The Stanford wrestling team outwrestled its competition in all three matches last weekend, but it won’t be reflected in the standings, as the Cardinal (5-5-1, 1-3-1 Pacific-10 Conference) could not overcome several weight-class forfeits and returned home following a 1-1-1 trip.

On Friday, Stanford wrestled Oregon State (9-6-1, 4-2-1 Pac-10) to an 18-18 draw before heading to Eugene to take on Oregon (5-7, 2-5) the same night. The Ducks pulled off a painfully narrow 22-21 victory with a 7-3 decision from Joey Bracamonte over Oregon native and Stanford freshman Scott Loescher in the final match. The Cardinal did not leave Oregon empty handed, however, drubbing lowly Portland State (0-14, 0-6) 33-18 on Saturday.

“Don’t let any team scores fool you, because we outwrestled all three teams,” head coach Steve Buddie said. “Both Oregon and Oregon State were gifted because we had a hole at one of our weights, and then against Oregon, we had two holes because of Ian Bork’s injury suffered during the first dual meet of the weekend. So, overall, the trip was a success despite the 1-1-1 ‘surface’ record of what transpired.”

Stanford’s efforts were offset once again by injuries. Stanford sophomore Juston Johnson was unable to wrestle at 133-pounds due to an elbow injury.

“Forfeits were the only reason we did not come out of the trip 3-0,” Buddie said. “Spotting a team six points is huge because it’s like handing them a pin, and most dual meets at the Division I level are decided by ‘bonus wins,’ like pins.”

Against Oregon State, the Cardinal were down 9-3 in team scoring after the first three matches. Stanford was able to make up the six-point hole after Loescher’s pin in 1:52 over Matt Ellis, the No. 14 seed at 165 pounds. Powered by four straight wins from freshman Josh Zupancic, senior co-captain Matt Gentry, junior co-captain Imad Kharbush and Loescher, Stanford entered the last two matches with a six-point lead. Oregon State wrestlers Dan Pitsch and Travis Gardner earned the dual meet draw with two minor decision wins over junior Ryan Hagen and sophomore Ian Bork at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively.

Against Oregon, Stanford did not enter two wrestlers, giving the Ducks 12 free points, yet the Cardinal still kept the meet within reach. Kharbush continued his inspired wrestling at 174 pounds, as he pinned Oregon’s Mark Allen in 6:08. Gentry also earned a pin at 157 pounds over Steve Johnson in 2:38. The defending NCAA Champion has not lost since the 2002-2003 season, accumulating a school record 61 straight victories during that span. With one match remaining, the Cardinal led the Ducks 21-19, but Loescher could not get his second win on the weekend as Stanford fell 22-21.

It was the fourth time in the past five meets that the dual meet was decided in the last match. Stanford is 1-3 in those meets.

“Giving a team 12 points is almost impossible to overcome,” Buddie said. “For Oregon to only win three bouts against us and win the dual is in many ways an injustice, but it’s part of the sport. Our entire team knows the real outcome of the weekend, and we can’t wait to have our starting 10 ready and healthy for the Pac-10 Championships.”

Stanford would have to wait until Saturday to garner their first Pac-10 victory. Stanford jumped out to a commanding 21-3 lead over the winless Vikings and Hagen’s pin of Sean Murphy in 3:39 was one of three pins in the meet for the Cardinal.

Stanford will return to Burnham Pavilion this weekend to face Fresno State (6-6-1) on Feb. 4 and No. 16 Arizona State (7-6-1, 4-0-0) on Feb. 5. Stanford’s wrestlers are excited to wrestle in front of a home crowd for the first time since a dual meet again San Francisco State on Nov. 23, and the Cardinal hope that injuries to Bork and Johnson will be healed in time.

“Road trips are fun, and they do prepare you for both the conference tournament and the NCAA Championships, but traveling drains you,” Buddie said. “It will be great for them to be in their own beds over the next month. It also gives us a chance to watch more film, train more frequently and still manage to get more rest overall than when we’re traveling as often as we have been. The team knows that if they continue to train at the level they have been, they will win a Pac-10 title, and all of these ‘tough losses’ will be forgotten in an instant.”