CLEVELAND - Angelo Posada, EJ Parco and Aden Valencia advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships, Thursday, at Rocket Arena.
Having three quarterfinalists for the first time in school history, Stanford sits in eighth place as a team with 15.0 points after day one in Cleveland. The Cardinal has had at least one NCAA quarterfinalist in every contested national tournament since 2016.
After an opening round major decision over (23) Max Petersen of North Dakota State, Valencia was first to secure his spot in the quarters. The redshirt freshman who is the No. 10 seed at 149 pounds, posted a 7-5 decision over No. 7 seed Ethan Stiles of Ohio State. He will face No. 2 seed Jaxson Joy of Cornell on Friday morning.
Parco, the No. 27 seed at 165 pounds, registered back-to-back upsets to stay on the championship side of the bracket. The redshirt freshman made a splash in his postseason debut, taking out sixth-seeded LJ Araujo of Nebraska, 8-7. He followed up by edging No. 11 seed Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa, 4-3. Parco meets No. 3 seed Mikey Caliendo of Iowa in the quarterfinals.
Posada, a true freshman seeded ninth at 197 pounds, recorded a first-period fall over No. 24 seed Brock Zurawski of Rider. He then defeated No. 25 seed Evan Bates of Missouri, 9-4, in the second round. Posada will take on No. 1 seed Josh Barr of Penn State on Friday morning.
All eight Stanford qualifiers remain alive in the tournament. Going 1-1 on the day were Nico Provo (125), Tyler Knox (133), Jack Consiglio (141), Daniel Cardenas (157) and Abraham Wojcikiewicz (184).
Provo, Knox, Consiglio and Cardenas won their opening round matches, while Wojcikiewicz recorded a win in the nightcap.
Wrestling resumes on Friday with the quarterfinals set to begin at 9 a.m. PT on ESPNU.
Stanford's Tournament Results:
125 - (7) Nico Provo, 1-1
dec. (26) Cooper Flynn (Chattanooga), 8-2
lost to (10) Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 4-2
133 - (15) Tyler Knox, 1-1
dec. (18) Gunner Andrick (West Virginia), 10-3
lost to (2) Ben Davino (Ohio State), 21-5 (4:18)
141 - (10) Jack Consiglio, 1-1
dec. (23) Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 9-5
lost to (7) Nasir Bailey (Iowa), 11-5
149 - (10) Aden Valencia, 2-0
maj. dec. (23) Max Petersen (North Dakota State), 18-6
dec. (7) Ethan Stiles (Ohio State), 7-5
157 - (9) Daniel Cardenas, 1-1
dec. (24) Jaivon Jones (Little Rock), 7-2
lost to (8) Brandon Cannon (Ohio State), 8-7
165 - (27) EJ Parco, 2-0
dec. (6) LJ Araujo (Nebraska), 8-7
dec. (11) Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), 4-3
184 - (28) Abraham Wojcikiewicz, 1-1
lost to (5) Brock Mantanona (Michigan), 14-9
tech. fall (21) Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State), 17-1 (5:11
197 - (9) Angelo Posada, 2-0
fall (24) Brock Zurawski (Rider), F2:56
dec. (25) Evan Bates (Missouri), 9-4