The Stanford wrestling team decided two for the price of one was a deal it could not refuse.
The Cardinal recorded two wins Monday, defeating Grand Canyon, 26-6, in a nonconference match in Phoenix, and then moving to Tempe to beat Pac-12 foe Arizona State, 22-10.
The Cardinal (3-1, 15-4) matched the program record for wins in a season, first accomplished in 1975.
Stanford has a chance to get Nos. 16 and 17 on Sunday with another pair of meets at Cal Poly. In addition to wrestling the Mustangs, Stanford will take on South Dakota State in a nonconference meet.
Stanford opened the day at Grand Canyon, winning eight of the 10 bouts. Ryan Mango, at 133 pounds, and Jim Wilson, at 165 pounds, earned bonus points with major decisions.
Freshman Tommy Pawelski put the Cardinal on top with a 4-1 decision over Grand Canyon’s A.J. Salazar at 125 pounds. He scored a takedown in the first period and one in the third to secure his 19th win of the year and moves to 5-4 in duals.
Wilson collected his fifth major decision of the season with an 11-1 win over Juan Carlos Maynes. Wilson scored a first-period takedown and recorded two near fall points for the early lead. After Maynes chose to start the second period, Wilson turned him for three near fall points to add to his lead. He finished him off with an escape, a takedown and riding time.
Against the Sun Devils, Stanford captured wins in seven of 10 bouts to knock off the eighth team this season that beat the Cardinal a year ago.
Sophomore Evan Silver recorded his 18th win of the year with a 3-2 decision over Ares Carpio at 125 pounds. He recorded a first period takedown and an escape in the third to seal the win.
Mango added to the team score with his second major decision of the day and seventh on the year. He defeated Kalin Goodsite, 14-6, to improve to 22-3 overall and 16-1 in duals.
Leading 6-3 at the start of the third period, Mango secured a reversal and then let Goodsite go. After scoring another takedown, Mango earned three near fall points and just narrowly missed out on the fall.
Women’s gymnastics
A tough start for No. 12 Stanford and a season-best team performance by No. 16 Oregon State was too much to overcome as the Cardinal fell to the Beavers, 197.100-195.750, in a Pac-12 Conference meet Monday in Corvallis, Ore.
The Cardinal (2-1, 10-1) travel to No. 24 Washington on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Despite suffering its first loss of the season, Stanford delivered multiple individual highlight performances throughout the night.
Kristina Vaculik and Nicolette McNair had tremendous starts to the meet, tying for the Cardinal’s top score in the first two events.
The duo opened the meet with scores of 9.875 on bars to place third, before earning meet-high scores of 9.900 on vault.
McNair’s score on bars tied her collegiate best, while Vaculik’s score on vault tied her collegiate-high.
McNair also contributed a great beam routine (9.875), and Vaculik was strong on floor, tying her collegiate best of 9.925.
“She was stunning,” Stanford coach Kristen Smyth said of Vaculik’s performance. “She really stepped up and provided great leadership.”
Shona Morgan delivered a terrific performance on beam to score a team-best 9.900 and finish second in the competition.
“There were great individual performances but as a team we came up short,” said Smyth. “We have to be able to put a complete performance together.”
Stanford had a promising start on bars with the first three gymnasts scoring 9.750 or higher, but two Cardinal gymnasts on the back end of the rotation suffered falls.
Stanford was led on bars by Nicolette McNair and Kristina Vaculik with both scoring 9.875. Shona Morgan earned a 9.750 in the leadoff position, while Danielle McNair also delivered a strong performance to notch a 9.775.
The Cardinal responded with a terrific performance on vault, as Nicolette McNair and Vaculik continued to pace the Cardinal on vault, earning back-to-back meet-high scores of 9.900 in the fifth and sixth positions.
Rachel Daum delivered a great vault to tie her collegiate best of 9.875, while Melissa Chuang and Daniellle McNair also contributed strong scores of 9.800.
The strong performance in the second rotation helped keep Stanford within striking distance but the Cardinal had difficulty getting going on floor with the first three gymnasts scoring 9.650 or lower.
Daum helped kick start a strong team finish with a great performance to earn a 9.850. Vaculik followed with another solid routine and tied her collegiate best with a 9.925. Pauline Hanset closed out the event with a 9.700.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics