Jacob Mitchell (Army WCAP) in the semifinals.
In the wrestle backs, Maley recorded a fall in 1:18 over Todd Helton (Southern Illinois) in the consolation semifinals. He then fell 5-1 to Toby Erickson (Army WCAP) in the third-place bout.
Up next, Stanford will send nine wrestlers to the U23 Nationals in Akron, Ohio, May 31 – June 2. Griffith and freshman Real Woods will travel to Guatemala City, Guatemala with the Junior Pan Am team on June 7.