“It could have been worse”
Stanford 22 Oregon State 16
Gill Coliseum was opened in 1949, and while the main court and offices must have been through multiple renovations, the “basement” where the visiting locker rooms are located, remains untouched, at least from my memory.
As a freshman who somehow found his way in the lineup at Lehigh, I sat in the very same locker room, waiting with a dejected team to hear from our relatively new coach, Greg Strobel.
Coach Strobel was in his first year coaching us at Lehigh and we really didn’t know him that well, so as we sat in the locker room we were simply bracing for impact. We lost 44-0 to his alma mater and it was one of those duals where everything that could go wrong did. Personally, I got headlocked and nearly pinned-not fun.
This was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for Coach. He was bringing his team to the place where he competed and a lot of people he knew were there, which probably delayed his appearance in the locker room (at least it felt like an eternity as we sat in silence). We wanted so badly to win for Coach, but the exact opposite happened. We fully expected to be verbally berated.
What happened next would give us a preview of what kind of coach I would be with for the next 4 years. Coach walked in with a smile, put his hands on his hips, stood tall and said, “well boys..it could have been worse…you could have all been pinned.” He said a few positive things about where we were headed next…then he walked out.
That was it. This was the tail end of the Gable era, when everyone was trying to keep up with Iowa, and if you didn’t win it was because you weren’t tough enough or didn’t go hard enough, so his reaction was telling. He was different. He wanted us to know getting shut out wasn’t the end of the world and we just needed to get better moving forward.
So after a tough first five matches I found myself in the same locker room during a “halftime” break, eerily feeling a bit like I did 30 years ago. Things were not going well. We dropped two key matches for the dual at 149 and 157, and overall wrestled pretty flat in the first four contested bouts. We were down 12-6, but…it could have been worse.
Without usual starters Hunter Garvin at 165 and Lorenzo Norman at 174, we were only favored at 197 in the last five bouts, with toss-ups at 165, 174, 184, and they were heavily favored at 285. To win the dual we were going to need to win four of the last five. Channeling a little of Strobel’s energy, the talk in the locker room was positive from coaches and athletes alike. We were in a tough spot, but there were five matches to go, and we believed in each other.
Zach Hanson, would “stop the bleeding” at 165 with a 11-5 decision. In his last outing against Arizona State, Zach didn’t wrestle to the level he knows he can, and this match was his opportunity to show what he is capable of. He controlled the match and really had a great performance. Zach works hard, and is truly committed to the team, wrestling wherever we need him, stepping up to do whatever he can to ensure Stanford wrestling is the best it can be. I was really happy for Zach as I know he really wanted to get that win for the team.
True freshman Collin Guffey dropped a close match at 174. Collin is still figuring out how to make the jump to DI wrestling and has shown a lot of improvement this season. He will be a good one for the Cardinal down the road.
Freshman Tye Monterio found himself in the most pressure-filled situation of his career to date as a win keeps us alive and a loss makes it highly unlikely that we can win the dual. Tye wrestled a great match and secured a tough fought win to keep our hopes alive.
It would come down to our “super senior” 1-2 punch of Nick Stemmet at 197 and Peter Ming at 285. Nick was a man on a mission and determined to do everything in his power to help get Stanford the win. Nick’s opponent was doing all he could for his team as well, but Nick’s offense proved to be too much and was able to secure the fall in the second period.
With our first lead of the dual (18-16) we found ourselves in another “winner take all” moment. Against ASU it came down to 149, and true freshman, EJ Parco, would be the hero; this time we would be relying on senior Peter Ming at 285. Similar to the Parco match the rankings had our opponent at a much higher ranking than the Cardinal.
The Oregon State Wrestler, Brett Mower, was having a great season and was ranked 17th in the country. At this point most of the arena was sensing that Oregon State was going to get the win at 285, and walk away with the dual meet win. But the Stanford bench knew what Pete was capable of. We know his “super power.”
In order to be really good in DI wrestling one has to have an area where they are exceptional. It’s not enough to be balanced in areas like strength, speed, endurance, technique, and the many other characteristics that make up a wrestler. There needs to be balance, but the best are also exceptional in one or more areas. For Pete, it’s his “heart.”
Pete’s a fighter. When he is tired, he fights. When he is losing, he fights. When he is winning, he fights. So after a long scramble, that resulted in Pete giving up a takedown; things got a little “chippy” between the two big men and in that moment I knew Pete was in a great place mentally. Similar to the Missouri match, Pete just kept coming, and with a few late scores was able to secure the major decision and clinch the match for the dual meet. A huge ranked win for Pete and he is the hero for the Cardinal.
Like most duals there were a lot of “ups and downs” in the match, but what was fun about this dual was the team aspect of the sport really came to life. A few guys didn’t have great performances, and that can sometimes become contagious in a dual meet, but in this instance others really stepped up their performance to get the win. I’m certainly glad they did!
No. 15 Stanford 22, Oregon State 16
125: Hunter Taylor (OSU) won by forfeit (6-0)
133: #6 Tyler Knox (STAN) dec. Damion Elliott (OSU), 6-0 (6-3)
141: #21 Jason Miranda (STAN) dec. Nash Singleton (OSU), 6-4 (6-6)
149: #33 Ethan Stiles (OSU) maj. dec. #7 Jaden Abas (STAN), 18-8 (10-6)
157: CJ Hamblin (OSU) dec. #28 Grigor Cholakyan (STAN), 5-2 (13-6)
165: Zach Hanson (STAN) dec. Steele Starren (OSU), 11-5 (13-9)
174: Murphy Menke (OSU) dec. Collin Guffey (STAN), 8-3 (16-9)
184: Tye Monteiro (STAN) dec. TJ McDonnell (OSU), 5-2 (16-12)
197: #22 Nick Stemmet (STAN) fall Vaun Halstead (OSU), F4:02 (16-18)
285: #32 Peter Ming (STAN) maj. dec. #17 Brett Mower (OSU), 15-6 (16-22)
Join us this Friday as Stanford takes on Virginia Tech!
6pm – “Chalk Talk”
Come hear Coach Ayres break down the matchups for the dual.
@Kissick Auditorium (across the patio from the entrance of Maples Pavilion)
7pm – Stanford vs. Virginia Tech
Promotion: Military Appreciation Night featuring members of the Stanford Office of Military Affiliated Communities (OMAC)
First 200 fans will receive a Stanford Wrestling winter beanie
*All Home Matches are Free this Season
Best,
Coach Ayres
Chris Ayres
Matt Gentry Head Coach of Wrestling
Twitter: @CoachOfTrees
Insta: @ayres157
