No. 17 Stanford wrestling (8-3, 4-1 Pac-12) won nine of 10 bouts to march to a resounding victory against the Boise State Broncos (1-7, 1-2) by a score of 32-3 on Saturday, yet were upset in a competitive conference meet at Oregon State (2-5, 1-0) on Monday.
Saturday’s match began in a flash, with redshirt junior Nathan Butler pinning his heavyweight opponent in just 21 seconds. Butler, a standout for the Cardinal all season, is currently ranked ninth nationally in the heavyweight division.
Strong performances resulting in decisions from freshman Gabriel Townsell, redshirt junior Connor Schram, sophomore Joey McKenna and redshirt junior Tommy Pawelski gave the Cardinal a 20-0 lead at the intermission and a guaranteed win in the dual.
The Cardinal continued to impress in the second half of the day, with redshirt sophomore Paul Fox and redshirt senior Peter Galli both earning their 20th wins of the season. The Broncos avoided the shutout late in the match when Boise State’s Kadyn Del Toro defeated Stanford’s Zach Nevills by a score of 8-2.
Ending the match with a victory by senior Josh Marchok, the Cardinal left Boise with a win under their belts and prepared to travel to Oregon State.
Coming into Monday’s match, the unranked Oregon State Beavers had a record of 1-5. They emerged with an upset over the Cardinal wrestlers, who were playing without No. 19 nationally ranked lightweight Townsell. The Beavers won the match by a score of 18-15.
Oregon State took an early 9-3 lead in the meet, scoring major decisions over Nevills, Marchok and Pawelski. The Cardinal rallied back from this deficit with strong performances from Fox, McKenna and Galli, as well as an impressive 40-second pin from redshirt junior Keaton Subjeck.
The match was tied at a score of 15-15 going into the final match, a heavyweight bout between Stanford’s nationally ranked Butler and Cody Crawford of Oregon State. With no score in the opening period of the bout, both wrestlers logged an escape to send the match into overtime. Butler was unable to convert on a single-leg shot, and Crawford took the decision in a 3-1 victory.
Oregon State walked away with the meet and the upset, improving to 2-5 on the season and 1-0 in Pac-12 play. Stanford now sits at 8-3, with a 4-1 conference record. The Cardinal have a 10-day break before taking to the mat on Friday, Feb. 10, at Utah Valley.
Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada ‘at’ stanford.edu.