Home Opener Saturday

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford wrestling team (2-0) plays host to No. 8/16 Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 8 in its home opener. The Cardinal and Wildcats will square-off at 2 p.m. PT in Burnham Pavilion. Admission is free.

Saturday’s dual has been tabbed Bay Area Wrestling Appreciation Day. The Cardinal will host a free kid’s clinic in Burnham Pavilion at 1 p.m. The first 100 fans in attendance will also receive a free Takedown Two foam finger.

Stanford opened the 2014-15 campaign last weekend with road wins at Cal Baptist (27-9) and Pac-12 foe CSU Bakersfield (25-6). Several Cardinal rookies made their collegiate debuts, including redshirt freshman 133-pounder Connor Schram, true freshman 141-pounder Isaiah Locsin and redshirt freshman heavyweight Nathan Butler, who all went 2-0.

Redshirt sophomore Maxwell Hvolbek returned to the mat after missing much of last season due to injury. He turned in two wins last week. Redshirt junior captain Michael Sojka also registered two wins last weekend for Stanford, including a three-overtime decision against Matt Williams at CSU Bakersfield.

Saturday is the dual season opener for Northwestern, which had wrestlers in the Michigan State Open last weekend. The Wildcats also had two participants in the NWCA All-Star Classic, sophomore 149-pounder Jason Tsirtsis and senior heavyweight Mike McMullan. Both wrestlers registered wins in the star-studded event and are ranked No. 1 in the nation heading into this week. Tsirtsis is the reigning NCAA Champion at 149 pounds, while McMullan is a three-time All-American.

Stanford has two wrestlers ranked in the top-20 of the InterMat rankings. Redshirt junior Evan Silver is No. 15 at 125 pounds, while redshirt sophomore Jim Wilson came in at No. 16 at 165 pounds. Both were 2014 Pac-12 Champions and NCAA qualifiers.

Probable Match-Ups
125: Stevan Micic (NU) OR Garrison White (NU) vs. #15 Evan Silver (SU) OR Mason Pengilly (SU)
133: #19 Dominick Malone (NU) vs. Connor Schram (SU)
141: Jameson Oster (NU) vs. Isaiah Locsin (SU)
149: #1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) vs. Garrett Schaner (SU)
157: Bryce Brill (NU) vs. Maxwell Hvolbek (SU) OR Peter Galli (SU)
165: #5 Pierce Harger (NU) vs. #16 Jim Wilson (SU)
174: John Sebastian (NU) OR Ben Sullivan (NU) vs. Keaton Subjeck (SU)
184: Mitch Sliga (NU) vs. Zach Nevills (SU) OR Garet Krohn (SU)
197: #11 Alex Polizzi (NU) vs. Michael Sojka (SU)
285: #1 Mike McMullan (NU) vs. Nathan Butler (SU)