A Look Back at 2021-22A Look Back at 2021-22
Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarrior
Wrestling

A Look Back at 2021-22

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford ushered in the Rob Koll era on May 29, 2021. In his first season on The Farm, the Cardinal secured another top 20 finish at the national tournament, producing multiple All-Americans in the same season for the first time since 2016.

Stanford was 5-4 overall, including 3-2 in Pac-12 duals. The Cardinal placed third as a team at the Pac-12 Championships, held in Tempe, Arizona. Redshirt juniors Real Woods (141) and Tyler Eischens (174) won individual titles, bringing Stanford's total count to 37.


The Cardinal qualified five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Detroit. Joining Eischens and Woods as automatic qualifiers were Logan Ashton (125) and Shane Griffith (165), while Jaden Abas (149) received an at-large berth.

Griffith became the second two-time NCAA finalist in program history and is now 9-1 in his career at the national tournament. The Westwood, New Jersey, native was the runner-up at 165 pounds, earning his second career NCAA All-America honors – just the sixth multiple-time All-American in program history.
 


Griffith, who is 59-6 in his collegiate career, was joined on the podium by Woods, who placed sixth at 141 pounds to earn his first career NCAA All-America honors. Woods is just the second Cardinal wrestler to place at the national tournament at 141 pounds.

The Cardinal registered 31.5 team points, good for 19th overall. It was the program's eighth top-20 finish and tied for the fifth-best mark in school history. Additionally, for the first time in program history, the Cardinal had two wrestlers advance to the semifinals.

Team awards were unveiled at the Cardinal's annual banquet in April, and it was no surprise that Griffith took home the Vern Jones Most Outstanding Wrestler award for a third straight season.

Woods was named the team's Most Dominant wrestler. The Albuquerque native registered 10 of his 17 wins by bonus points and strung together five consecutive matches between the Pac-12 Championships (2-0) and NCAA Championships (3-0) without giving up a point.

Four Cardinal took home Outstanding Scholar-Athlete honors – Abas, Griffith and sophomores Suhas Chundi and Nick Stemmet. The Most Improved Award went to Ashton, who qualified for his first NCAA Championships, while Eischens and Griffith were presented with the BAGUBA Award, given to the individual(s) who best exemplify what the coaches look for in a Stanford wrestler.

The Chris Horpel Coaches Award, given to the individual that made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement or special leadership, was presented to Jason Miranda. Charlie Darracott, who was 18-12 overall, was named Outstanding Newcomer.

Four wrestlers were recognized with the Tod Surmon Award for their outstanding performance in a home dual. The winners were as follows: Abas (Oklahoma State), Eischens (Little Rock and Pac-12s), Jackson DiSario (Cal Poly) and Stemmet (Oregon State).

Stanford wrestlers continued to excel in the classroom this year. Six Cardinal were named NWCA Scholar All-Americans – Abas, Nick Addison, Ashton, Griffith, Stemmet and Woods. Stanford also led the conference with 13 wrestlers earning Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recognition – Abas, Addison, Luciano Arroyo, Ashton, Chundi, Elijah Cleaver, Griffith, Marshall Kools, Anthony Le, Peter Ming, Seamus O'Malley, Fabian Santiallan and Stemmet.

Most recently, Griffith secured his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-America second team honors, becoming the third Cardinal wrestler to be a multiple-time Academic All-American.