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Stanford defeats Fresno State, 22-15, in Battle on the Midway in San Diego harbor

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Action image from the 2018 Battle on the Midway courtesy of GoBulldogs.com

Stanford press release

by Regina E. Verlengiere



SAN DIEGO - A fall by Gabriel Townsell and an upset by Requir van der Merwe sparked the Stanford wrestling team in a 22-15 win over Fresno State, Tuesday, on the flight deck of the USS Midway.


Townsell needed just 55 seconds to pin Robert Garcia IV at 125 pounds and give Stanford a 12-7 lead over the Bulldogs. Fresno State then took a 15-12 lead with three matches remaining.


That's when van der Merwe went to work at 149 pounds. The redshirt sophomore fell behind 4-2 after two periods to 20th-ranked Khristian Olivas. He went down to start the third and scored a reversal to even the score. He was then able to register four near fall points before Olivas notched a reversal of his own. But van der Merwe had locked up riding time and earned the 9-6 decision to square up the team score.


Redshirt senior Paul Fox put the Cardinal up 18-15 as he edged out Isaiah Hokit, 3-2. He scored a takedown in the opening period and an escape in the third. Sophomore Dominick Mandarino sealed the win with a dominating 12-1 major decision over Jacob Wright at 165 pounds. The sophomore tallied a quick takedown and then four near fall points before riding out Wright with almost 2:30 of advantage time. He added another takedown in the second and an escape and takedown in the third to hold off Fresno State.


The dual began at 174 pounds where graduate student Rico Stormer posted a 9-5 decision over Fresno State's Dominic Kincaid. Stormer scored first with a reversal to start the second period. Kincaid answered with a reversal of his own to begin the final frame. Stormer added two takedowns and two escapes in the period and tacked on his final point with riding time. Stormer is now 8-3 on the season and 2-0 in duals.


Redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler, who is ranked eighth nationally at 197 pounds, shut out Danny Salas with a 7-0 decision. He registered a takedown and four near fall points in the opening period and an escape in the second. Without riding time secured, Salas chose neutral to start the third and avoided the major as no points were scored down the stretch.


Up next, Stanford will compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.


Stanford 22, Fresno State 15


125 #20 Gabriel Townsell (STAN) fall Robert Garcia IV (FSU) F0:55

133 Gary Joint (FSU) tech. fall Anthony Le (STAN) 15-0 (5:37)

141 Chris Deloza (FSU) dec. Dalton Young (STAN) 12-10

149 Requir van der Merwe (STAN) dec. #20 Khristian Olivas (FSU) 9-6

157 Paul Fox (STAN) dec. Isaiah Hokit (FSU) 3-2

165 Dominick Mandarino (STAN) maj. dec. Jacob Wright (FSU) 12-1

174 Rico Stormer (STAN) dec. Dominic Kincaid (FSU) 9-5

184 Jackson Hemauer (FSU) dec. Colbey Harlan (STAN) 8-2

197 #8 Nathan Traxler (STAN) dec. Danny Salas (FSU) 7-0

285 #19 AJ Nevills (FSU) maj. dec. Haydn Maley (STAN) 18-9

Fresno State press release


SAN DIEGO, Calif. - With the dual meet score deadlocked at 15 apiece heading into the final two matches, Fresno State came up on the short end of the Battle on the Midway on Tuesday evening falling to Stanford, 22-15 aboard the USS Midway.


Fresno State (3-4) was paced by four Bulldogs picking up victories in the dual with redshirt freshman Jackson Hemauer and sophomore Chris Deloza picking up wins by decision while heavyweight AJ Nevills recorded a major decision and 133-pounder Gary Joint scored five points for the 'Dogs with his second technical fall of the season.


How It Happened

With the dual beginning at 174 pounds, the Bulldogs fell behind 3-0 early after Dominic Kincaid saw a 4-3 lead in the third period go away as Stanford's Rico Stormer used two takedowns, an escape and a riding time point in the final two minutes to top Kincaid, 9-5.


The 'Dogs got on the scoreboard with Hemauer's fourth decision of the season as the DeForest, Wis., native defeated Cardinal freshman Colbey Harlan, 8-2 nabbing three takedowns in the match to improve to 6-1 on the season.


Danny Salas saw his third straight dual meet start at 197 pounds as he fell to No. 8-ranked Nathan Traxler, 8-0. Nevills got the Bulldogs back on top one match later with a exciting 18-9 win over redshirt freshman Hayden Maley. The Clovis native built a 6-1 lead into a 9-4 advantage after two periods before scoring eight more points in the third period to ease to the major decision.


Stanford's Gabriel Townsell, ranked as high as 15th by FloWrestling, pinned the 'Dogs Robert Garcia IV in 0:55 to put the Cardinal ahead 12-7 at the intermission.


Joint tied the match at 12 apiece with a 15-0 technical fall of Anthony Le in 5:37 as the redshirt freshman recorded a two takedowns, a four-point nearfall and three two-point nearfalls for the shutout win.


Deloza put the Bulldogs up 15-12 with a 12-10 win over redshirt freshman Dalton Young as a late third period takedown from Young cut Deloza's lead to 10-9, but the Fresno native was able to escape and hang on for the two-point win.


It was all Stanford from there though as the Cardinal won the final three matches of the dual. Redshirt sophomore Requir Van Der Merwe topped the 'Dogs Khristian Olivas, ranked No. 14 by Trackwrestling, 9-6 at 149 pounds. Olivas led 4-2 after two periods before Van Der Merwe got a reversal to tie the match at four before a four-point nearfall gave Stanford the upset win.


Stanford took a 18-15 lead after 157 pounds as No. 8 Paul Fox from Stanford used a third period escape to top the 'Dogs Isaiah Hokit and the match was completed with a 12-1 major decision by Dominic Mandarino over the Bulldogs' Jacob Wright.

Quotes

Head Coach Troy Steiner

On tonight's Battle on the Midway.....

"It was a battle. We knew it was going to be a fight. Some guys came out and fought and others didn't get their offense going right away. We didn't make the adjustments we needed to make in the match to get the win."


On the atmosphere of the dual......

"It was an awesome environment. Thank you to everyone for their great hospitality and Left Coast Wrestling for putting on a great event again this year."


On Nevills' match at heavyweight....

"It was a fun match to watch with guys putting up points on the board and that is what you want to see."


Biggest takeaway from tonight....

"We were a little bit tentative in the match and we need to come out in every match and do that. Overall as a team, I don't want us to do that and when we step out there on the mat, we need to get to work."


Up next


The Bulldogs are back in action at the Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas on Nov. 30 & Dec. 1.

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