Pac-12 announces Wrestler of the Week
Rico Stormer, Stanford (GR, 174 pounds - Circle, Mont.)
• Graduate Rico Stormer went 2-0 on the week, helping the Cardinal improve to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12.
• On Friday, Stormer posted a come-from-behind 7-6 decision over Oregon State's Colt Doyle. The bout proved to be the difference in a 19-16 Stanford dual win - the program's first-ever victory in Corvallis. On Sunday, Stormer followed up with a dominating 11-2 major decision against Cal Poly's Nathan Tausch on Senior Day in Maples Pavilion.
• Stormer is now 17-11 overall with the Cardinal. A graduate transfer from Harvard, Stormer won just 13 matches in three seasons with the Crimson.
• He’s working towards his PhD in energy resource engineering.
Also nominated: Josh Shields (165), Arizona State (currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, earned his 13th straight win, a 11-3 MD over Jacob Thalin (CSUB) to help propel the Sun Devils to a 24-12 victory); Ronnie Bresser (125), Oregon State (finished out the Pac-12 regular season schedule undefeated as he improved to 20-1 overall on the season with a second-period fall over No. 20 Gabe Townsell of Stanford). Sean Nickell (133), CSU Bakersfield (Ranked No. 17 in the latest InterMat poll, Nickell had no problems with No. 27 Josiah Kline of Arizona State, earning an 8-2 decision).
Previous Wrestlers of the Week:
Jan. 9: Nathan Traxler (195), Stanford
Jan. 16: Ronnie Bresser (125), Oregon State
Jan. 23: Josh Maruca (149), Arizona State
Jan. 30: Sean Nickell (133), CSU Bakersfield
Feb. 6: Gabriel Townsell (125), Stanford
Feb. 13: Dominic Ducharme (184), CSU Bakersfield
Feb. 20: Rick Stormer (174), Stanford
This Week in Pac-12 Wrestling:
Fri., Feb. 22 – CAL POLY at ARIZONA STATE, 6 p.m. PT (ASU Live Stream)
Fri., Feb. 22 – OREGON STATE at California Baptist, 7 p.m. PT
Sun., Feb. 23 – STANFORD at Nebraska, 7 p.m. CT
Team Rankings:
NWCA Coaches: No. 25 Stanford
InterMat: No. 16 Arizona State; No. 18 Oregon State
Flowrestling: No. 16 Arizona State; No. 17 Oregon State
Trackwrestling: T-No. 12 Arizona State; No. 20 Oregon State, T-No. 34 Stanford
Individual Rankings (interMat):
125 – No. 3 Ronnie Bresser, Oregon State; No. 20 Gabe Townsell, Stanford
133 – No. 17 Sean Nickell, CSU Bakersfield
149 – No. 15 Requir van der Merwe, Stanford
157 – No. 14 Christian Pagdilao, Arizona State
165 – No. 4 Josh Shields, Arizona State
174 – No. 3 Zahid Valencia, Arizona State
197 – No. 12 Nathan Traxler, Stanford
HWT – No. 4 Amar Dhesi, Oregon State
Pac-12 Wrestling Notes: With Sunday’s win over Cal Poly, head coach Jason Borrelli moved past Chris Horpel (1979-01) to become Stanford's all-time winningest coach with 106 dual victories … Stanford redshirt sophomore Nathan Traxler (197) leads the Cardinal with 25 wins this season and is 11-1 in duals. He’s one of six Cardinal to have posted 20 or more wins this season … Arizona State’s Josh Fields (165) has won matches in each of the last 13 dual meets and 14 of the last 15. Seven matches during 13-win streak have been by bonus points … OREGON STATE’s Ronnie Bresser (125) has won 12 straight as he’s posted a 20-1 record this season. His career record stands at 110-23 … CSUB’s Sean Nickell (133) is now 21-8 on the season and tied for 30th in CSUB history with 82 career victories … CAL POLY’s Tom Lane (197) has squared off against four ranked opponents over his last five matches. He’s 3-2 in those last five, going 2-2 against ranked foes. Lane is 17-10 on the season and is currently ranked No. 20 by TheOpenMat.com.
Pac-12 Championships: Sat., Mar. 9 - hosted by Arizona State (P12N)
NCAA Championships: March 21-23, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.
2019 PAC-12 WRESTLER OF THE WEEK