Undefeated in Buies Creek

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Led by senior Nick Stemmet and sophomore Daniel Cardenas, No. 16 Stanford went 3-0 at the Fighting Camel Duals, defeating Purdue (24-13), No. 28 Campbell (19-17) and North Dakota State (26-17), Tuesday, at Gore Arena.

Stanford, which had some new faces in the lineup, improves to 5-1 on the season under The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach Chris Ayres, who is in his first season with the Cardinal.

Stemmet and Cardenas each went 3-0 on the day to move to 15-3 and 13-2 on the season, respectively. All three of Stemmet's wins came by bonus points. 

The Cardinal won seven of its 10 bouts against Purdue to start the day. Graduate student Dom LaJoie, a transfer from Cornell, picked up a come-from-behind 13-10 decision over Dustin Norris in his Cardinal dual debut at 133 pounds. Fifth-year senior Dawson Sihavong registered a 6-0 shutout of Marcos Polanco at 149 pounds for his second collegiate dual win.

At 157 pounds, Cardenas had a big third period to defeat No. 18 Joey Blaze, 8-1. Ranked No. 8 nationally, the Arvada, Colorado, native earned an escape, a takedown and four near fall points in the final period. It was the fifth ranked win of the season for Cardenas.

Stemmet's win came by fall in 6:05 over Ben Vanadia at 197 pounds. Also picking up wins for the Cardinal versus the Boilermakers were redshirt freshmen Hunter Garvin and Jack Darrah and senior Peter Ming.

In the closest dual of the day, Stanford and Campbell went down to the wire with the Cardinal showing its grit. LaJoie registered an 8-5 sudden victory decision over No. 14 Domenic Zaccone to give Stanford some early momentum.

With the team score tied 14-14 after Darrah's 4-3 decision over Caleb Hopkins at 184 pounds, Stemmet gave Stanford a five-point advantage going into the final bout, dominating No. 20 Levi Hopkins in a 19-4 technical fall. With the dual on the line, Ming wrestled eighth-ranked Taye Ghadiali tough, not allowing bonus points to secure the dual win for the Cardinal.

In its final dual of the day, Stanford won six of 10 bouts against North Dakota State, including four by bonus points. Redshirt freshman Wyatt Richter received a forfeit to start the dual and give the Cardinal a 6-0 lead. Senior Jason Miranda turned in a first-period fall over No. 28 Gavin Drexler at 141 pounds. Cardenas posted a 17-3 major decision over Landen Jonson, while Stemmet finished with a 14-4 major decision against Lathan Duda.

True freshman Abraham Wojcikiewicz made his collegiate debut against the Bison, recording a 10-3 decision over Aidan Brenot at 184 pounds.

Stanford is back in action on Jan. 1-2, ringing in the New Year at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

#16 Stanford 24, Purdue 13

#16 Stanford 19, #28 Campbell 17

#16 Stanford 26, North Dakota State 17