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Conference Champions

Jul 15, 2016

Since the first Pac-12 Conference Championships were held in 1978, Stanford has won 37 individual conference titles. Heavyweight Flint Pulskamp became the first Cardinal wrestler to win a conference title in 1983, and three years later, Stanford had its first two-time conference champions in Jeff Bradley and Dave Lee.

Lee, Jimmy Aguirre, Jim Wilson, Nathan Butler, Joey McKenna, Real Woods, Shane Griffith, Jaden Abas and Daniel Cardenas are the nine Cardinal wrestlers to have taken home the title as a freshman.

In 2008, Tanner Gardner became the third Cardinal wrestler to successfully defend a conference crown, taking home the 125-pound title for the second straight year. Wilson accomplished that feat, winning his second title at 165 pounds as a sophomore in 2015. McKenna also defended his title, winning at 141 pounds as a freshman (2016) and sophomore (2017). In 2016, Wilson made history, becoming the first Stanford wrestler to win three individual Pac-12 Conference crowns.

Stanford has had four conference Wrestlers of the Year- Matt Gentry in 2004, Nick Amuchastegui in 2012 and Griffith in 2020 and 2021. The Cardinal has produced six Newcomers of the Year- Gentry in 2002, Zack Giesen in 2007, Wilson in 2014, McKenna in 2016, Griffith in 2020 and Abas in 2021. Steve Buddie became Stanford's first conference Coach of the Year in 2004, while Jason Borrelli took home the honor in 2019 and 2021.

Prior to the organization of the Pac-12, Stanford had seven Pacific Coast Conference Champions- Jake Butts (1933), Woddward Bohosky (1935), Reese Milner (1935), Vern Jones (1946, 1948, 1949), Dan Winston (1946), Oscar Thompson (1946) and George Russell (1952). The Cardinal also produced three champions in the Athletic Association of Western Universities- Tom Allen (1964), Don Beuhler (1964) and Bruce Wilhelm (1965) - along with two in the Pac-8 Conference, Len Borchers (1968, 1969) and Chris Horpel (1975).

Stanford's Pac-12 Champions (1978-present)

Flint Pulskamp
1983 (JR) - HWT

Jeff Bradley
1985 (JR) - 134 lbs.
1986 (SR) - 134 lbs.

Dave Lee
1985 (FR) - 167 lbs.
1986 (SO) - 167 lbs.

Steve Buddie
1991 (SR) - 167 lbs.

Steve Yarbrough
1991 (SR) - 177 lbs.

Jimmy Aguirre
1993 (FR) - 134 lbs.

Tod Surmon
1996 (SR) - 142 lbs.

Zach Zimmerer
2000 (SR) - 133 lbs.

Matt Gentry
2004 (JR) - 157 lbs.

Imad Kharbush
2004 (SO) - 174 lbs.

Tanner Gardner
2007 (JR) - 125 lbs.
2008 (SR) - 125 lbs.

Nick Amuchastegui
2010 (SO) - 165 lbs.
2012 (SR) - 174 lbs.

Zack Giesen
2011 (SR) - 197 lbs.

Ryan Mango
2012 (JR) - 125 lbs.
2014 (SR) - 133 lbs.

Bret Baumbach
2013 (JR) - 165 lbs.

Dan Scherer
2014 (SR) - 197 lbs. (Most Outstanding Wrestler)

Evan Silver
2014 (SO) - 125 lbs.

Jim Wilson
2014 (FR) - 165 lbs.
2015 (SO) - 165 lbs.
2016 (JR) - 165 lbs.

Nathan Butler
2015 (FR) - 285 lbs.

Connor Schram
2016 (SO) - 125 lbs.

Joey McKenna
2016 (FR) - 141 lbs.
2017 (SO) - 141 lbs.

Zach Nevills
2017 (SR) - 184 lbs.

Requir van der Merwe
2019 (SO) - 149 lbs.

Nathan Traxler
2019 (SO) - 197 lbs.

Real Woods
2020 (FR) - 141 lbs.
2022 (JR) - 141 lbs.

Shane Griffith
2020 (FR) - 165 lbs. (Co-Most Outstanding Wrestler)

Jaden Abas
2021 (FR) - 149 lbs.

Tyler Eischens
2022 (JR) - 174 lbs.

Daniel Cardenas
2023 (FR) - 157 lbs.