The season continues for No. 21-ranked Stanford wrestling (2-1, 1-0 Pac-12) as they play host to Maryland (2-1) on Saturday before competing in the Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield, California on Sunday.
Coming off of wins against Cal Baptist and CSU Bakersfield, the Cardinal are looking strong as they continue to finalize their roster and develop their new members. The match against Maryland will be another test for the team as a whole and the last dual meet until Jan. 7.
The Cardinal currently have three NCAA ranked members on the roster: No. 9-ranked 125-pound redshirt senior Connor Schram, No. 12-ranked heavyweight redshirt senior Nathan Butler and No. 16-ranked 174-pound redshirt senior Keaton Subjeck. Redshirt junior Paul Fox would be added to this list but has been dealing with an injury since the Cardinal’s appearance at the Hokie Open.
Maryland was also in attendance at the Hokie Open, so it is not the first time that the Cardinal have seen Terrapin wrestlers. Maryland is also coming off of a two-game winning streak, taking down Campbell and George Mason in a doubleheader on Nov. 12.
Maryland has two total NCAA-ranked players, the No. 15 141-pound Ryan Diehl and the No. 15 heavyweight Youssif Heida.
This weekend will be a homecoming for former Cardinal head coach Kerry McCoy, who coached the Cardinal from 2005 to 2008 and is currently the head coach for Maryland wrestling.
The match against Maryland will not take place in Burnham Pavilion as most wrestling matches do. The match will be held in an outdoor arena at the fan fest for the Big Game, two hours prior to kickoff. This outdoor match is a recent tradition started by the team and aims to let those less familiar with wrestling get a chance to spectate.
The next day, the Cardinal wrestlers will travel south to the Roadrunner Open, hosted by CSU Bakersfield, whom the Cardinal beat last week. There will be plenty of opportunities for Cardinal wrestlers to get valuable experience against the best wrestlers on the West Coast.
The action begins for the team this Saturday at 3 p.m. PST, just before the Big Game.
Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada “at” stanford.edu