Stanford's Gentry wins wrestling title, improves unbeaten streak to 57 matches Stanford's Gentry wins wrestling title, improves unbeaten streak to 57 matches (January 05, 2005)

by Rick Eymer

The last time Stanford senior Matt Gentry lost a wrestling match, Julius Barnes was the leading scorer for the Stanford's men's basketball team, and Carlos Quentin had yet to be drafted in the first round of Major League Baseball's Amateur draft.

Gentry isn't showing signs of slowing down any time soon either. He'll take a 57-match winning streak that dates to March of 2003 into Saturday's Lone Star Duals in Grand Prairie, Texas. Stanford will face Michigan, Air Force, and Harvard in a series of duals.

Gentry, the defending NCAA champion, won his third individual title of the young season last Thursday, winning four matches en route to the 157-pound division title at the Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Ill. He won twice during last Wednesday's opening round.

The top-seeded Gentry beat second-seeded Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, 5-1, in the championship match.

Gentry was honored with the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler award for winning the most competitive weight bracket. He also won the Art Kraft Champion of Champions award for exemplifying sportsmanship and contributing to the sport.

His closest match of the tournament was against Jeremiah Jarvis, who wrestles for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club. Gentry won, 9-8, over the UC Davis graduate, a Pac-10 opponent he had beaten twice last season. The Cardinal wrestler also recorded decisions over Paul Bjorlo of Virginia (11-4) and Trent Paulson of Iowa State (5-1). The only other Cardinal to record wins at the Midlands were Tanner Gardner (125), who wrestled unattached in his redshirt season, and Ray Blake (149).

Gardner's opening loss sent him to the consolation bracket, where he recorded a 4-2 win over Penn's Mike Silengo, and a 3-2 win over Iowa's Charlie Falk.

Gardner lost to Luke Smith of Central Michigan, 4-2.

Blake beat Emmanuel Brooks of Lincoln, 5-4, but forfeited to Rider's Mike Palma due to injury.

Stanford finished 16th out of 50 with 26 points. Illinois won the tournament, it's second straight title, with 130.5 points.

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