No. 8 @ASUWrestling Heads to UVU for Individual Tri-Dual Tournament
OREM, Utah-- After canceling Sunday's quadrangular meet due to COVID-19 protocols, the No. 8 Sun Devil Wrestling team (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12) will travel north for a round robin individual tournament with Big 12 opponents Utah Valley (1-1, 0-1 Big 12) and No. 25 Wyoming (1-2, 0-1 Big 12) on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 11 a.m. (MST) at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.
"We're looking forward to getting back into action," head coach Zeke Jones said. "Due to the COVID-19 protocol, we're only taking a partial team to Utah, but we're looking to be back at full strength by the following weekend. This gives other wrestlers on the roster an opportunity to wrestle so we're excited to see what they can do along with several of our starters getting back back into competition."
Instead of the traditional head-to-head dual meets and having a team score awarded to each program, the wrestlers will wrestle individually in their respective weight classes in a bracket tournament. To replace the team score there will be a weight class champion at each weight class and will be awarded to the wrestler with the best at the end of Saturday's action.
Saturday's matches will be competed on two mats simultaneously straight through without breaks.
Sun Devil fans can follow along with @ASUWrestling on Twitter.
HOW TO WATCH
Fans can follow along with the matches all day using the following links.
Both mats will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network and the GoUVU YouTube channel for free, as well as on FloWrestling (subscription required).
WAC Digital Network: https://bit.ly/3p00Ihd
FloWrestling: https://bit.ly/3nU7GTq
GoUVU on YouTube (Mat 1): https://bit.ly/3bYNHR9
GoUVU on YouTube (Mat 2): https://bit.ly/3bTw6Ko
Fans also have the opportunity to follow along with the event's live scoring/results via
TrackWrestling: https://bit.ly/2XUHA8m
THE SERIES
No. 25 Wyoming
It has been 22 years since the last time ASU and Wyoming stood across from each other on a wrestling mat.
Wyoming went 8-10 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 conference play last season, including victories over Pac-12 opponents Cal State Bakersfield and Oregon State. As a team, the Cowboys finished in seventh place at the Big 12 Championship. Then-junior Brian Andrews won the Big 12 heavyweight title and he became just the third Cowboy to take home a Big 12 title since UW joined the league in 2016.
Andrews along with six other Cowboy wrestlers were ranked in college wrestling polls and the Big 12 champion landed the No. 10 spot according to FloWrestling.
Led by veteran head coach Mark Branch, the Cowboys have won one dual match this season, 24-11 over Central Michigan University. Last weekend, their match against Fresno State was postponed before competing in individual matches against opponents from Northern Colorado, Air Force and South Dakota State.
Freshmen Chase Zollmann and Darren Green dominated the 141 weight class as they each went 3-0. Andrews only participated in one match on the day and he took a 15-0 victory over his opponent.
ASU owns a 10-7 record all-time against the Cowboys.
Utah Valley
The last time these two foes faced off on the mat, May 2020 graduate and heavyweight Pac-12 Champion Tanner Hall was just a freshman. The Sun Devils flew past Utah Valley that day with a 24-16 victory in Jan. 2016.
This past season the Wolverines went 3-11 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, finishing 11th out of 12 teams at the Big 12 Championships. Despite the team outcome, UVU had three wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Tournament and five took podium finishes in Okla.
The only remaining member of that NCAA Tournament bound trio is Taylor LaMont (133).
LaMont and the Wolverines are 1-1 to start the season after beginning with the Cal Poly Round Robin Tournament where no team scores were kept.
Their first loss of the season was against No. 25 Northern Colorado, where the two squads split the five matches apiece and UVU fell short 16-19 with bonus points awarded.
The Sun Devils hold a 5-1 record all-time against the Wolverines.
WHO TO WATCH
The Sun Devils will have five wrestlers on the mat in the round robin individual tournament including four redshirt freshmen, Cohlton Schultz, Julian Chlebove, Ethan Pickren and Zane Coleman.
Probable Wrestlers
141: Julian Chlebove (1-1)
141: Ethan Pickren (0-0)
149: Cory Crooks (2-1)
174: Zane Coleman (0-1)
285: Cohlton Schultz (3-0)
Chlebove is a three-time Pennsylvania state champion and accumulated a 43-2 record his freshman season at Northhamption Senior High School. While being recruited, Chlebove was ranked as the eighth top prospect at 132-pounds by FloWrestling. He made his Sun Devil debut in the dual against No. 20 Oklahoma and defeated his opponent by a 3-2 decision victory.
Pickren left South Walton High School in Panama City Beach, Fla. as one of the most decorated wrestlers in school history with an impressive record of 244-16 and he finished his senior season with a 54-2 record. For four years in a row Pickren placed in the top three for the 138-pound weight class at the Florida state tournament.
Coleman redshirted his freshman year before making his Sun Devil debut this season against Little Rock. The Oklahoma native went 41-1 in his senior season at Choctaw High School and won the Oklahoma state title in the 170-pound weight class to round out his four state championships.
Redshirt senior Cory Crooks is the lone upperclassman on the trip to Utah. Crooks has dedicated his time on and off the mat to become the starting wrestler he is today. His perseverance paid off last season as he placed third (141) at the Pac-12 Championships. Prior to the start of the season, he won six consecutive matches at the U23 Nationals in Omaha to place fifth in his weight class and ended the tournament with a 8-2 record. Crooks is 2-1 on the season, earning two victories over Little Rock wrestlers, but fell short in his dual against No. 13 Mitch Moore from No. 20 Oklahoma.
No. 10 Cohlton Schultz will clash against the No.13 heavyweight Brian Andrews. Along with his Big 12 Conference title, he has won 30+ matches in his first two seasons since transferring from junior college to the Cowboys. Schultz has won his previous three matches this season including a victory over Oklahoma's Josh Heindselman.
UP NEXT
Following the battles against the Cowboys and Wolverines, ASU will continue forward with its road trip as they will face Pac-12 No. 21 Stanford for one of the final times. ASU leads the series with an 11-8 record all-time against the Cardinal and defeated them 28-12 last season.