Sun Devil Wrestling To Open Dual Slate On The Road This Weekend
TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State wrestling team will open the dual match schedule this weekend, traveling to Morgantown, W.Va., to face West Virginia on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT. On Saturday, the Sun Devils will travel to Albany, N.Y., to face No. 3/4 Ohio State and Binghamton as part of the Journeymen Tussle.
ASU’s dual with Binghamton is set for Noon MT/2 p.m. ET, while the match against Ohio State will begin at 1:45 p.m. MT/3:45 p.m. ET.
Fans can track the results of the West Virginia dual HERE
The Journeymen Tussle matches will be streamed live on FloWrestling for subscribers.
PROBABLE COMPETITORS
125-Judson Preskitt (0-0) or Ares Carpio (0-0)
133-Dalton Brady (4-0, 0-0 duals)
141-Mech Spraggins (4-2, 0-0 duals)
149-Christian Pagdilao (5-1, 0-0 duals)
157-Oliver Pierce (3-1, 0-0 duals) or Joel Smith (4-1, 0-0 duals)
165-Jacen Petersen (2-2, 0-0 duals)
174-Ray Waters (3-1, 0-0 duals)
184-Blake Stauffer (5-0, 0-0 duals)
197-Josh DaSilveira (3-3, 0-0 duals), or Wes Moore (3-2, 0-0 duals)
HWT-Chace Eskam (5-1, 0-0 duals)
RANKINGS
Returning NCAA qualifier Blake Stauffer is ranked WIN Magazine rankings at No. 8, and in the Intermat poll at No. 9 at 184-pounds. Stauffer is also ranked at No. 10 in the WrestlingReport D-I Rankings.
As a team, the Sun Devils are ranked at No. 35 in the WIN Magazine Tournament Power Index.
LAST TIME OUT
ASU opened the season on Nov. 2 at the 22nd annual Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open in Brookings, S.D., and redshirt junior Blake Stauffer and sophomore Dalton Brady led the Sun Devils as they picked up titles at 184-pounds and 133-pounds, respectively.
Brady went 4-0 on the day, starting off with a 19-2 tech fall win over Nebraska’s Brian Peska. The Queen Creek, Ariz., native followed with three more decisions in route to his first Sun Devil title.
With five matches on the day, Stauffer recorded a pair of bonus point wins, starting off with a 16-0 tech fall over Lukas Polncic (unattached) before picking up a 15-2 major decision over South Dakota State’s Hunter Weddington. Following a pair of decision wins, the Neosho, Mo. native defeated North Dakota State’s Hayden Zilmer in the second period of sudden victory, 4-2.
Also placing were sophomore Oliver pierce, who took second at 157-pounds and junior Ray Waters, who took second at 174-pounds. Sophomore Christian Pagdilao (149), redshirt senior Joel Smith (157), redshirt senior Kevin Radford (184), and redshirt senior Chace Eskam (HWT) each took third place in their respective weight classes.
Sophomore Mech Spraggins took fourth at 141-pounds, as did sophomore Wes Moore.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils host Utah Valley in their first home dual of the season on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. MT at Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU TO HOST FOUR HOME MATCHES IN 2014-15
The Sun Devil season features a shortened home slate, with just four opportunities to see ASU wrestle at Wells Fargo Arena.
The home opener is set for Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. MTT against Utah Valley. ASU will next face West Virginia on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. MT. On Sunday, Jan. 18, ASU will host Pac-12 foe CSUB at 5 p.m. MT, and then will round out both the regular season and the conference slate against Cal Poly on Monday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. MT.
FIVE ASU DUALS TO BE TELEVISED IN 2014-15
Including the 2015 Pac-12 Championships on March 1, ASU will be featured five times on the Pac-12 Networks.
ASU’s television debut this season is set for their Pac-12 opener at Oregon State on Monday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT.
The Sun Devils have two home televised matches this year, the first when ASU hosts West Virginia on Sunday, Jan. 4. The second is the Sun Devils’ home finale on Feb. 16.
ASU will also be on the Pac-12 Networks when it travels to Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. PT/Noon MT.
INTERSQUAD RECAP
The Arizona State wrestling team kicked off the 2014-15 season on Oct. 25 as it hosted its annual Maroon & Gold Intersquad at the Riches Wrestling Complex.
Returning NCAA qualifier Blake Stauffer picked up an 8-4 decision win over redshirt senior Kevin Radford in ASU’s only match between 184-pounders, and junior Ray Waters returned at 174-pounds with 12-1 major decision win over Matt Schneider.
Sophomore transfer Dalton Brady made his debut with ASU at 133 pounds, winning a tech fall over senior Tyree Owens, 19-4, before scoring a 15-5 major decision over junior Cord Coronado that afternoon.
Fellow sophomore transfer Judson Preskitt also picked up a bonus point victory, defeating freshman Mikel Perales, 14-2, at 125 pounds. Preskitt also held off a comeback try from freshman Hayden Lee, edging him out, 7-6.
Five Sun Devils pinned their teammates, starting with sophomore transfer Christian Pagdalio’s fall over sophomore Ryan Nantuna in 1:17 in one of the eight matches that occurred between 149-poundsers.
Junior Matt Kraus, who started every bout at 141 pounds a season ago, pinned sophomore Josh Beam in 2:00 in his first bout at 149 pounds.
ASU’s fourth sophomore transfer, Oliver Pierce, pinned teammate Pablo Moreno in 2:08 in one of the 157-pound contests, while Lee picked up a win in his first match of the day when he pinned Perales in 1:39.
Sophomore Wes Moore picked up the final pin of the day, taking down freshman Sullivan Cauley in 1:09 in one of the 197-pound matches.
At 141, sophomore Mech Spraggins opened the day with a 13-4 major decision over freshman Koby Reyes, and then defeated Jesse Calderon in a 5-1 decision in the afternoon session.
Redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira won both his matches on the afternoon, defeating Cauley in a 4-1 decision before edging Moore in overtime, 3-2.
ASU’s last match of the day came at 157-pounds, with Pierce edging out redshirt senior Joel Smith with a late takedown, 3-1.
ASU RETURNS EIGHT STARTERS FOR 2014-15 SEASON
This season, the Sun Devil returning squad is led by lake Stauffer, who qualified for back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2014.
Stauffer finished 22-10 a season ago, taking third at the Pac-12 Championships before he went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships. Undefeated in regular-season conference competition, the Neosho, Mo., native, picked up 12 bonus-point victories on the year and was 12-1 in dual matches.
Also back in action for ASU this year are junior Ares Carpio (125), redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira (197), redshirt senior Chace Eskam (HWT), junior Matt Kraus (141), senior Preston McCalmon (149), sophomore Wes Moore (197), senior Tyree Owens (133), redshirt senior Kevin Radford (184), redshirt senior Hans Rasmusson (149), sophomore Matt Schneider (165), junior Kaylon Sencio (157), redshirt senior Joel Smith (157), sophomore Mech Spraggins (141), and junior Ray Waters.
SUN DEVILS WELCOME FOUR TRANSFERS TO ROSTER
ASU wrestling will feature a class of four transfers this season, including Dalton Brady (Utah Valley), Christian Pagdilao (Michigan State), Oliver Pierce (Oklahoma JC), and Judson Preskitt (Minnesota).
Brady, one of the top high school wrestlers from the state of Arizona, will compete at 133 pounds, while Pagdilao will bolster the Sun Devils at 149-pounds. Pierce will compete at 157-pounds, while Preskitt will join ASU at 125-pounds.
HOST OF NEWCOMERS JOIN ASU WRESTLING ROSTER
Set to join ASU wrestling this season are Anthony Anderson (165), Sullivan Cauley (197), Alexander Crawford (141), Alexander D’Aloisio (133), Nicolas Gaspari (149), Austyn Harris (HWT), Matthew Hogue (149), Matt Holm (157), Hayden Lee (125), Ryan Nantuna (149), Michael Oramas (Fr.), Mikel Perales (125), Jacen Petersen (165), and Koby Reyes (141)
THE 2015 PAC-12 WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Arizona State will compete at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships on Sunday, March 1, hosted by Oregon State in Corvallis.
Last season, ASU placed fourth with 111 points. This will mark the Sun Devils’ second trip to Corvallis this season, as ASU will open the conference slate on the road against the Beavers on Nov. 24.
HEAD COACH ZEKE JONES
The seventh coach in ASU wrestling history, Zeke Jones was hired in April 2014.
An Olympic silver medalist for the United States, Jones was the 1991 World Champion at 52kg, a four-time World-Cup Champion, and coached United States’ Olympians in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Olympic Games.
A member of ASU’s 1988 NCAA Wrestling Championship team, Jones was a three-time All-American and Pac-10 Champion for the Sun Devils. A national runner-up at 118, Jones sits at No. 4 in ASU’s career record book in both overall victories (134) and dual victories (59). He also holds the school record for dual match victories in a season with 22 during the 1989-90 campaign.
THE COACHING STAFF
Joining head coach Zeke Jones on the 2014-15 coaching staff are third-year assistant coach Lee Pritts, first-year assistant coach Chris Pendleton, and volunteer assistant Jordan Oliver.
Pendleton previously served as an assistant coach at Wyoming for four seasons, and specialized in training the team’s upper weight classes. Pendleton was a two-time NCAA Champion and three-time All-American at Oklahoma State.
Oliver, also a two-time NCAA Champion from Oklahoma State was a four-time All-American for the Cowboys, and set the career record for pins with 54. In his second year with USA Wrestling, Oliver stands as the No. 2 wrestler at 65 kg.