Pac-12 Championships Preview: Stanford and Arizona State front-runners in team race

Joey McKenna seeks his second-straight Pac-12 Championship
Photo courtesy of Stanford University

The 55th Pac-12 Wrestling Championships are slated for this Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Maples Pavilion on Stanford University’s campus in Stanford, Calif.

The tournament serves as a qualifier for the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The Pac-12 was allocated 21 automatic bids to the national tournament.

Of the six institutions competing, two have earned national rankings in No. 20 Arizona State and No. 21 Stanford.

Stanford is atop the Pac-12 rankings with a 10-3 dual record, while Arizona State takes the conference No. 2 spot with a 10-4 record.

It appears the team race could come down to the Cardinal and the Sun Devils.

Stanford, seeking its first conference title, returns two All-Americans and Pac-12 champs from last year, including No. 15 Connor Schram, a junior at 133 pounds, and No. 3 Joey McKenna, a sophomore at 141 pounds.

There are only four losses between the two wrestlers so far this year. Schram, who has wrestled at both 125 and 133 pounds this season, is 13-3, while McKenna has strung together a 25-1 record, falling to only then-No. 8 Joey Ward of North Carolina at the Southern Scuffle.

Gabriel Townsell, a freshman for the Cardinal, is the top-ranked 125-pounder in the conference and No. 15 in the country, owning a 15-7 record and wins over three top-15 wrestlers.

Other nationally ranked wrestlers for Stanford include No. 19 Keaton Subjeck (165), No. 18 Peter Galli (174), No. 17 Josh Marchok (197) and No. 12 Nathan Butler (285).

Arizona State, in the hunt for its 17th overall conference title and first since 2006, boasts an exciting 1-2 punch in brothers Anthony and Zahid Valencia, both redshirt freshmen.

Zahid was recently dubbed the No. 1 wrestler in the nation at 174 pounds, carrying a perfect 31-0 record. Of his 31 wins, 12 came over ranked opponents, most notably No. 4 Brian Realbuto of Cornell, No. 7 Ethan Ramos of UNC and No. 9 Zac Brunson of Illinois.

Anthony, ranked No. 9 by Flowrestling, competes at 165 pounds for ASU and has compiled a 29-5 record. His regular season saw him to a third-place finish at the always-tough Midlands Championships and a fifth-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational.

In addition to the Valencias, Arizona State has two other ranked wrestlers, including No. 14 Josh Shields (157) and No. 7 Tanner Hall (285). Both Shields and Hall sit atop the conference rankings as well as Josh Maruca (149).

Five-time defending champion Oregon State looks to continue its streak, with Joey Palmer (133), Corey Griego (197) and Cody Crawford (285) leading the way for the Beavers. All three wrestlers have at least 20 wins on the season.

Carrying a No. 1 ranking in the conference at their respective weights, Palmer and Griego wrestled their ways to the 2016 Pac-12 Championship finals, but both fell short, finishing second. Crawford recorded a third-place finish at 197 pounds in last year’s tournament.

Jack Hathaway (141) and Seth McLeod (184) hold the No. 2 conference spots at their weights.

Hindering the Beavers’ shot at another title is the absence of 2016 Pac-12 heavyweight champ and All-American Amarveer Dhesi, who sat out this season due to an injury.

CSU-Bakersfield brings a nationally ranked wrestler in No. 20 Lorenzo De La Riva at 165 pounds. He is behind Anthony Valencia and Galli in the conference rankings. De La Riva is 18-10 on the year with a 3-2 record in Pac-12 duals.

Competing at 141 pounds for the Roadrunners is redshirt freshman Russell Rohlfing, who leads the squad with a 23-9 record. He’s No. 3 at the weight.

Cal Poly’s Mitch Woods is the top wrestler in the conference at 184 pounds. He is 12-5 on the year. Colt Shorts (157) leads the team with 19 wins and is ranked No. 2 entering the tournament.

Boise State is led by senior 174-pounder Austin Dewey, who has 23 wins under his belt for the season. Dewey lost to CSU-Bakersfield’s Bryce Hammond in the 174-pound finals of the 2016 Pac-12 Championships.

The Broncos also have a pair of solid freshmen in Fred Green (157) and Demetrius Romero (165), who each earned at least 20 wins this season.

Action is set to begin on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. PT. The preliminary rounds will be streamed live on GoStanford.com, while the finals will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

 

2017 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 26 at Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.

Session I
Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Consolation quarterfinals
10:30 a.m. – Round 1
11:40 a.m. – Round 2

Session II
4 p.m. – Round 3 (Semifinals and consolations)
6 p.m. – Finals

How to watch:
First round, second round and consolation semis will be streamed on GoStanford.com
Finals will be televised on the Pac-12 Network

Pac-12 Coaches rankings
125 lbs.
1. Gabe Townsell, Stanford
2. Michael Nguyen, Arizona State
3. Kegan Calkins, Oregon State
4. Sean Nickell, CSU-Bakersfield
5. Will Bardezbain, Boise State
6. Brandon Staley, Cal Poly

133 lbs.
1. Joey Palmer, Oregon State
2. Connor Schram, Stanford
3. Carlos Herrera, CSU-Bakersfield
4. Josh Newburg, Boise State
5. Ted Rico, Arizona State
6. Yoshi Funakoshi, Cal Poly

141 lbs.
1. Joey McKenna, Stanford
2. Jack Hathaway, Oregon State
3. Russell Rohlfing, CSU-Bakersfield
4. Colton Schilling, Cal Poly
5. Niko Villareal, Arizona State
6. Rami Haddadin, Boise State

149 lbs.
1. Josh Maruca, Arizona State
2. Coleman Hammond, CSU-Bakersfield
3. Joey Delgado, Oregon State
4. Dakota Wall, Boise State
5. Joshy Cortez, Cal Poly
6. Walker Dempsey, Stanford

157 lbs.
1. Josh Shields, Arizona State
2. Colt Shorts, Cal Poly
3. Paul Fox, Stanford
4. Fred Green, Boise State
5. Abraham Rodriguez, Oregon State
6. Jacob Thalin, CSU-Bakersfield

165 lbs.
1. Anthony Valencia, Arizona State
2. Keaton Subjeck, Stanford
3. Lorenzo De La Riva, CSU-Bakersfield
4. Demetrius Romero, Boise State
5. Luke Wilson, Cal Poly
6. Rodney Williams, Oregon State

174 lbs.
1. Zahid Valencia, Arizona State
2. Peter Galli, Stanford
3. Austin Dewey, Boise State
4. Travis Berridge, Cal Poly
5. Matt Penyacsek, CSU-Bakersfield
6. Bob Coleman, Oregon State

184 lbs.
1. Mitch Woods, Cal Poly
2. Seth McLeod, Oregon State
3. Kaydyn Del Toro, Boise State
4. Bryan Battisto, CSU-Bakersfield
5. Jacen Petersen, Arizona State
6. Zach Nevills, Stanford

197 lbs.
1. Corey Griego, Oregon State
2. Josh Marchok, Stanford
3. Matt Williams, CSU-Bakersfield
4. Thomas Lane, Cal Poly
5. Harley DiLulo, Boise State
6. Austyn Harris, Arizona State

285 lbs.
1. Tanner Hall, Arizona State
2. Cody Crawford, Oregon State,
3. Nathan Butler, Stanford
4. Spencer Empey, Cal Poly
5. Gabriel Gonzalez, Boise State
6. Alex Encarnacion-Strand, CSU-Bakersfield

2016 Pac-12 Championships results
Team Standings
1. Oregon State 118.0
2. Arizona State 113.0
3. CSU-Bakersfield 101.0
4. Stanford 100.0
5. Boise State 92.0
6. Cal Poly 73.5

125 lbs.
1st: Connor Schram (Stanford) dec. Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 2-2 TB
3rd: Rami Haddidin (Boise State) dec. Sergio Mendez (CSU Bakersfield), 9-6
5th: David Gonzalez (Cal Poly) dec. Ares Carpio (Arizona State), 8-4

133 lbs.
1st: Dalton Brady (Arizona State) dec. Joey Palmer (Oregon State), 4-2
3rd: Carson Kuhn (Boise State) dec. Jason Delacruz (Cal Poly), 6-0
5th: Mason Pengilly (Stanford) dec. Carlos Herrera (CSU Bakersfield), 5-1

141 lbs.
1st: Joey McKenna (Stanford) dec. Ian Nickell (CSU Bakersfield), 6-1
3rd: Robbie Mathers (Arizona State) MD Colt Schilling (Cal Poly), 25-14
5th: Jack Hathaway (Oregon State) dec. Josh Newberg (Boise State), 3-1

149 lbs.
1st: Geordan Martinez (Boise State) dec. Matthew Kraus (Arizona State), 3-1
3rd: Joey Delgado (Oregon State) dec. Coleman Hammond (CSU Bakersfield), 5-3
5th: Jacob Leon (Cal Poly) dec. Tommy Pawelski (Stanford), 6-4

157 lbs.
1st: Chris Castillo (Boise State) dec. Oliver Pierce (Arizona State), 3-2 TB
3rd: Abraham Rodriguez (Oregon State) dec. AJ Fierro (CSU Bakersfield), 9-3
5th: Colt Shorts (Cal Poly) fall Peter Russo (Stanford), 1:05

165 lbs.
1st: Jim Wilson (Stanford) dec. Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield), 2-1 SV
3rd: Seth Thomas (Oregon State) dec. Taylor West (Boise State), 8-3
5th: Jacen Petersen (Arizona State) MD Blake Kastl (Cal Poly), 15-7

174 lbs.
1st: Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield) fall Austin Dewey (Boise State), 2:02
3rd: Keaton Subjeck (Stanford) dec. Travis Berridge (Cal Poly), 5-3
5th: Preston McCalmon (Arizona State) dec. Tyler Chay (Oregon State), 4-3

184 lbs.
1st: Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) dec. Corey Griego (Oregon State), 6-2
3rd: Garet Krohn (Stanford) MD Jesus Ambriz (CSU Bakersfield), 14-0
5th: Mitch Woods (Cal Poly) dec. Zach Coffman (Boise State), 8-6

197 lbs.
1st: Josh DaSilveira (Arizona State) dec. Reuben Franklin (CSU Bakersfield), 6-5
3rd: Cody Crawford (Oregon State) dec. JT Goodwin (Cal Poly), 5-2
5th: Zach Nevills (Stanford) fall Kadyn Del Toro (Boise State)

285 lbs.
1st: Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) MD Nathan Butler (Stanford), 19-5
3rd: Tanner Hall (Arizona State) TF Matt Williams (CSU Bakersfield), 16-0
5th: Spencer Empey (Cal Poly) fall Gabe Gonzalez (Boise State), 4:10