There weren’t many times during Tyler Knox’s high school wrestling career at St. John’s Prep that he had to fight from underneath. But at Stanford University, he’s proving he can win just as many matches as a slight underdog than he did as a heavy favorite.
At this past weekend’s Division 1 NCAA championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Knox outperformed his No. 15 seed at 133 pounds to finish sixth overall. That earned him an automatic All-American honor and makes the Groveland native just the eighth wrestler in Stanford history to earn multiple All-America places.
In addition, Knox became just the second college wrestler from Massachusetts to capture two or more All-America accolades; former Braintree High great Colin Kilrain did so at Lehigh University for three straight years from 1980-82.
Knox went 5-3 at the national championships. He began his quest with a 10-3 decision over the No. 18 seed, Gunner Andrick of West Virginia.
After losing his second bout via decision to the No. 2 seed, Ohio State’s Davino, he put together four straight victories — including knocking off the No. 5 overall seed, Kaleb Larkin of Arizona State, with a dramatic 5-4 decision.
Knox also defeated Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt (10-7), Maryland’s Braxton Brown (11-6) and Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska (6-3).
By making it to the final day of competition and coming in sixth overall, Knox improved on his freshman season placing of eighth in the country. At the time, he was the fourth freshman to ever earn All-America honors for Stanford, although two more did this year for the ever-improving Cardinal program, which finished sixth as a team at the NCAA championships.
The Salem News Wrestler of the Year in 2022, Knox went 75-0 at St. John’s Prep as a senior and 208-17 overall in his high school career while also winning a pair of national titles.