KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sophomore Daniel Cardenas has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships to lead the Cardinal on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center.
As a team, Stanford is tied for 19th with 9.0 points. All five Cardinal remain alive in the tournament as Stanford went 5-for-5 in the opening round.
Cardenas, the No. 6 seed at 157 pounds, has yet to give up a point in the tournament. He opened with a 5-0 decision over No. 27 seed Sonny Santiago of North Carolina and dominated No. 11 seed Brayton Lee of Indiana, 8-0.
Cardenas will wrestle Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, the No. 3 seed, in the quarterfinals. The Arvada, Colorado native is now 50-9 in his Cardinal career, including 26-6 this season.
Redshirt senior Jaden Abas, a four-time NCAA qualifier and 2021 All-American, used his experience to his advantage in the opening round. Facing true freshman and No. 7 seed Tyler Kasak of Penn State, 26th-seeded Abas registered one of the biggest upsets of the first round with a 4-2 decision over his Nittany Lion opponent. Abas will meet (24) Caleb Tyus of SIU Edwardsville in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
No. 14 seed at 125 pounds, Nico Provo earned his first win at the national tournament, registering a 13-4 major decision over No. 19 seed Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. He will take on (29) Brendan McCrone of Ohio State in the consolation bracket.
The No. 20 seed at 165 pounds, Hunter Garvin made his NCAA Championships debut by avenging his 2-1 Pac-12 Championships loss to Little Rock's Joseph Bianchi. In the rematch, it was all Garvin, who turned in an 11-0 major decision to pick up his first win at the national tournament. He will wrestle No. 30 seed Nick Hamilton of Virginia in the consolation bracket.
Senior Nick Stemmet, the No. 18 seed at 197 pounds, opened the tournament with a 6-4 decision over No. 15 seed Max Shaw of North Carolina - his second win over the Tar Heel this season. Stemmet will meet No. 16 seed Luke Stout of Princeton in the consolation bracket.
Wrestling resumes on Friday at 9 a.m. PT with the quarterfinals on ESPNU.
(14) Nico Provo, 125 pounds | 1-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. (19) Jett Strickenberger (WVU) | 13-4 |
| lost to (3) Drake Ayala (Iowa) | 19-4 (5:20) |
(26) Jaden Abas, 149 pounds | 1-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. (7) Tyler Kasak (Penn State) | 4-2 |
| lost to (10) Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) | 7-2 |
(6) Daniel Cardenas, 157 pounds | 2-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. (27) Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) | 5-0 |
| maj. dec. (11) Brayton Lee (Indiana) | 8-0 |
(20) Hunter Garvin, 165 pounds | 1-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| maj. dec. (13) Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) | 11-0 |
| lost to (4) David Carr (Iowa State) | 10-1 |
(18) Nick Stemmet, 197 pounds | 1-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| (15) Max Shaw (North Carolina) | 6-4 |
| lost to (2) Trent Hidley (NC State) | 26-10 (6:27) |