Stanford, with two champs and four runners-up, win its first Pac 12 Championships title

Photo of Stanford celebrating with its Pac 12 trophy courtesy of @CardWrestling Twitter


TEMPE, Ariz. – Led by individual champions Requir Van Der Merwe (149) and Nathan Traxler (197), and four runners-up, Stanford won its first Pac 12 Wrestling Championships title on Saturday.


The Cardinal finished with 81.5 points, two points ahead of second place Arizona State with 79.5 points. Oregon State was in third at 77.5 points, a very close three-way battle for the conference title.


In addition to their champions, Stanford had second place finishes from Mason Pengilly (133), Brandon Kier (141), Judah Duhm (184) and Haydn Maley (285).


Arizona State had three individual champions, Christian Pagdilao (157), Joshua Shields (165) and 2018 NCAA champion Zahid Valencia (174). Valencia was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.


Oregon State brought home the most individual champions with four: Ronnie Bresser (125), Grant Willits (141), Bob Coleman (184) and Amar Dhesi (285).


The other individual Pac 12 champion was Sean Nickell of CSU-Bakersfield at 133.

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Tempe, Ariz.

Note: The Pac 12 has 17 NCAA automatic qualifiers


125 pounds (3 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) won by decision over Ryan Millhof (Arizona State University) (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match - Gabe Townsell (Stanford) won by major decision over Edward Flores (CSU Bakersfield) (MD 15-6)


133 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Sean Nickell (CSU Bakersfield) won by injury default over Mason Pengilly (Stanford) (Inj. 6:45)

3rd Place Match - Devan Turner (Oregon State) won by major decision over Josiah Kline (Arizona State University) (MD 14-6)


141 pounds (1 NCAA qualifier)

1st Place Match - Grant Willits (Oregon State) won by fall over Brandon Kier (Stanford) (Fall 3:38)

3rd Place Match - Carlos Herrera (CSU Bakersfield) won by decision over Cory Crooks (Arizona State University) (Dec 3-2)


149 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Requir Van Der Merwe (Stanford) won by decision over Joshua Maruca (Arizona State University) (Dec 5-3)

3rd Place Match - Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield) won by decision over Josh Reyes (Oregon State) (Dec 8-1)


157 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State University) won by decision over Hunter Willits (Oregon State) (Dec 6-2)

3rd Place Match - Paul Fox (Stanford) won by decision over Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) (Dec 4-2)


165 pounds (1 NCAA qualifier)

1st Place Match - Joshua Shields (Arizona State University) won by decision over Jacob Thalin (CSU Bakersfield) (Dec 9-4)

3rd Place Match - Jared Hill (Stanford) won by fall over Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) (Fall 2:10)


174 pounds (1 NCAA qualifier)

1st Place Match - Zahid Valencia (Arizona State University) won by tech fall over Bryan Battisto (CSU Bakersfield) (TF-1.5 5:00 (20-4))

3rd Place Match - Colt Doyle (Oregon State) won by decision over Rico Stormer (Stanford) (Dec 4-2)


184 pounds (1 NCAA qualifier)

1st Place Match - Bob Coleman (Oregon State) won by decision over Judah Duhm (Stanford) (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match - Dom Ducharme (CSU Bakersfield) won in sudden victory - 1 over Jacen Petersen (Arizona State University) (SV-1 4-2)


197 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Nathan Traxler (Stanford) won by decision over Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) (Dec 6-5)

3rd Place Match - Austyn Harris (Arizona State University) won by injury default over Mark Penyacsek (CSU Bakersfield) (Inj. 0:00)


285 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) won by major decision over Haydn Maley (Stanford) (MD 17-3)

3rd Place Match - Brady Gilliland-Daniel (Arizona State University) won by decision over Sam Aguilar (Cal Poly) (Dec 4-3)

Team Standings

1 Stanford 81.5

2 Arizona State 79.5

3 Oregon State 77.5

4 CSU Bakersfield 49.5

5 Cal Poly 15.0

True second matches

197 - Tom Lane (Cal Poly) dec Austyn Harris (Arizona State), 8-1

285 – Haydn Maley (Stanford) dec. Brady Gilliland-Daniel (Arizona State)