Wrestling’s goal in November and December was to gear up for the season with the toughest non-conference opponents they could find. In January, the focus shifted to recuperation and preparing for the heart of the Pac-10 schedule to come. Saturday, the Cardinal has one more chance for a tune up — as Stanford hosts Menlo College just before the competition truly heats up.

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Zack Giesen has been having a strong season for the Cardinal as a freshman, having already notched 21 wins on the year. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6758
Alvin Chow

Zack Giesen has been having a strong season for the Cardinal as a freshman, having already notched 21 wins on the year.

Stanford (4-5, 2-1 Pacific-10 Conference) will be looking to extend its current winning streak to three matches against the Oaks (7-10). Cardinal head coach Kerry McCoy cautioned that his squad could not afford to overlook Menlo given the tough slate of competition coming up.

“Menlo is one of the top NAIA schools,” McCoy said. “There should be a big local crowd, and they may not be a Division I program, but they are very tough. They’ve got a bunch of solid individuals, and the thing that I really like about Menlo is they’ve got a lot of guys who just wrestle hard for seven minutes.”

The Cardinal will be led yet again by its pair of nationally ranked juniors. No. 3 Tanner Gardner is 27-3 and a reigning All-American at 125 pounds, and No. 17 Josh Zupancic is 27-7 on the season at 157 pounds. Gardner enters the dual against the Oaks as the top-ranked wrestler in the Pac-10 while Zupancic is currently second in the conference.

Stanford has also seen strong early-season showings from true-freshman Zack Giesen at 184 pounds, sophomore Luke Feist at 174 pounds and the squad’s lone senior, Brian Perry, at 165 pounds. Giesen and Perry are each ranked third in their respective weight classes in the Pac-10 with Feist ranked fourth.

Perry and Giesen are each new contributors to the Cardinal. Giesen was a big-time performer in high school, boasting a 118-11 career record and four Oregon state wrestling titles, and is quickly living up to his potential in the Pac-10, having earned 21 victories so far this season. Perry, on the other hand, has broken into the starting ranks as a senior and is making the most of his opportunity.

“That [165-pound] weight class right now is so up and down,” McCoy said. “Everyone’s beating everyone inside and outside the conference. [Perry has] proven that he can beat all the top guys, and he’s out there just chipping away — he’s able to get those wins when they’re in tight situations. Now he’s in a better situation to get a higher seed in the conference tournament, win the conference tournament and be an All-American.”

Despite all the momentum on Stanford’s side following the squad’s surprising 22-21 win over conference rival Cal State-Bakersfield and a 37-6 trouncing of San Francisco State, McCoy still expects a hard-fought match.

“Menlo is going to give us a good test because we’re riding a wave right now,” he said. “It’s going to be a different talent level than we’re used to and a different level of intensity, but we’ve competed against them a couple of times in the last year and a half, so it’s going to be a true battle.

“We talk to our guys constantly about the way we set up our schedule and our training,” McCoy continued. “So hopefully our guys aren’t taking them lightly. If we wrestle our best we should be able to handle our own, but, at the same time, it gives the guys another chance to get to the place they need to be their best.

“Just like I said about San Francisco State, if we take them lightly they’ll come in here and beat us.”

The Cardinal’s match against the NAIA’s No. 11 Menlo College begins Saturday at 2 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.