CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Four Cardinal have advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, Wednesday, at McKenzie Arena.
Stanford's four wrestlers in the championship side of the bracket are Real Woods (141 pounds), Jaden Abas (149 pounds), Shane Griffith (165 pounds) and Nathan Traxler (197 pounds). Requir van der Merwe (149 pounds) and Tyler Eischens (157 pounds) remain in the consolation bracket. As a team, the Cardinal is tied for fourth with 61 points, sitting behind Oklahoma State (70), North Dakota State (63) and NC State (61.5).
Woods, the No. 3 seed at 141 pounds, posted a pair of falls to reach the quarterfinals. He earned a spot in Thursday's semifinals with a 12-3 major decision over Cleveland State's Evan Cheek in the quarters. Ranked 12th nationally, Woods is now 10-1 on the season and will wrestle Oklahoma State's Dusty Hone in the semis.
Abas, who is wrestling unattached, was 4-0 on the day to punch his ticket into the semifinals at 149 pounds. He opened the tournament with an 8-1 decision over Cleveland State's Sam Matzek. In the Round of 32, Abas shut out Chattanooga's Jacob Mariakis, 11-0. In the Round of 16, he outlasted Duke's Josh Finesilver, 5-3, to reach the quarterfinals. There, he posted a 10-3 decision over Campbell's Jason Kraisser. Abas moves to 16-4 on the year and will meet No. 6 seed Colston DiBlasi of George Mason in the semis.
The top seed in the tournament at 165 pounds, Griffith cruised to a spot in the semifinals. He registered a 9-1 major decision against Gardner Webb's RJ Mosley. In the Round of 16, he tallied an 11-4 decision over Drexel's Evan Barczak. He finished the day with an 11-2 major decision against Iowa State's Chase Straw in the quarterfinals. The redshirt freshman will take on No. 5 seed Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in the semis. Ranked seventh nationally, Griffith is now 15-0 to start the year, tying him with Josh Zupancic (2008) and Jim Wilson (2013) for the 11th-longest winning streak in program history.
Traxler, the tournament's No. 2 seed at 197 pounds, went 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals. He opened with a dominating 18-0 technical fall over Lock Haven's Parker McClellan in 4:07. In the Round of 16, he notched a 12-3 major decision against Oklahoma State's Bear Hughes. He turned in an 11-4 decision over Jacob Cardenas (Finger Lakes WC) in the quarterfinals. Traxler, who is ranked eighth in the nation, moves to 14-1 on the season and will face Penn State's Michael Beard in the semis.
van der Merwe, the tournament's No. 1 seed at 149 pounds, recorded a major decision and a technical fall to reach the quarterfinals. He was upset by Appalachian State's Jonathan Milner, 4-3, to fall into the consolation bracket. The redshirt junior will face Campbell's Troy Nation on Thursday morning.
Eischens went 4-1 on Wednesday and will wrestle in the consolation bracket at 157 pounds on Thursday. He opened the day with a fall over The Citadel's Grant Speer in 3:14 and a decision over Iowa State's Grant Stotts. In the Round of 16, he dropped a 9-6 decision to Rutgers's Michael Vanbrill. He will face the No. 8 seed Jared Franek of North Dakota State second Consolation Round of 8.
Day two of the Southern Scuffle begins at 7 a.m. PT on Thursday. All matches are being streamed on Flowrestilng.
Logan Ashton, 125 pounds | 0-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Joe Thomas (West Virginia) | 4-2 (SV) |
| lost to Louis Newell (Pittsburgh) | 9-0 |
Jackson DiSario, 125 pounds | 2-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| fall Carson Smith (Appalachian State) | F2:42 |
| dec. Logan Treaster (Navy) | 9-2 |
| lost to #7 Nic Aguilar (Rutgers) | 13-4 |
| lost to Jakob Camacho (NC State) | 11-4 |
#20 Gabriel Townsell, 125 pounds | 1-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Aden Reeves (Iowa State) | 8-4 |
| lost to Jonathan Tropea (Rider) | 11-5 |
Brandon Kier, 133 pounds | 0-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to #18 Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma State) | 3-2 |
| lost to Richie Koehler (Rider) | 15-2 |
#12 Real Woods, 141 pounds | 3-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| fall Sawyer Degen (North Dakota State) | F0:33 |
| fall Caleb Rea (West Virginia) | F2:12 |
| maj. dec. Evan Cheek (Cleveland State) | 12-3 |
Fabian Santillan, 141 pounds | 1-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. #20 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) | 3-1 (SV) |
| lost to Jojo Aragona (Rutgers) | 2-0 |
| lost to Riley Gurr (Oregon State) | Inj. Def. |
Jaden Abas (unattached), 149 pounds | 4-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Sam Matzek (Cleveland State) | 8-1 |
| maj. dec. Jacob Mariakis (Chattanooga) | 11-0 |
| dec. Josh Finesilver (Duke) | 5-3 |
| dec. Jason Kraisser (Campbell) | 10-3 |
Dawson Sihavong (unattached), 149 pounds | 1-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. Spencer Leonhardt (Campbell) | 12-0 |
| lost to Aj Leitten (NC State) | 15-5 |
| lost to Matthew Swanson (Binghamton) | 12-11 |
#15 Requir van der Merwe, 149 pounds | 2-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. Jaden Van Maanen (North Dakota State) | 17-5 |
| tech. fall Zach Barnes (Campbell) | 20-5 (6:33) |
| lost to Jonathan Milner (Appalachian State) | 4-3 |
Tyler Eischens, 157 pounds | 4-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| fall Grant Speer (The Citadel) | F3:14 |
| dec. Grant Stotts (Iowa State) | 4-1 |
| lost to Michael Vanbrill (Rutgers) | 9-6 |
| maj. dec. Scout Skidgel (Navy) | 11-3 |
| dec. Wyatt Pfau (Duke) | 4-2 |
Ethan Woods, 157 pounds | 2-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Will Lawrence (VMI) | 6-3 |
| dec. Caleb Cas (Cleveland State) | 6-3 |
| lost to #2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) | F2:00 |
| lost to Jack Stanton-Taddeo (Navy) | 7-3 |
#7 Shane Griffith, 165 pounds | 3-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. RJ Mosley (Gardner Webb) | 9-1 |
| dec. Evan Barczak (Drexel) | 11-4 |
| maj. dec. Chase Straw (Iowa State) | 11-2 |
Foster Karmon, 174 pounds | 1-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Neal Richards (VMI) | 16-6 |
| maj. dec. Trent Knight (Campbell) | 14-6 |
| lost to Jared Siegrist (Lock Haven) | 7-4 |
Nick Addison, 184 pounds | 1-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Anthony Montalvo (Oklahoma State) | 10-2 |
| won by medical forfeit over Billy Janzer (Rutgers) | MFF |
| lost to Colt Doyle (Oregon State) | F6:53 |
#8 Nathan Traxler, 197 pounds | 3-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| tech. fall Parker McClellan (Lock Haven) | 18-0 (4:07) |
| maj. dec. Bear Hughes (Oklahoma State) | 12-3 |
| dec. Jacob Cardenas (Finger Lakes WC) | 11-4 |
Trevor Rasmussen, 285 pounds | 0-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to Brandon Ngati (West Virginia) | 7-3 |
| lost to Cole Rickert (Pittsburgh) | 6-2 |
David Showunmi, 285 pounds | 1-2
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Kayne Hutchison (Air Force) | 4-2 |
| lost to Lewis Fernandes (Finger Lakes WC) | 7-1 |
| lost to Michael Burchell (Appalachian State) | 14-8 |