The world’s top universities Stanford and Columbia will face each other in Wrestling match on Saturday. Along with the men’s wrestling match between the two great universities, for the first time ever women’s college freestyle wrestling will be on display on Saturday, November 23.
The two women’s exhibition matches will be held outdoors as part of Takedowns & Touchdowns, Stanford’s annual outdoor dual meet. The wrestling event is part of the Football Fan Fest prior to “the Big Game,” which is the rivalry football game between Stanford and the University of California. The wrestling starts at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, and admission is free.
In attendance for the matches will be two of the greatest women wrestlers in U.S. history. Stanford ’02 alumna Patricia Miranda, a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and a three-time Senior World medalist, will be in attendance. Miranda competed on the men’s wrestling team at Stanford as an undergrad. Also there to support the event is five-time World champion, seven-time Senior World medalist and 2016 Olympian Adeline Gray.
Bri Csontos, an undergraduate student at Columbia, will wrestle twice. Csontos trains with the NYC RTC which is affiliated with Columbia, and is currently wrestling at the Senior level with the Titan Mercury WC. Csontos was fourth at the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. She has been an age-group All-American at the U23, UWW Junior, Junior, UWW Cadet and Cadet levels.
Just before the men’s dual meet begins, Csontos will face off with 2013 Senior World bronze medalist Xu Cheng of China. Cheng, who is training in the United States at this time, was also a 2013 Dave Schultz Memorial International silver medalist.
During the intermission of the men’s dual meet, Csontos will wrestle against Arizona State student-athlete Marlee Smith, who is on the ASU varsity wrestling roster. Smith wrestled for national power Wyoming Seminary in high school and competes nationally with the Sunkist Kids.
The Stanford men’s team was the 2019 Pac-12 champions, and heads into the dual meet with a 2-1 record, including a 21-11 win over then-No. 17 ranked North Carolina. Columbia, which competes in the EIWA, will be having its first dual meet of the year, after making its season debut on Nov. 3 at the Princeton Open.
