Joey McKenna is one of two returning Pac-12 champions for Stanford (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The 55th annual Pac-12 Wrestling Championships will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26, at Maples Pavilion, hosted by Stanford University. All six teams bring a wealth of tough competition to the table, with two teams ranked in the top 25 nationally and at least one Pac-12 wrestler ranked in the top 20 for all but two weight classes.
The host Cardinal, ranked No. 17 (InterMat), are looking to win their first league championship, while the 12th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils look to win their first league championship since 2006. Oregon State looks to defend its title and run its string to six straight championships. It would be the longest such streak since Arizona State posted seven straight titles from 1985-1991. Boise State and CSU Bakersfield have several redshirt freshmen that have excelled this season and look to compete for an individual title. A veteran Cal Poly team will seek an individual title for the first time since 2013. The championship rounds, which begin at 6 p.m. PT, will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
Schedule of Events
Session I of Pac-12 Wrestling Championships
Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Quarterfinals Consolations
9:30 a.m. Doors Open for Session I
10:30 a.m. Round 1 Begins
11:40 a.m. Round 2 Begins
1 p.m. Break - Arena cleared
Session II of Pac-12 Wrestling Championships
Semifinals, Consolations and Finals
3:00 p.m. Doors Open for Session II
4:00 p.m. Round 3 Begins: semifinals and consolations
5:45 p.m. Grand March
5:55 p.m. National Anthem
6:00 p.m. Championship Round Begins
8:10 p.m. Estimated start of team awards presentation
Note: In the first three rounds, bouts will move to the next open mat as soon as a mat becomes available. In the championship round, bouts will be held on the specified mat at a specified time.
Tournament Field
There will be six institutions competing for the Conference Championship: Arizona State, Boise State, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Oregon State, and Stanford.
Ticket Information
Tickets for the 2017 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships are available at GoStanford.com/tickets or by calling 800-STANFORD. The ticket office at Maples Pavilion will open at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 26. All seats are general admission.
Ticket Prices
All-session Adults $25
All-session Students/Youth/Seniors $15
Single-session Adults $15
Single-session Students/Youth/Seniors $10
Coverage
All preliminary round bouts (first round, second round, and consolation semifinals) will be available via live stream at GoStanford.com. The finals will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks with the broadcast beginning at 6 p.m. PT. Results will be available after each match on the 2017 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships website: pac-12.com/wrestlingchamps.
Team Previews
Arizona State: The Sun Devils have posted a 10-win season for the second consecutive year, and first back-to-back 10-win seasons since 204-05 and 2005-06 ... Redshirt Freshmen Anthony Valencia (165) and brother Zahid Valencia (174) are a potent 1-2 attack for the Sun Devils. Anthony has posted a 29-5 record, while brother Zahid is a perfect 31-0 ... Redshirt freshman Josh Shields (157) is another 30-match winner for the Sun Devils, while sophomore Tanner Hall (285) boasts a 26-5 record.
Boise State: The Broncos are led by senior Austin Dewey (174) and his 23-12 record. Dewey was runner-up in his weight class at last year's championship ... Redshirt freshman Demetrius Romero (165) has posted 20 wins as well with a 20-14 record in his debut season. Another redshirt freshman Fred Green is 18-15 for the Broncos and leads the squad with nine falls ... Green and Romero are two of the Pac-12's nine freshmen/redshirt freshmen who have posted 15 or more wins this season.
Cal Poly: Cal Poly is seeking its first Pac-12 champion in four years. The Mustangs had at least one champion every year from 2001-13 ... Senior Colt Shorts (157 pounds) leads the team with at 19-11 record ... The Mustang duo of senior Mitch Woods and junior Sohrab Movahedi have not dropped a match at 184 since December. Woods has won his last seven matches, posting a 12-5 mark this season, while Movahedi also has run off seven in a row to reach 14-5 on the year ... Redshirt freshman Thomas Lane (197) has won seven of his last nine matches to reach 13-12 on the year.
CSU Bakersfield: The Roadrunners are led by redshirt freshman Russell Rohfing (141). At 23-9, Rohfing is one of five Pac-12 redshirt freshmen to post 20 or more wins this season. He's won eight of his last nine matches ... Redshirt freshman Lorenzo De La Riva (165) has won six of his last seven duals to post a mark of 18-10 this season ... Sophomore Sean Nickell (125) opened the year with 12 wins in his first 13 matches and is 20-10 on the year. He's one of 15 Pac-12 wrestlers to post 20 wins this year.
Oregon State: Oregon State is the five-time defending Pac-12 Champion and Jim Zalesky was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year the past five years, and six times overall ... The Beavers boast three 20-match winners in senior Joey Palmer (133), sophomore Corey Griego (197) and junior Cody Crawford (285). Palmer and Griego have each won their last six matches, collecting overall records of 23-5 and 22-8, respectively ... Junior Amarveer Dhesi (285), last year's Pac 12 Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler and Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year, sat out the year recovering from a preseason knee injury.
Stanford: The Cardinal return two Pac-12 champions from last year in junior Connor Schram and sophomore Joey McKenna. Schram won his title at 125, but has moved up to 133 where he is 13-3 this season. McKenna, the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, continues his dominance with a 25-1 record this season and is 47-3 overall in two seasons ... Senior Peter Galli (174) has won his last six matches and nine of his last 10 matches to reach 23-5 this season ... In all, the Cardinal have seven wrestlers listed among the top 20 in the InterMat individual rankings.
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