Wrestling To Travel To Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield This Week

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State wrestling team (7-7, 2-1 Pac-12 duals) will round out the Pac-12 slate this week, traveling to Cal Poly and Cal State Bakersfield for a pair of duals on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The dual at Cal Poly is set for 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT, while the Cal State Bakersfield dual will start at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT.

THINGS TO KNOW
The Sun Devils will be far from home for its final dual of the regular season, traveling to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State on Friday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. MT. Following that dual is the 2014 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships on Sunday, March 2 in Palo Alto, Calif. All the action will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.

SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs (3-8, 1-3 Pac-12) dropped a pair of home duals last week, falling to South Dakota State, 31-10, before dropping a 24-9 decision to Pac-12 foe Stanford. Against the Cardinal, Cal Poly’s wins came in the form of a sudden victory at 197 by Nicolas Johnson, a 3-2 decision at 125 by Britian Longmore, and a 9-2 decision at 141 by Victor Trujillo.

Probable Lineup

125: Britian Longmore (13-12)

133: Devon Lotito (19-8)

141: Victor Trujillo (18-10)

149: Kyle Chene (13-11)

157: Luke McDonald (8-10) or Xavier Johnson (3-12)

165: Travis Berridge (13-14)

174: Dominic Kastl (15-4)

184: Sean Dougherty (11-11)

197: Nicolas Johnson (6-15)

HWT: Spencer Empey (12-10)

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners (6-7, 1-3 Pac-12) split its last two matches, defeating Cal Baptist 20-15 before falling to Oklahoma State, 36-7. Against the Sooners, Cal State Bakersfield picked up wins at 197 via a 6-4, sudden victory decision by Reuben Franklin and a major decision at 133 by Jose Mendoza, 13-2.

Probable Lineup

125: Matt Correa (11-14) OR Sergio Mendez (11-16)

133: Jose Mendoza (26-11)

141: Ian Nickell (19-10)

149: Dalton Kelley (16-16)

157: Spencer Hills (15-12)

165: David Menza (17-15)

174: Bryce Hammond (16-10)

184: Sean Pollock (11-21)

197: Reuben Franklin (21-16)

HWT: Sammy Cervantes (10-18) OR Alex Encarnacion-Strand (4-7)

LOOKING BACK
Sun Devil wrestling picked up its third upset of the season in its home finale, defeating Oregon State, 17-16, in a Pac-12 contest. Prior to the match the Beavers were undefeated in league action.

ASU struck first with a decision from Ares Carpio at 125, but the Beavers quickly tied things up at 133. At 141, Matt Kraus picked up four team points with a 13-1 major decision before OSU’s decision at 149 cut ASU’s lead to 7-6. 

Oregon State scored a major decision at 157 to go up, 10-7, before Nick Rex picked up a 5-2 major decision in his final home wrestling match in a Sun Devil uniform to retie the dual at 10-10.

At 174, the Beavers picked up the team score lead with three points before Blake Stauffer’s major decision at 184 gave ASU a 14-13 edge. Wesley Moore gave ASU a four-point advantage with a 6-2 decision at 197, and the Sun Devils secured the win as Oregon State could only pick up three points at heavyweight.

HEATING UP THE POLLS
With his major decision win over Oregon State’s Austin Morehead, Blake Stauffer has moved up to No. 16 at 184 by Amateur Wrestling News.

JOEL SMITH AND THE SPEEDY PINS
Joel Smith currently owns three of the fastest pin times so far this season, starting with his 18-second victory at the Cowboy Open on Nov. 2. Smith’s pins at the Virginia Duals, 0:37 over Nebraska-Kearney’s Colton Johnson and 1:30 over Old Dominion’s Tristan Warner, are the second and third quickest pins in 2013-14, respectively. 

Smith also recorded a pin in 4:03, and is second on the team with four, followed Ray Waters (165/174) who has six.

MORE ON PINS
Ray Waters’ (165) pin of SIUE’s Logun Taylor at 1:59 on Nov. 16 marks the fifth-quickest pin so far this season. Waters has recorded five more falls, which leads the team. His 2:31 takedown of Josh VanTine in ASU’s dual with Northern Colorado marks the sixth-fastest time, and his 3:20 pin over Boise State’s Cole Rice places him in eighth. Waters also recorded a pin at 3:49 over Harvard’s Colton Peppleman is at No. 10 on the list.

ASU PICKS UP UPSET OVER OLD DOMINION
The Sun Devils competed in their lone head-to-head team competition last week, the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. ASU finished seventh overall, marking the sixth time finishing in the Top 8 and second at seventh (last, 1987).

After an opening-round loss to No. 8 seed Chattanooga (35-7), ASU rebounded with a win over then-No. 25 Old Dominion (21-15). ASU fell to Rider, 25-11, before topping Nebraska-Kearney, 32-6, in the seventh-place match.

Against Old Dominion, each team won five matches, but ASU was boosted by a pair of pins, the first as Ares Carpio won in 4:54 at 125, and the second from Joel Smith at 157 in 1:30.

Smith was the lone Sun Devil to go undefeated on the day, picking up two pins and a decision. In ASU’s victory over Nebraska-Kearney, they picked up four bonus-point decisions: one pin from Smith, two major decisions from Kalin Goodsite (133) and Matt Kraus (141), and one victory via forfeit from Luke Bean at 197.

PODIUM NOTES
So far this season, six Sun Devils have recorded high final placements in tournament action. Kyle Colling is the first ASU wrestler to pick up a tournament title in the 2013-14 season, winning the heavyweight bracket at the Keystone Classic with four wins, including a 3-1 tiebreaker decision in the championship match.

Kevin Radford has a pair of third-place finishes under his belt, the first at the Cowboy Open (Nov. 2), where he went 5-1 in the 184 weight class before finishing third at 174 at the Keystone Classic on Nov. 24. Radford also finished eighth overall at the Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 7.

Chace Eskam finished third at the Cowboy Open at 197, going 2-1 overall and picking up a sudden-victory win in the opening round before he came out on top with a 3-2 decision to seal his finish.

Blake Stauffer went 5-1 at the Keystone Classic to finish third at 184, with three winning decisions and one tech fall victory.

Ray Waters finished fourth overall at the Keystone Classic at 165, with a pair of pins and a 12-4 major decision win over Appalachian State’s Zac Strickland. 

The final Sun Devil to place so far this season is Matt Kraus, who finished in fifth at the Keystone Classic at 141. Kraus picked up at 10-1 major decision win over Trevor Moody of Indiana en route to his finish. 

As a team, ASU finished seventh in its lone head-to-head team tournament, the Virginia Duals. The Sun Devils picked up wins over then No. 25 Old Dominion and Nebraska-Kearney.

Breakdown:
First Place: Colling (Nov. 24)
Third Place: Radford (Nov. 2, Nov. 24), Eskam (Nov. 2), Stauffer (Nov. 24)
Fourth Place: Waters (Nov. 24)
Fifth Place: Kraus (Nov. 24)
Eighth Place: Radford (Dec. 7)

SUN DEVILS DUEL IN INTERSQUAD
Prior to its season opener, the Arizona State wrestling team competed in its yearly Maroon and Yellow Intersquad match. In the 125 weight class, Ares Carpio picked up from where he left off last season, dominating Tyree Owens, 20-5.

At 133, Tyler Liberatore took an early lead over Cord Coronado with three takedowns before Carpio came back and held off the major decision with a final score of 9-4.

Freshman Jesus Calderon stepped in at 141, but was unable to overcome Paul Looper’s collegiate experience as Looper came out with the 9-2 victory.

The marquee match of the night came at 149, with Preston McCalmon taking on NCAA qualifier Nathan Hoffer. The pair fought to a tie score at the end of regulation before Hoffer came out to win the match.

At 157, Joel Smith picked up three takedowns in his defeat of Codey Combs, while Ray Waters pinned James Brundage in 37 seconds in the 165 weight class.

Josh DaSilvera defeated Chase Eskam in overtime, 3-2 in the 197, while the battle of the heavyweights came down to Kyle Colling picking up the advantage of Daniel Gusev.

In exhibition, Luke Bean wrestled Wesley Moore at the 197, with Moore picking up the win, 8-4.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Each of the Sun Devils’ five home matches this season are scheduled back-to-back from Jan. 18 through Feb. 9. ASU will open the home slate with a tri-meet against Northern Colorado and Utah Valley on Jan. 18 before facing its first Pac-12 foe of the year, Boise State, on Jan. 24.

The Sun Devils will then take on Iowa State on Feb. 1 before taking on Pac-12 foe Stanford on Feb. 3, which will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks. ASU closes out the home schedule against Oregon State on Feb. 9, in another match that will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

DEVILS ON TV
Four of Arizona State’s meets are set to be aired by the Pac-12 Networks in 2014, starting with the conference opener against Boise State. ASU will then have back-to-back televised duals against Stanford and Oregon State.

The 2014 Pac-12 Championships, hosted by Stanford on March 2 will also be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.