Despite winning five of the 10 matches Sunday, the Stanford wrestling team fell to No. 17 Northwestern, 18-16, at Burnham Pavilion. The showdown was scheduled to be held outdoors at the Taube Tennis Center, but was moved inside because of inclement weather.
Cardinal wrestlers won four of their first six matches to give Stanford an early 13-6 lead. The Wildcats answered, however, winning three straight to take an 18-13 lead before Cardinal senior 165-pounder Lucas Espericueta won the final match of the day over Northwestern’s Robert Kellogg. But it wasn’t enough to give Stanford a victory.
The four other winning wrestlers for Stanford were junior 174-pounder Nick Amuchastegui (ranked No. 6 nationally), senior 197-pounder Zack Giesen (ranked No. 11 nationally), senior heavyweight Dylan Rush and redshirt sophomore 133-pounder Matt Sencenbaugh.
Sophomore 184-pounder Spence Patrick, sophomore 125-pounder Ryan Mango (ranked No. 15 nationally), redshirt freshman 141-pounder Jordan Grey, sophomore 157-pounder Mike Kent and redshirt sophomore 149-pounder Timmy Boone all dropped their matches for the Cardinal.
Stanford returns to the mat in search of its first victory on Saturday at Cal State Bakersfield.