STANFORD, Calif. - No. 16 Stanford (6-2, 0-1 ACC) hosts Virginia (4-2, 0-1 ACC) on Sunday for its first ACC dual in Maples Pavilion. Wrestling gets underway at 3 p.m. on ACCNX.
Sunday is Stanford's Women's Wrestling Appreciation Day. Between the ffth and sixth matches of the dual, the Cardinal will recognize some extraordinary women who have made significant contributions to women's wrestling, including Cardinal alumna and Olympic Bronze Medalist Patricia Miranda - the namesake of the Patricia Miranda Assistant Coach title held by Patrick Brucki.
Also in attendace will be Joan Fulp (VP of USA Wrestling), Sandra Fakaosi (3X Judo Olympian), Sara McMann (Olympic Silver Medalist), Shannon William Yancey (4X World Silver Medalist), Amy Zirneklis (Co-founder Wrestling Like a Girl), Marie Ziegler (2X World Silver Medalist), Afsoon Johnston (2X World Silver Medalist) and Coach Albert Perez (Afsoon's high school coach). The group will be signing autographs for fans following the dual.
Stanford is ranked No. 16 in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll. The Cardinal boasts seven wrestlers ranked in the InterMat individual polls.
InterMat Individual Rankings
133: Tyler Knox - #6
141: Jason Miranda - #21
149: Jaden Abas - #7
157: Grigor Cholakyan - #29
165: Hunter Garvin - #16
174: Lorenzo Norman - #4
197: Nick Stemmet - #24
Stanford is coming off a 24-18 win over former Pac-12 rival Arizona State last weekend. True freshman EJ Parco knocked off No. 18 Jesse Vasquez of Arizona State to seal the dual win for the Cardinal. It was Stanford’s first win over the Sun Devils since 2019. Parco was named ACC Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.
Stanford won the 60th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships - the first team title in program history at the tournament. The Cardinal crowned three individual champions in the same season for the first time - Tyler Knox (133 pounds), Jaden Abas (149 pounds) and Lorenzo Norman (174 pounds). Also placing for Stanford were Hunter Garvin (3rd - 165 pounds), Jason Miranda (4th - 141 pounds), Nick Stemmet (4th - 197 pounds), Peter Ming (5th - 285 pounds), Grigor Cholakyan (7th - 157 pounds), Brook Byers (7th - 197 pounds) and Collin Guffey (8th - 174 pounds).
Following the tournament, Knox was voted the Dan Gable Men's Outstanding Wrestler, while Norman was named the Jack Leese Champion of Champions.
The Cardinal finished eighth as a team at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 6-7) and had four placewinners - Lorenzo Norman (2nd - 174 pounds), Jaden Abas (3rd - 149 pounds), Tyler Knox (5th - 133 pounds) and Hunter Garvin (6th - 165 pounds).
Last season, Stanford ushered in the Chris Ayres' era, producing a pair of All-Americans and tying for its third-highest finish at the NCAA Championships (16th).
The Cardinal qualified five wrestlers for the 2024 NCAA Championships in Kansas City - Nico Provo (125), Jaden Abas (149), Daniel Cardenas (157), Hunter Garvin (165) and Nick Stemmet (197). Cardenas was the top-finisher for Stanford, placing fourth at 157 pounds to garner his first career All-America honors.
Garvin took sixth at 165 pounds after entering the tournament at the No. 20 seed. He became just the third Cardinal freshman to achieve NCAA All-America status. Stanford now has 26 individual All-Americans who have earned 37 honors overall.
Stanford is under the guidance of Chris Ayres, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach. He is in his second season on The Farm and 19th season as a collegiate head coach. A four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, Ayres spent 17 seasons at the helm of the Princeton program.
No. 16 Stanford vs. Virginia Probable Matchups
125: -- (STAN) vs. #31 Keyveon Roller (UVA)
133: #6 Tyler Knox (STAN) vs. #27 Gable Porter (UVA)
141: #21 Jason Miranda (STAN) vs. #20 Dylan Cedeno (UVA)
149: #7 Jaden Abas (STAN) vs. #30 Jack Gioffre (UVA)
157: #29 Grigor Cholakyan (STAN) vs. Michael Gioffre (UVA)
165: #16 Hunter Garvin (STAN) vs. #19 Nick Hamilton OR Mason Stefanelli (UVA)
174: #4 Lorenzo Norman (STAN) vs. Michael Murphy (UVA)
184: Tye Monteiro (STAN) vs. Griffin Gammell OR Justin Phillips (UVA)
197: #24 Nick Stemmet (STAN) vs. Steven Burrell Jr OR Ethan Weatherspoon (UVA)
285: Peter Ming (STAN) vs. Gabe Christenson (UVA)