Joey McKenna claimed his second straight Pac-12 title at 141 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)STANFORD, Calif. -- Joey McKenna and Zach Nevills stood atop the podium as Pac-12 champions, Sunday, at the 55th-annual conference tournament at Maples Pavilion. As a team, Stanford (122.5) finished as the runner-up behind Arizona State (127.0).
Joining McKenna (141) and Nevills (184) as automatic qualifiers to next month's NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Missouri were redshirt senior Josh Marchok (197) and redshirt junior Nathan Butler (285). As a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference, Stanford's second-place finish ties for the highest in program history (2008 and 2014).
McKenna, ranked third nationally, became just the seventh two-time conference champion in Stanford history. The Towaco, New Jersey native opened the tournament with a fall over Arizona State's Nikko Villarreal in 2:02.The tournament's No. 1 seed at 141 pounds, McKenna narrowly reached the finals after being put on his back in the semifinals by Cal Poly's Colton Schilling late in the third period. McKenna stayed off his back as time expired in regulation, but Schilling was awarded four near fall points which sent the match into a sudden victory period. There, McKenna went in on a shot which he was finally able to convert with less than 10 seconds remaining.
In the finals, McKenna dominated Oregon's State's Jack Hathaway with a 12-1 major decision. The sophomore is now 28-1 overall, surpassing last season's win total. He leads the Cardinal with 10 falls on the season and is second among current Stanford wrestlers with 15 for his career. He moves to 55-4 during his time on The Farm.
The surprise of the tournament had to be the finals match-up at 184 pounds between the two unseeded wrestlers - Nevills and Arizona State's Jacen Petersen. Nevills, who entered the tournament with a 3-9 overall record, won three consecutive matches to claim his first conference title. He had previously finished third (2015), fourth (2014) and fifth (2016) and the championships.
Nevills defeated the No. 4 seed Bryan Battisto of CSU Bakersfield, 7-5, in sudden victory in the opening round. The Clovis, California native then knocked-off top-seeded Mitch Woods of Cal Poly, 4-1 in the semifinals. In the finals, Nevills edged Petersen, 7-6, with a late reversal in the final period. He is now 6-9 on the year and is a first-time NCAA qualifier.
Marchok, a redshirt senior ranked 17th nationally, was the ruunner-up at 197 pounds. He fell to top-seed Corey Griego of Oregon State, 5-3, in the finals after a hard-fought 5-4 decision in the second tiebreaker against Matt Williams of CSU Bakersfield in the semifinals. The Pac-12 received three automatic berths at 197 pounds, securing Marchok a spot in his first NCAA Championships.
Butler also earned an automatic berth with a third-place finish at 285 pounds. The No. 3 seed, Butler fell to No. 2 Cody Crawford of Oregon State, 5-4, in the second tiebreaker in the semifinals. The Leavenworth, Kansas native turned in a 5-0 decision over Boise State's Gabriel Gonzalez in the consolation semifinals and registered an 11-2 major decision over Cal Poly's Spencer Empey in the third-place match. Butler, who is ranked No. 12 in the nation, is now 22-9 overall and is second on the team with 78 career wins.
Stanford had eight of its 10 wrestlers finish in the top 3 in their respective weight classes. Redshirt sophomore Connor Schram was the runner-up at 133 pounds, while Paul Fox (157), Keaton Subjeck (165) and Peter Galli (174) all placed third.
The Cardinal will have a week off before the NCAA Tournament brackets will be released, revealing the wrestlers who will receive at-large berths to the postseason.
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