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Off Season Chess Moves Gain Three for 2021-22

by thesundevils.com
May 12, 2021

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The off season chess moves in college wrestling have fallen into place for the Arizona State wrestling program with the announcements of Kyle Parco, Jared Powell and Caleb O'Hara becoming Sun Devils for the 2021-22 season. 

They join an elite recruiting class that consists of the youngest Valencia brother, Cael Valencia, two-time California state champion Max Wilner, Pennsylvania state champion Carter Dibert, Junior Team USA member, Richard Figueroa and two-time Arizona state champion Ramon "Mykey" Ramos. 

With eight incoming wrestlers, InterMat Wrestling ranked the 2021 Sun Devil wrestling recruiting class at No. 2 -- one spot behind Penn State. 

"We're pleased to announce Jaren and Caleb will be Sun Devils," assistant coach Lee Pritts stated. "Both wrestlers will bring a great work ethic and a strong passion for the sport into our Sun Devil family. They excel in the classroom as well and that's something that is very important to the success of our program."

"We're super excited about Kyle joining the program. As many people know it's easier to win a national title in a career than it is to be a freshman All-American," head coach Zeke Jones said. "We know Kyle comes with a tremendous skill set and comes in with a desire to be a national champion right out of the gate. We're excited to help him do it."

 

Kyle Parco (Concord, Calif. -- 149 lbs.)

Fresno State announced they would be cutting their wrestling program after the 2020-21 season, so Parco opened up his recruiting options to transfer and originally committed to Utah Valley. The 2021 All-American and NCAA sixth place finisher in St. Louis concluded his season with a 19-4 overall record before recommitting to Tempe.

Parco's first NCAA berth as an automatic qualifier came when he placed third at 149 pounds at the Big 12 Championships. 

He became the first Fresno State wrestler at 149/150 since 1994 to be crowned an All-American.

A four-letter winner at De La Salle High School, the standout wrestler was a three-time CIF State Tournament Qualifier and won the 132 lbs weight class as a senior in 2019. He joins teammates Cohlton Schultz and Richard Figeoura as current Sun Devil wrestlers who have won a Doc Buchanan crown.

During his redshirt season, Parco wrestled unattached to the university at 141 and tallied seven wins by decision, four major decisions, three technical falls and three falls.

 

Jaren "JJ" Powell (Northlake, TX -- 149 lbs.)

Powell is a two-time Texas state champion in two weight classes (138 and 149) with Liberty Christian Prep. He won all four of his matches by fall within the first minute of wrestling in the 2020 TAPPS State Wrestling Tournament.

Prior to attending Liberty Christian he placed third at the state UIL Boys State Championship and at the UIL Boys Region for Burleson Centennial. As a sophomore, Powell was crowned second in freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Texas USA Wrestling State Championships at 132 lbs.

He was also selected as a Top 15 Pound 4 Pound wrestler in the State of Texas.

 

Caleb O'Hara (Anchorage, AK -- 125 lbs.)

O'Hara joins the Sun Devils as a three-time state finalist and two-time Alaska state champion with titles in his first two high school seasons. As a freshman he was crowned state champion for Anchorage Christian School where his father, Trevor, won state titles for the program in 1993 and 1994. 

In 2018, he wrestled his way to first at the Alaska USA State Greco-Roman Tournament while also finishing second in the cadet 106 freestyle class. The following year he placed first in Folkstyle, Greco and freestyle in junior 113 lbs.

He has defeated eight opponents via fall, three via tech falls and two major victories. 

Follow along with the incoming recruits and Sun Devil All-Americans all off-season on Twitter and Facebook @ASUWrestling and on Instagram @sundevilwrestling1962.

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