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NCAA Championships: ASU in Second, Five Sun Devils Heading to Quarterfinals

by thesundevils.com
Mar 17, 2022

DETROIT - Sun Devil Wrestling is making a statement in Detroit. The Sun Devils are in silver medal position (22 points), and just 5.5 points behind Penn State (27.5), after day one of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, hosted at Little Caesars Arena. Brandon Courtney, Michael McGee, Kyle Parco, Jacori Teemer and Cohlton Schultz are all in the champions bracket after two rounds of action. Schultz pinned his first two opponents, one of them in 52 seconds, Teemer earned a second-round pin, and McGee had a first-round tech.
 
Championship info
Direct ESPN watch links
Daily Schedule
Brackets, live results (Trackwrestling)

Friday
Session 3/ quarter finals/Consolation rounds 2 & 3: 11:00 a.m. EST 
Session 4/ semi-finals/consolation rounds 4 &5: 8:00 p.m. EST ESPN
 
Saturday
Session 5/ consolation semis - 3rd, 5th and 7th: 11:00 a.m. EST
Grand March 6:35 p.m. EST
Championship finals: 7:00 p.m. EST

ASU earned three majors, a trio of pins and a tech fall victory on day one. McGee leads the team with 28 total match points, followed by Courtney with 26 and Parco with 20. McGee's 18 points in his opening match against Richie Koehler (Rider) leads the team.
 
"We came to compete and I think the preparation was good and they're excited," head coach Zeke Jones said. "As we always talk about, they're just grateful to do what they love. Combine that with preparation - they believe in their conditioning and their skill level - and they're perfectly executing the game plan. We'll continue to go through the same process. We're going to game plan a little bit for each guy. Each competitor has a unique technique or skill that we want to be aware of and we'll just go out and do what we always do."

  

 
Energy hasn't been an issue for ASU at all. Schultz, Teemer and McGee all had the arena rocking at different points. Teemer especially had the fans on their feet when he earned a 2:43 fall over Virginia's 14-seeded Jake Keating in round two.
 
"They feed off each other," Jones said. "'You got a pin so now I'm going to go out and pin him better than you pinned him.' I think they elevate each other's energy that way. Wrestling's an individual sport but you can see the team piece to it. We're all trying to score points for the team so they feed off each other."
 
Schultz is the lone wrestler to earn two pins in the tournament so far. Eight of his 18 wins this year have been pins, and he has three in the first minute. Schultz took down 14-seed Lewis Fernandes in 52 seconds to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.
 
"Cohlton's a beast," Jones said. "He got his pins and he always comes off with a big smile on his face after he pins people. He understands that there's something bigger than himself and he's trying to help score points for the team. In his senior year of highschool he pinned 47 out of 48 heavyweights he wrestled in the first period so he has a tremendous feel for putting people on their backs from almost anywhere, and now I think he's starting to feel that in college."
 

 
 
 
Noteables

  • Cohlton Schultz, only wrestler in the tournament with two pins. Tied for second-fastest pin at :52 with Keegan O'Toole (Missouri). Jeremiah Kent of Missouri has the fastest at 0:42. ASU has the most pins in the least time thanks to Schultz' two and Teemer's pin.
  • Schultz has the most team-points in the tournament at six.
  • ASU at NCAA Championships under Zeke Jones:
    • 2021 - 4th place
    • 2020 - N/A
    • 2019 - 12th
    • 2018 - 10th
    • 2017 - 14th
    • 2016 - 36th
    • 2015 - 29th
  • ASU's lone national team title came in 1988 and featured Zeke Jones at 118 lbs.

 
 
ASU has 12 national titles via nine individuals. Most recently two-time champ Zahid Valencia collected crowns at 174 in 2018 and 2019:
Culp, Curley - HWT 1967
Urbano, Eddie - 150 1985
St. John, Dan - 158 1989
St. John, Dan - 167 1990
Mollica, Markus - 158 1993
Miller, Ray  - 167 1993
Mollica, Markus - 167 1995
Larkin, Eric  - 149 2003
Robles, Anthony - 125 2011
Bubba Jenkins  - 157 2011
Valencia, Zahid - 174 2018
Valencia, Zahid - 174 2019
 
 
 
 
Arizona State results
125
Brandon Courtney (23-1) place is unknown and scored 4.0 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 23-1 won by major decision over Joe Manchio (Columbia) 15-12 (MD 14-5)
  • Champ. Round 2 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 23-1 won by major decision over Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) 21-6 (MD 12-3)

133
Michael McGee (23-2) place is unknown and scored 3.5 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) 23-2 won by tech fall over Richie Koehler (Rider) 23-8 (TF-1.5 6:49 (18-3))
  • Champ. Round 2 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) 23-2 won by decision over Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 20-8 (Dec 10-4)

149
Kyle Parco (23-1) place is unknown and scored 3.0 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 23-1 won by major decision over Kody Komara (Kent State) 16-13 (MD 14-3)
  • Champ. Round 2 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 23-1 won by decision over Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 18-5 (Dec 6-2)

157
Jacori Teemer (21-0) place is unknown and scored 4.0 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 21-0 won by decision over Hunter Richard (Cornell) 15-10 (Dec 3-2)
  • Champ. Round 2 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 21-0 won by fall over Jake Keating (Virginia) 16-6 (Fall 2:43)

 

165
Anthony Valencia (17-7) place is unknown and scored 1.0 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) 17-7 won by decision over Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) 18-6 (Dec 6-3)
  • Champ. Round 2 - Keegan O`Toole (Missouri) 22-0 won by decision over Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) 17-7 (Dec 7-0)

197
Kordell Norfleet (15-4) place is unknown and scored 0.5 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Jay Aiello (Virginia) 14-4 won in sudden victory - 1 over Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) 15-4 (SV-1 5-3)
  • Cons. Round 1 - Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) 15-4 won by decision over Will Feldkamp (Clarion) 20-6 (Dec 13-8)

285
Cohlton Schultz (20-0) place is unknown and scored 6.0 team points.

  • Champ. Round 1 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 20-0 won by fall over Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) 18-9 (Fall 1:25)
  • Champ. Round 2 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 20-0 won by fall over Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) 19-8 (Fall 0:52)

 

 

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