STANFORD, Calif. – In its first season under Chris Ayres, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach, Stanford produced a pair of All-Americans and tied for its third-highest finish at the NCAA Championships.
Stanford was 10-4 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 duals. The Cardinal finished fourth at the Pac-12 Championships in Corvallis, Oregon.
Stanford qualified five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Kansas City. Earning automatic berths were Nico Provo (125), Jaden Abas (149), Daniel Cardenas (157), Hunter Garvin (165) and Nick Stemmet (197).
Cardenas, the No. 6 seed at 157 pounds, advanced to the semifinals of the national tournament and placed fourth to secure his first career NCAA All-America honors. He completed his sophomore season 28-8 overall and 12-2 in duals.
Garvin went from the No. 20 seed to a sixth-place finish at 165 pounds. He battled his way back through the consolation bracket to become just the third freshman NCAA All-American in program history - joining Joey McKenna (2016) and Abas (2021). The redshirt freshman from Iowa City is the 26th individual All-American in school history as the Cardinal now boasts 37 All-America honors overall.
Stanford was 16th as a team in Kansas City and had two All-Americans in the same season for the first time since 2022. It is the fourth time in the past five years Stanford has produced multiple All-Americans in the same season, and the 10th time overall.
Team awards were unveiled at the Cardinal’s annual banquet in May, and Cardenas took home the Vern Jones Most Outstanding Wrestler award, while Garvin secured the Newcomer Award.
The Most Improved Award went to Abas, who qualified for his fourth NCAA Championships after a third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships. The redshirt senior was 19-10 overall and tallied six wins over ranked opponents.
Senior Jason Miranda 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 17-11 record, Miranda took third at the Pac-12 Championships and was second at the Southern Scuffle. His career record stands at 45-34.
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 senior Suhas Chundi.
Peter Ming was recognized with the Tod Surmon Award for his outstanding performance in a dual. With the dual on the line at Penn on January 21, the heavyweight registered his team-leading fourth fall of the season to secure the victory for the Cardinal.
Stanford wrestlers continued to excel in the classroom this year. Abas is just the fourth Cardinal to be named a CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-American, and the first first-team selection since Nick Amuchastegui (2011 & 2012). He joins Amuchastegui, Tanner Gardner and Shane Griffith as the only wrestlers in program history to be both an NCAA All-American and a CSC Academic All-American during their careers.
Additionally, five Cardinal were named NWCA Scholar All-Americans – Abas, Cardenas, Garvin, Provo and Stemmet. Stanford had 10 wrestlers named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll – Abas, Chundi, Charlie Darracott, Jackson DiSario, Luke Duthie, Garvin, Ming, Provo, Wyatt Richter and Stemmet.