STANFORD, Calif. – For just the second time in program history, three Cardinal wrestlers earned All-America honors as the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced its awards, Friday, for the 2019-20 season.
Real Woods (141 pounds) and Shane Griffith (165 pounds) were tabbed first-team All-Americans, while Nathan Traxler (197 pounds) was a second-team selection. Stanford also produced three All-Americans in the same season in 2011 when it finished a program-best 11th at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. Combining with its NCAA All-Americans, Stanford now boasts 23 All-Americans with 30 combined awards. Woods and Griffith are just the second and third freshman All-Americans in school history, respectively.
Woods was 19-1 as a redshirt freshman and was seeded third for the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12 champion at 141 pounds, his only loss came on Nov. 10 against top-ranked Luke Pletcher of Ohio State in overtime. The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native registered 14 bonus-point wins, including five falls. In addition to his Pac-12 title, he also won the Battle at The Citadel and the Southern Scuffle. He will enter next season on a 15-match winning streak.
Griffith, the Pac-12 Wrestler and Newcomer of the Year, was 28-0 as a redshirt freshman and a finalist for the prestigious Hodge Trophy. Also seeded third for the NCAA Tournament, his 28 consecutive wins are the most to start a career in program history and the second-longest winning streak by a Stanford wrestler. His 28 wins are the seventh-most by a freshman in school history. The Pac-12 champion at 165 pounds, Griffith led the team with nine falls and had 18 bonus-point wins overall. Along with his conference title, he won the Battle at The Citadel, the Roadrunner Open and the Southern Scuffle.
Traxler finished the season 20-5 and earned the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He boasts 69 career wins, the most on the active roster. He posted five falls and 11 bonus-point wins overall. The redshirt junior won the Battle at The Citadel and the Roadrunner Open, while finishing as the runner-up at the Southern Scuffle and Pac-12 Championships.
The NWCA announced All-Americans after the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Wrestlers seeded 1-8 for the NCAA Tournament were named to the first team, seeds 9-12 were second-team picks and seeds 13-16 were honorable mention selections.