“Competing Courageously”
I’m not sure if anyone keeps a record on these types of things, but we may be the first team to participate in three senior nights in one weekend.
Senior night is a special occasion where the seniors of a program are recognized for their contributions to a program. Usually it occurs before a dual meet, but I have witnessed ½ time senior nights too. Every team we wrestled this weekend had their senior night at our dual.
The one at Princeton was especially significant as I was able to participate in my daughter, Chloe Ayres’, senior night, which would have been impossible under just about any other circumstances. I owe Princeton head coach, Joe Dubuque, a huge debt of gratitude for making it happen.
It was a bittersweet moment. Sweet in the sense that we were celebrating the fact that Chloe had the courage to pursue her passion for wrestling on an all men’s team. Bitter in that it was the last time she competed for Princeton. (She had a match at the ½ time against a woman from Lehigh- she won by tech fall-proud dad moment).
Stanford alum Patricia Miranda came to my mind during Chloe’s recognition. Pioneer. Trailblazer. Courageous competitor. All great descriptors when thinking of Patricia and Chloe. Women who just want the opportunity to pursue the best education they could, while participating in the sport they love.
Life is all about perspective. Patricia and Chloe would have probably given anything to go on a trip like this. While it seemed like a brutal weekend for the team with three tough duals up and down the eastern coast, 3000 miles from home, our team was fortunate that they GOT TO DO IT. Travelling with their best friends for life and competing for the school they love. Unfortunately, this type of experience was not in the cards for Chloe and Patricia and so many other women who have a passion for wrestling…so they did the best with what they had. Hopefully, this changes soon.
Speaking of senior nights, last season we decided to recognize Abas, Ming, Miranda, and Stemmet. Why would we do this when they still had eligibility left? First of all they met the criteria of being seniors. Secondly, at the time we were fairly certain they were not coming back to the team.
They had options. So many schools would love to have them. Plus, I was their third Head Coach who was only months into the job. They had a lot of good reasons to go, but in the end they chose to stay, and we are sure glad they did.
I don’t want to put words in their mouth, but from my perspective, they choose to stay at Stanford because of the team culture. The word culture is so cliche with sports these days, but it is critically important, and in my short time with the Stanford team I would say the culture is highlighted by the fact that there is a strong “care” for each other and this is led by the seniors. These guys really do care about each other, and this team they are a part of.
On this trip we needed to look out for each other, as we faced about as much adversity as one team could face on a singular trip. We would need everyone to step up. Here is the list of things that went wrong:
-The usual 125 lb forfeit
-Three hour delay out of SFO to get to the east.
-Arrive to Princeton to workout around 8:00 pm.
-At the 8:00pm workout Grigor has a freak injury and can’t compete during the weekend
-Get out of workout and nothing in Princeton is open- need to scramble to find food.
-We didn’t bring another 157 or 149 for that matter.
-Tye Monteiro gets hurt in the Princeton match
-A hostile Princeton crowd who would love nothing more than to see Stanford lose the dual. At Princeton the most rowdy fans are placed next to the opposing team’s bench. Oddly, I coached almost all of them, so that was an interesting experience.
I’m sure there was more, but these were the primary obstacles. Despite all this, we were able to patch some lineups together and compete at a high level earning wins over Princeton (20-17) and Duke (37-12), while falling to NC State (13-27).
Some Highlights on the weekend:
Down 17-12 against Princeton heading into the last two matches, we have to get wins in both matches to secure the dual. Stemmet would face a wrestler who is ranked ahead of him and Ming is up against an opponent who has been in and out of the rankings, so things are not looking great. It brought me right back to the Oregon State dual when we needed similar magic, and the one-two punch of Stemmet and Ming delivered. They both wrestled incredible matches, and not only won, but secured major decisions! It was a great way to pull out the dual meet victory over Princeton.
Pete was also able to win a big match over a ranked opponent against Duke, which should further solidify earning a slot to the NCAA’s.
Freshman Jack Consiglio and Aden Valencia stepped up in a big way for the team. At 141 against Princeton Aden got down and had to come back for the win against a ranked opponent to help us win the dual. He then moved up TWO weights against NC State to face an All-American and fought his heart out. He didn’t get the win, but represented the Cardinal in an amazing way.
Due to Grigor’s injury against Princeton we asked Jack Consiglio if he was willing to go 157 instead of his usual 141. Without hesitation, Jack jumped at the opportunity. He competed valiantly, losing a hard fought battle to Princeton, but picked up a big pin against Duke.
Jack and Aden moving up two weights is reflective of this team’s culture. They truly put the team above individual interests which is a bit uncommon in an individual sport. These young men love the Stanford wrestling team and it is such a blessing to be a part of such a unique environment.
Tyler Knox continued his winning ways going 3-0 on the weekend. His biggest win was over 13 ranked Kai Orine of NC State. In Knox fashion he was inventing techniques on the fly, and at one point did some variation of a banana split that I have never seen before. I’m not really sure of my purpose in his corner as he has such a unique style, but it sure is fun having a front row seat to watch him compete!
We originally planned to send Abas and Garvin home on Saturday to shorten the trip for them, but after losing Grigor and Monteiro to injury, they too were asked to sacrifice for the team and stay for the Duke dual. They both had solid weekends going 5-1 collectively.
Freshman Collin Guffey had a great match that contributed to our win against Princeton and fellow freshman Cole Han-Lindemayer picked up his 1st dual meet win against Duke. Jason Miranda picked up a bonus point win against Duke which should give him some momentum as we move closer to the post-season.
Last dual of the season is this Friday, 7:00pm, vs UNC in Maples and we will be recognizing all former Stanford wrestlers. It should be a great dual and we hope to see you there!
Stanford vs. UNC this Friday Feb. 21st. at 7pm at Maples Pavilion
6pm – Chalk Talk with Coach Ayres in Kissick Auditorium (Across the patio from the entrance of Maples Pavilion). Listen to Coach Ayres break down the match ups.
7pm – Match starts!
No. 17 Stanford 20, Princeton 17
125: Ethan Rivera (PRINCE) won by forfeit
133: #7 Tyler Knox (STAN) dec. Dan Jones (PRINCE), 7-0
141: Aden Valencia (STAN) dec. #31 Eligh Rivera (PRINCE), 5-4
149: #12 Ty Whalen (PRINCE) dec. #10 Jaden Abas (STAN), 5-4
157: Jake Mann (PRINCE) dec. Jack Consiglio (STAN), 7-4
165: #13 Hunter Garvin (STAN) dec. Blaine Bergey (PRINCE), 7-3
174: Collin Guffey (STAN) dec. Xavier Giles (PRINCE), 8-4
184: #27 Kole Mulhauser (PRINCE) tech. fall Tye Monteiro (STAN), 17-2 (5:11)
197: #22 Nick Stemmet (STAN) maj. dec. #16 Luke Stout (PRINCE), 11-2
285: #31 Peter Ming (STAN) maj. dec. Sebastian Garibaldi (PRINCE), 11-2
No. 7 NC State 27, No. 17 Stanford 13
125: #3 Vince Robinson (NCST) won by forfeit
133: #7 Tyler Knox (STAN) maj. dec. #13 Kai Orine (NCST), 9-1
141: Troy Hohman (NCST) dec. #21 Jason Miranda (STAN), 5-3
149: #10 Jaden Abas (STAN) dec. #22 Koy Buesgens (NCST), 5-1
157: #14 Ed Scott (NCST) maj. dec. Aden Valencia (STAN), 13-3
165: #13 Hunter Garvin (STAN) dec. #28 Derek Fields (NCST), 6-5
174: #21 Matty Singleton (NCST) maj. dec. Lars Michaelson (STAN), 11-2
184: #14 Dylan Fishback (NCST) tech. fall Cole Han-Lindemyer (STAN), 15-0 (4:46)
197: #22 Nick Stemmet (STAN) dec. #31 Christian Knop (NCST), 4-0
285: #4 Isaac Trumble (NCST) tech. fall #31 Peter Ming (STAN), 19-3 (4:32)
No. 17 Stanford 37, Duke 12
125: Evan Coles (DUKE) won by forfeit
133: #7 Tyler Knox (STAN) tech. fall Raymond Adams (DUKE), 17-0 (5:34)
141: #21 Jason Miranda (STAN) maj. dec. Christian Colman (DUKE), 15-2
149: #10 Jaden Abas (STAN) fall SP O’Donnell (DUKE), F2:47
157: Jack Consiglio (STAN) fall Logan Ferrero (DUKE), F3:44
165: #13 Hunter Garvin (STAN) maj. dec. Aidan Wallace (DUKE), 10-2
174: Gaetano Console (DUKE) fall Lars Michaelson (STAN), F4:42
184: Cole Han-Lindemyer (STAN) maj. dec. David Hussey (DUKE), 11-2
197: #22 Nick Stemmet (STAN) tech. fall Kwasi Bonsu (DUKE), 20-4 (4:36)
285: #31 Peter Ming (STAN) dec. #29 Connor Barket (DUKE), 12-5
Best,
Chris Ayres
Twitter: @CoachOfTrees
Insta: @ayres157
