STANFORD, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford opens its 2026-27 campaign on Sunday at the Princeton Open. The tournament will be live streamed on ESPN+ with live scoring available on Flowrestling.
The Matt Gentry Head Coach Chris Ayres will return to Princeton, where he spent 17 seasons at the helm of the program and was a four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year. Assistant coach Sean Gray was a member of Ayres’ staff, while Patrick Brucki, the Patricia Miranda Assistant Coach, was a two-time All-American for the Tigers.
Stanford is ranked No. 7 in the Preseason NWCA Coaches Poll. The Cardinal boasts nine wrestlers ranked in the Preseason InterMat individual polls, including seven in the top 10. As a team, the Cardinal is No. 7 in both the Tournament and Dual rankings by InterMat.
InterMat Individual Rankings
125: Nico Provo - #3
133: Tyler Knox - #5
141: Jack Consiglio - #8
149: Aden Valencia - #3
157: Daniel Cardenas - #7
165: EJ Parco - #10
174: Hunter Garvin - #11
184: Abraham Wojcikiewicz - #23
197: Angelo Posada - #6
Last season, Stanford produced a school record four All-Americans, its third individual NCAA champion and the highest finish in program history at the national tournament. Breaking into the top 10 for the first time, the Cardinal secured a sixth-place finish at the 2026 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. Ayres was named the National Tournament Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).
Stanford’s sixth-place team-finish in Cleveland was five spots higher than its previous best of 11th set in 2011. For the first time in school history, the Cardinal produced multiple All-Americans in three consecutive seasons. It marked the sixth time in the past seven years Stanford has had multiple All-Americans in the same season, and the 12th time overall.
The Cardinal qualified eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Earning automatic berths were Nico Provo (125), Tyler Knox (133), Jack Consiglio (141), Aden Valencia (149), Daniel Cardenas (157), EJ Parco (165), Abraham Wojcikiewicz (184) and Angelo Posada (197).
The No. 10 seed, Valencia knocked off the undefeated No. 1 seed Shayne Van Ness of Penn State in overtime at 149 pounds to become the first Stanford freshman to win an NCAA crown and the fifth to achieve NCAA All-America status. Valencia was named the Co-ACC Wrestler of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year following the NCAA Championships.
Provo, the No. 7 seed, placed third at 125 pounds to secure his first career All-America honors. After dropping his second-round match, he reeled off six straight wins on the back side of the bracket to take third, including his third win of the season over defending national champion Vincent Robinson of NC State. Posting a 20-6 record on the season, the third-place finish was the highest by a Cardinal 125-pounder in school history.
The No. 15 seed, Knox placed sixth at 133 pounds, climbing two spots higher on the podium than last season. He became the eighth wrestler in program history to earn multiple NCAA All-America honors, and his sixth-place showing is the best by a Stanford 133-pounder at the national tournament.
The No. 9 seed at 197 pounds, Posada also took sixth for the Cardinal. The Poway native became just the second true freshman All-American in program history. He was 20-8 in his first season on The Farm, leading the team with eight falls.
The Cardinal was the runner-up at the ACC Championships in Blacksburg, Virginia, claiming two individual crowns. Overall, Stanford was 7-6 on the season and 4-2 in ACC duals.
Ayres was also named ACC Coach of the Year following the season. Earning All-ACC honors for Stanford were individual champions Cardenas (157) and Consiglio (141), and runners-up Knox (133), Posada (197) and Provo (125). Three Cardinal picked up ACC Wrestler of the Week awards during the season – Valencia (Nov. 11), Consiglio (Dec. 9) and Provo (Jan. 20).
Stanford wrestlers continued to excel in the classroom last year. Provo was named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while eight Cardinal collected NWCA Scholar All-America honors – Cardenas, Consiglio, Knox, Parco, Posada, Provo, Wojcikiewicz and Luke Duthie. Stanford had six wrestlers earn All-ACC Academic Team honors – Cardenas, Consiglio, Duthie, Knox, Parco and Provo. Additionally, Knox and Provo garnered College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District recognition.
Stanford is under the guidance of Chris Ayres, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach. He is in his fourth season on The Farm and 21st overall as a collegiate head coach.Â
Cardinal at the Princeton Open
125: Cameron Jackson, Jarrett Smith
133: Adam Mattin, Siraj Sidhu
141: #8 Jack Consiglio
149: Lain Yapoujian
157: #7 Daniel Cardenas, Jack De Sena
165: #10 EJ Parco, Grigor Cholakyan, Zeno Moore
174: Collin Guffey, Zach Hanson
184: #23 Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Connor Bercume, Luke Duthie, Tye Monteiro, Slava Shahbazyan
197: #6 Angelo Posada
285: Brokton Borelli