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No. 11 @ASUWrestling Heads to Norman for First Road Trip of the Season

by thesundevils.com
Jan 7, 2021

NORMAN, Okla. - Coming off their first victory of the season, No. 11 Sun Devil Wrestling will head on the road to Norman, Okla., to face No. 20 Oklahoma on Friday night at McCasland Field House. The bout will begin at 6 p.m. (MST) and will be featured on Fox Sports Arizona Plus for Arizona viewers.

Friday's match against the Sooners is the first road test of the season for the Sun Devils and marks the first of eight duals that are outside of Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. 

"We're going to continue to do what we're doing and I think we are headed in the right direction," head coach Zeke Jones said. "I really like where our conditioning is at and where we are technically. Oklahoma is a good team and this is going to be a battle so we have to come out mentality prepared."

ASU is 14-29-1 all-time vs. the Sooners and last faced Oklahoma in January 2019 when the teams split a pair of duals at the Virginia Duals. Friday will mark the 45th time the two programs have faced off on the mat. The last time the Sun Devils went to Norman they were defeated by Oklahoma 33-7 in 2012.

Following the scheduled dual meet, there will be approximately 11 extra individual matches. Due to the unusual schedule this season, the teams agreed to additional matches with the goal to help individual wrestlers reach the minimum amount of matches needed to participate in and/or qualify for the 2021 NCAA Tournament. These will not be streamed on the broadcast. 

POTENTIAL MATCHUPS TO WATCH

No. 11 Arizona State v. No. 20 Oklahoma

125: #5 Brandon Courtney (2-0) vs. Mason Naifeh

133: #12 Michael McGee (2-0) vs. #10 Tony Madrigal

141: #23 Peter Lipari (1-0) vs. #6 Dom Demas

149: Cory Crooks (2-0) vs. #13 Mitch Moore

157: #10 Jacori Teemer (2-0) vs. #16 Justin Thomas

165: #5 Anthony Valencia (2-0) vs. Jake Stiles

174: #30 Trey Munoz vs. #6 Anthony Mantanona

184: Cade Belshay (1-0)  vs. #31 Darrien Roberts

197: #8 Kordell Norfleet (2-0) vs. #13 Jake Woodley

HWT: Cohlton Schultz (2-0) vs. Josh Heindselman

^Rankings are from FloWrestling

WHO TO WATCH

Sun Devil transfers redshirt junior Michael McGee (133) and graduate student Peter Lipari (141) both made impressive appearances against Little Rock. 

McGee has two major decision victories under his belt as he prepares for his top-10 opponent Tony Madrigal. Last season, No. 10 Madrigal finished fourth in the Big 12 and earned himself an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Reigning Pac-12 champion Jacori Teemer (157) will battle No. 16 Justin Thomas on the mat Friday night. The redshirt senior has won 20 matches in his previous three seasons as a Sooner and was the runner-up in the Big 12 Conference for the 157-pound weight class. 

Two-time Pac-12 champion Kordell Norfleet (197) and his opponent No. 13 Jake Woodley are the fourth duel of the day with both wrestlers ranked. After pinning his Little Rock opponent in 1:41, Norfleet will have a challenge on the mat as Woodley won six matches last season against ranked opponents. 

Closing out the team duel in the heavyweight spot for the Sun Devils will be redshirt freshman Cohlton Schultz. Schultz will face two-time Oklahoma state champion, three-time Fargo All-American and two-time NWSCA Nationals All-American redshirt freshman Josh Heindselman. 

Redshirt Trey Munoz (174) will make his first appearance for ASU on Friday night. In October, Munoz went 2-0 at the 2020 Senior Nationals in 87 kg Greco-Roman and placed 6th overall in his weight class. His opponent, No. 6 Anthony Mantanona finished second in the Big 12 last season and earned the ninth seed in the canceled NCAA Tournament. 

If you are unable to watch the match live Friday at 6 p.m. (MST) on Fox Sports Arizona Plus, it will be replayed and aired on Fox Sports Arizona at 3 a.m. (MST) on Saturday, January 9th.

Remember to follow all of the action from the weekend by following the team at @ASUWrestling on Twitter.

UP NEXT

The Sun Devils will head north to Ames, Iowa for a quad meet with No. 9 Iowa State, No. 24 Northern Iowa and No. 12 Missouri on Jan. 17. ASU has a combined 19-31-1 all-time versus opponents it will face in Ames. Times and broadcast information for these events will be released at a later date.

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