STANFORD, Calif. – In its second season under The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach Rob Koll, Stanford produced another All-American, the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year and a conference champion.
Stanford was 6-7 overall and 2-3 in Pac-12 duals. The Cardinal was the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championships, held at Maples Pavilion. Freshman Daniel Cardenas (157) became the ninth Stanford rookie to win a conference title, bringing Stanford's total count to 38.
The Cardinal qualified six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Joining Cardenas as automatic qualifiers were Jaden Abas (149), Shane Griffith (165) and Nick Stemmet (197), while Nico Provo (125) and Tyler Eischens (174) received at-large berths.
Griffith, a 2021 NCAA champion and two-time NCAA finalist, became just the third three-time NCAA All-American in program history. The Westwood, New Jersey native placed fifth at 165 pounds and is now 14-3 in his career at the national tournament. He completed his time with the Cardinal with an 87-11 overall record.
Cardenas reached the Round of 12 in Tulsa and finished his freshman season 24-3 overall and 5-0 in duals. The Cardinal registered 18.0 team points, good for 26th overall at the NCAA Championships.
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 fourth straight season. Cardenas secured the Newcomer Award.
The Most Improved Award went to Stemmet, who qualified for his second NCAA Championships after a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships. The junior was 21-11 overall and tallied four wins over ranked opponents.
Eischens was presented with the BAGUBA Award, given to the individual who best exemplifies what the coaches look for in a Stanford wrestler and how he represents the program. With a 22-10 record, Eischens made his third career appearance at the NCAA Championships coming off a second-place finish at the conference tournament. His career record stands at 69-34.
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 Charlie Darracott. The junior was in and out of the starting lineup all season, finishing as the runner-up at the Menlo Open, Mountaineer Invitational and Reno Tournament of Champions, and third at the Southern Scuffle.
Junior Suhas Chundi took home Outstanding Scholar-Athlete honors for a second consecutive season, carrying a 3.90 cumulative GPA in computer science. Senior Luciano Arroyo was presented with the Ironman Award, exemplifying someone who comes into the training room every day with a great attitude and outlook on the process.
Thirteen wrestlers were recognized with the Tod Surmon Award for their outstanding performance in a dual. The winners were as follows: Abas (Cal Poly), Brook Byers (Arizona State), Cardenas (Oregon State), Darracott (California Baptist), Jackson DiSario (CSU Bakersfield), Eischens (Rutgers), Hunter Garvin (Penn), Griffith (Lindenwood), Peter Ming (Little Rock), Jason Miranda (North Dakota State), Provo (Oklahoma State), Stemmet (Virginia Tech) and Tony Williams (Menlo).
Stanford wrestlers continued to excel in the classroom this year. Five Cardinal were named NWCA Scholar All-Americans – Abas, Byers, Griffith, Provo and Stemmet. Stanford also led the conference with 10 wrestlers earning Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recognition – Abas, Nick Addison, Arroyo, Chundi, DiSario, Griffith, Ming, Seamus O'Malley, Fabian Santillan and Stemmet.
Furthermore, Griffith secured his third straight College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America second team honor. He is just the third Cardinal wrestler to be a multiple-time Academic All-American.