Arizona State UniversityTempe, AZ

Arizona State Wrestling Returns Home to Face Nebraska Friday Night

Intrastate battle with Embry-Riddle on the road also is on the schedule

For the first time in nearly two months, the No. 24 Arizona State University wrestling team (7-4-0, 3-0-0 Pac-10) will compete on its home mats as the Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-6-0, 0-0-0 Big XII) come to town for an 8 p.m. dual Friday night inside Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils, winners of their last three duals, are competing at home for the first time since a 39-16 defeat of local rival Grand Canyon on November 29. Following the dual on Friday night, the Sun Devils will hit the road once again, but stay in the state, as they travel north to Prescott to face Embry-Riddle (4-8-0) in a 3 p.m. dual. The road contest with the Eagles will mark the first time ASU has traveled to Prescott to face ERAU.

WRESTLING NIGHT IN TEMPE
When the Sun Devils play host to Nebraska, they will have four former Sun Devil All-Americans joining the team on the bench as honorary coaches, including Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson. All four of the honorary coaches, who also are up-and-coming stars in the UFC, will be signing autographs following the dual. The dual also has been selected as the High School Night (contact <>lauren.m.spencer@asu.edu for free admission information) and Sparky's Kids to College Night (contact Phillip at 480-727-0200 or visit http://thesundevils.cstv.com/genrel/sktc.html for more information). Gates for the dual will open at 5:30 p.m. with tickets costing $7 for general admission ($5 for juniors and seniors) and $3 for groups of 15 or more (contact Aaron at 480-727-3502 at least three days prior to the dual). The tickets purchased that night will be good for admittance to the ASU-NU dual and the two high school duals that precede the Sun Devil competition.

ALUMNI
The four fighters will not be the only alums of the program in attendance on Friday night as all Sun Devil wrestling alumni are invited back for the dual and those in attendance will be recognized on the mat at halftime of the dual. One former member of the program that will be in attendance is legendary coach Bobby Douglas, who led the Sun Devils to the 1988 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship.

RECAP: LONE STAR DUALS
Arizona State snapped a two-dual lossing streak with three wins in one day as the Sun Devils swept their opponents in their first appearance at both the Lone Star Duals and in any competition in the state of Texas.

* The Sun Devils won 7-of-10 weight classes in the opening dual, including five falls, to down Harvard, 39-12. The lone losses for the Sun Devils came against nationally ranked foes as Te Edwards dropped a 6-5 decision to No. 1 J.P. O'Connor at 157 pounds while Jake Meredith lost a 7-2 decision to No,. 7 Louis Caputo at 184.

* ASU then faced the Air Force Academy and posted a 38-6 win by shutting out the Falcons in the nine contested matches and winning six with bonus points, including two more falls. The Falcons scored their lone points at 197 where ASU forfeited the weight class.

* In the finale, the Sun Devils again won 7-of-10 weights with three major decisions and one win by forfeit to claim a 27-15 victory over Utah Valley. Three matches were decided by two points or less with the Sun Devils winning both matches decided by one point and falling in the two-point match.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
With his three dominating wins at 125 pounds, Anthony Robles was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Lone Star Duals. Robles opened with a pin of Steven Keith (Harvard) in 1:47 before sticking Andrew Zwirlein (Air Force) in 2:00. Robles finished the day with a major decision score of 10-2 over No 15 Ben Kjar (Utah Valley).
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MORE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES
Along with Robles, four other Sun Devils went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend in Texas with each picking up team bonus points in two of those three wins. Ben Ashmore, a product of Dallas, went 3-0 at 133 pounds and posted a win by fall, by major decision and by decision, while Chris Drouin won by identical means at 141. Vicente Varela posted wins of decision, major and technical fall at 149 while heavyweight Erik Nye won by fall, forfeit and decision.

POINTS-O-PLENTY
On the weekend, the Sun Devils were victorious in 23-of-30 matches and collected bonus points for the team score in 17 of those wins. Overall, Arizona State wrestlers won seven matches by fall, two by technical fall, seven by major decision and one by forfeit.

LITTLES GOING STRONG
The Sun Devils in the four lightest weight classes have opened the 2010 calendar year a very strong showing as the group of Robles (125), Ashmore (133), Drouin (141) and Varela (149) have combined to go 18-6 while leading the team to a 4-2 dual record. Robles led the way with a perfect 6-0 record while the other three Sun Devils each went 4-2 overall. Of those 18 combined wins, the four men have won 13 with bonus points, including five by fall, one by technical fall and seven by major decision. One of the decision victories was huge as well as Drouin knocked off then-undefeated and No. 1 Reese Humphrey (Ohio State), 3-1 in sudden victory, at the National Duals. Also, when looking at the six losses, four came to foes ranked in the national Top 8, including both losses for Varlea, who dropped matches to the No. 2 and No. 3 wrestlers at 149 at the National Duals.

NATIONALLY KNOWN

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released its coaches' team rankings once again on January 19 with Sun Devils slipping one spot to No. 24 despite sweeping three duals on the weekend. Eight of ASU's opponents this season are currently receiving votes in the national Top 25 with seven of those teams holding places in the Top 25: No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 16 Cal Poly and No. 22 Oregon State. Nebraska is currently receiving votes, but not enough to remain on the Top 25 list this week.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED

Three Sun Devils are currently ranked nationally this week with Anthony Robles leading the way as he remained No. 3 at 125 pounds according to Amateur Wrestling News. The same ranking service has heavyweight Erik Nye at No. 13 and Chris Drouin at No. 15 (141 pounds).

PAC-10 RANKINGS
UC Davis, the host of the 2010 Pac-10 Conference Wrestling Championships, has begun releasing rankings for the conference and, in the January 13 release, 9-of-10 Sun Devils are ranked among the Top 5 in the conference, including four ranked in the Top 3. Anthony Robles is ranked No. 1 at 125 while Erik Nye remained No. 2 at heavyweight. Eric Starks (174) moved up one spot to No. 2 while Kyle DeBerry (165) remained at No. 3. Vicente Varela (149) and Jake Meredith (184) are both ranked No. 4 in their weight classes while Ben Ashmore (133), Chris Drouin (141) and Te Edwards (157) are all No. 5. Anthony Pike is ranked No. 8 at 197.

USA SENIOR RANKINGS
TheMat.com U.S. Senior Rankings were released last week with several individuals with ties to the Sun Devil program ranked among the best in America. In the men's freestyle rankings, five are ranked nationally including: Danny Felix (No. 1 at 55kg), Ben Ashmore (No. 5 at 55kg), Brian Stith (No. 7 at 66kg), Ben Askren (No. 3 at 74kg) and Raymond Jordan (No. 7 at 84kg). In Greco-Roman, Erik Nye is ranked No. 4 and Kenny Lester No. 8 at 120kg. In women's freestyle, Kelsey Campbell is ranked No. 2 at 59kg.

OPPONENT INFO: NEBRASKA
The Cornhuskers enter the dual with an 8-6-0 overall record (0-0-0 Big XII) and have lost three duals in a row with set-backs to No. 1 Iowa (33-3) and Buffalo (18-17) at the National Duals and at home to Wyoming (29-10). Nebraska has faced one opponent common to ASU's schedule, Wisconsin, and holds a 26-17 victory over the Badgers (ASU lost, 23-10, at National Duals). Three 'Huskers are ranked nationally including No. 2 Craig Brester at 197 (20-0), No. 3 Stephen Dwyer at 174 (17-2) and No. 10 Tucker Lane at heavyweight (18-5).

IN THE SERIES: NEBRASKA
In the all-time series, Nebraska holds a 9-4-1 advantage and has won the last three duals in the series. The last time the two teams faced one another came on January 30, 2004, with NU taking a 26-9 decision in Tempe, marking the first time the Sun Devils lost to the Cornhuskers in Tempe (ASU leads, 2-1-0, in home duals). The last time the Sun Devils won in the series came on February 1, 2002, when ASU scored a 20-16 victory at home.

OPPONENT INFO: EMBRY-RIDDLE
The Eagles enter the weekend with a 4-8-0 overall record after going 1-2 in a trio of home duals last Saturday and also competing in a home tournament on Sunday. Prior to facing the Sun Devils, Embry-Riddle will travel down to Phoenix to face San Francisco State and Colorado School of Mines on Saturday before hosting ASU on Sunday. Ranked 18th as a team in the January 19 NAIA poll, the Eagles have a pair of nationally ranked individuals, including No. 3 Tyler Chang at 157 and No. 10 Trace Billet at 149.

IN THE SERIES: EMBRY-RIDDLE
Arizona State leads the all-time series with Embry-Riddle, 9-0-0, with all nine matches being held in Tempe. In the last meeting, the Sun Devils won, 38-6, in a home dual on November 30, 2008. The first meeting came on February 19, 1999, with ASU winning, 40-6.

TAKING DOWN THE TOP
At the NWCA National Duals, Chris Drouin did something that no one else had done this year and that was defeat Reese Humphrey of Ohio State, who entered the match at 141 pounds as the top-ranked wrestler in the nation and undefeated at 18-0. Despite pushing the action throughout the match, Drouin's lone score came in the third period on an escape just as Humphrey had done in the second period. With a distinct advantage in shots and offensive moves, Drouin continued to push, but no scoring took place and the match went into overtime. In the one-minute period, Drouin again stalked Humphrey and eventually blasted through on a double-leg attempt and finished the shot with two points for the takedown and a 3-1 win.

NOT TOO OFTEN
Arizona State competed in the NWCA National Duals for the 16th time in the program's history and walked away without a victory for just the second time. The last time the Sun Devils were unable to win at least one dual in the tournament was in 2005 at Cleveland State when ASU opened with a 24-16 loss to Michigan before being eliminated by Central Michigan, 20-19. The Sun Devils now hold an all-time record of 32-31 in the event.

CLOSE OR NOT
So far this year, Anthony Robles is 20-2 with his two losses coming in tournament finals in Las Vegas and Reno. In Reno, Robles rolled his first three opponents with two falls (0:59 and 1:25) and a 17-2 technical fall before defeating No. 8 Chris Notte (Oklahoma State) for the second time this year, 2-1. In the final, Robles lost a one-point decision, falling 4-3 to No. 7 Eric Morrill (Edinboro). His previous loss this year came to No. 1 Angel Escobedo (Indiana), 4-2, in Vegas. Including his wins at the Lone Star Duals, Robles has now outscored his opponents by a combined score of 151-30.

DOMINANT
With three more bouns point wins at the Lone Star Duals over the weekend, Anthony Robles moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time list of wins by bonus points (majors, techs and falls) with 47. Robles, who as won 14 matches by major decision, 16 by technical fall and 17 by fall in his career, is now tied with David Douglas (1999-02) and Aaron Simpson (1995-98) for the seventh position and is two wins behind Nick Frost (2000-04) for sixth on the list with 49.

KEEPING IT CLOSE
Heavyweight Erik Nye holds a 17-8 record so far this season with a 9-6 record in matches decided by two or fewer points. Nye is now 4-2 on the year in matches decided by two points and he is 5-4 in matches decided by one point.

VARELA IMPROVING
For the first time in the regular season in his two years of competition, Vicente Varela placed in a tournament as he finished fifth in the Reno Tournament of Champions (took seventh at the 2009 Pac-10 tournament). Varela won four matches in a row in the consolation rounds, including a fall in 1:07, a 7-2 decision and pair of majors (18-5, 9-0) before falling in the consolation semifinals. So far this year, Varela holds a 16-8 record and is third in wins on the team.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
Four individuals have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their education and compete for the wrestling program at Arizona State upon completion of their high school careers. The soon-to-be Sun Devils include Louis Trujillo of Rio Rancho, N.M.; Nathan Hoffer of Anchorage, Alaska; Joel Smith of Collins Hill, Ga.; and local product Shane McGough of Scottsdale. According to InterMat, three of those signees are ranked among the Top 100 recruits this season, including Trujillo, who enters his senior season ranked as the No. 27 recruit and No. 4 at 135 pounds. Hoffer is the No. 66 recruit and No. 5 at 140 pounds while Smith is the No. 82 recruit and No. 9 at 140 pounds. McGough, although not ranked among the Top 100 recruits, enters the season ranked No. 9 nationally at 130 pounds and is one of the top wrestlers in the state.

TAKING NOTICE
With four strong recruits signed, head coach Shawn Charles' 2010 recruiting class is already being lauded as one of the best in the nation as InterMat has pegged it as the No. 10 class in the nation following the early signing period. The schools ahead of the Sun Devils include No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Northwestern, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Cornell, No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Missouri and No. 9 Ohio State.

AWAY FROM THE TEAM
Here are some other things happening involving former members of the program:
 * In the world of mixed martial arts (MMA), four former Sun Devil wrestlers have found out who, when and where their next fights will be in the UFC with three making the trip to Australia for the UFC's first event 'down under'. On February 20, in Sydney, Australia, three Sun Devils will fight in UFC 110 with Cain Velasquez (7-0) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1) fighting in the main event. Ryan Bader (11-0) will meet Keith Jardine (14-7-1) in a light heavyweight fight while C.B. Dollaway also will fight (his fight details will be announced later). Recently (January 11), Aaron Simpson remained undefeated (7-0) as he won a split decision with Tom Lawlor (6-2) at UFC Fight Night in Fairfax, Va.

COME BACK!
Speaking of Velasquez and other alumni, the Sun Devil wrestling program has been encouraging alums to come out and support the current mat men in their home duals. On January 22, when the Sun Devils play host to Nebraska at 8 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena, the program is inviting all former Sun Devil wrestlers back to WFA for Alumni Night. All alums in attendance will be recognized at 'halftime' of the dual and Velasquez will be on hand after the dual to sign autographs for all fans in attendance. More information for alums will be announced at a later date.

GET CONNECTED, STAY CONNECTED
Are you a social net-worker that wants to get connected to the Sun Devils? Well, we have two ways you can do that! If you are on Twitter, request to follow our program by going to Twitter.com/ASUWrestling for our latest tweets. If you are on Facebook, type Sun Devil Wrestling into the search box and join our fan page, which will have updates and photos throughout the year. And be sure to check back throughout the season to find out about special happenings, including auctions for seats on the ASU bench and other great deals.

DO WE KNOW YOU?
While the social network sites are a great way to get updates on us, another way for future Sun Devils, their coaches, our alumni and all friends of the program can stay in touch with us is by filling out the form on the wrestling page of TheSunDevils.com. On that page, under the headlines, are links to filling out a recruiting questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for our alumni to reconnect and for others to also become part of the program. Make sure you fill out the form to stay up-to-date on the program.

UP CLOSE
Fans have the unique opportunity to get up close to the action as they can purchase mat side tickets for the entire season for a $75 donation to the program. Fans can also support the program and show their Sun Devil pride by purchasing 'Wrestling with the Devil' T-shirts. Both the ticket and T-shirt forms can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on TheSunDevils.com (look under SUPPORT ASU WRESTLING). Merchandise and autographs with the wrestlers and coaches also will be available on the arena floor following the dual.

LIFTING THE LID
ASU continued a recent string of success in their first dual of the season as the Sun Devils' defeat of UC Davis have ASU a win in it's fifth season-opening dual (including three in a row against UCD). Overall, the Sun Devils are 35-13-0 all-time in their first dual of the season and 32-16-0 all-time in their first road contest of the season.

AHEAD OF THE PAC(-10)
Since joining the Pac-10 Conference in time for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have built a 28-4-1 all-time record in their first conference dual of the season and hold a mark of 23-5-0 all-time in their first Pac-10 road dual of the year (ASU didn't wrestle a Pac-10 foe on the road five times) following the win at UC Davis. Arizona State is 12-0-1 in its last 13 Pac-10 openers with its last loss coming during the 1996-97 season in a 21-18 set back to CS Bakersfield in Tempe.

PAC-10 PROSPERITY
Despite posting a 3-4 record against Pac-10 foes last year, the Sun Devils still hold a strong record all-time against schools in the conference and are 3-0 so far this season. Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and seven others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State, Stanford, UC Davis). As members of the Pac-10, ASU holds an 85-21-1 record. When counting in the other schools that no longer compete, ASU is 126-21-1 against 17 teams during their time in the Pac-10.

BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS
In the 31 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 47 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since 1979.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Sun Devils will return home next Sunday to face Pac-10 rival Oregon State in a 2 p.m. dual inside Wells Fargo Arena.
#23 Arizona State Wrestling Sweeps All Three at Lone Star Duals

Arizona State wins 475th dual in program history to close the busy day in Texas

TEMPE - The No. 23 Arizona State University wrestling team competed in three duals at the 2010 Lone Star Duals Saturday in Grand Prairie, Texas, and walked away with three convincing victories as the Sun Devils posted victories over Harvard (39-12), Air Force (38-6) and Utah Valley (27-15) in the program's first event in the state of Texas. The three victories snapped a two-dual losing streak for the Sun Devils and raised their record to 7-4-0 overall this season while their win over Utah Valley marked the 475th win all-time in ASU's history.

Individually, five Sun Devils won all three of their matches on the day, including No. 3 Anthony Robles at 125 (two falls, one major), Ben Ashmore at 133 (one fall, one major, one decision), No. 15 Chris Drouin at 141 (one fall, one major, one decision), Vicente Varela at 149 (one tech, one major, one decision) and No. 14 Erik Nye at heavyweight (one fall, one forfeit and one decision). Michael Swigart at 157 also went undefeated as he won his only match on the day. Combined, the Sun Devils posted a 23-7 record on the day with seven wins by fall, one by forfeit, two by technical fall and seven by major decision.

In the first dual of the day, the Sun Devils won 7-of-10 matches and scored bonus points in all seven victories to defeat the Crimson (2-4-1), 39-12. ASU won the first four matches of the dual with Robles, Ashmore and Drouin each pinning their opponents before Varela added a 14-4 major decision to stake the Sun Devils to a 22-0 lead. At 157, Te Edwards nearly gave ASU another upset of a top-ranked foe (Drouin upset No. 1 Reese Humphrey of Ohio State at the National Duals last weekend) as he dropped a close 6-5 decision to No. 1 J.P. O'Connor. Kyle DeBerry (165) added a technical fall and Eric Starks (174) won by fall to increase the lead to 33-3. Jake Meredith (184) lost a 7-2 decision to No. 7 Louis Caputo before Harvard won by forfeit at 197 to make it 33-12 before Nye won by fall to close out the dual with a 27-point victory for the Sun Devils.

Next up for the Sun Devils was a dual with the Falcons that saw ASU win the first eight matches in a row and 9-of-10 overall to record a 32-point victory. The Sun Devils opened with Robles winning by fall, Ashmore by major decision and Drouin by a 6-4 decision over No. 14 Cole VonOlen in a battle of nationally ranked foes to put ASU ahead, 13-0. The Sun Devils added a technical fall win by Varela at 149 before Swigart pinned his foe in 1:30 to record his first victory by fall in his varsity career at ASU. DeBerry (165) and Meredith (184) each added wins by major decision with Starks taking a 6-5 decision at 174 to keep the winning streak going. After AFA won by forfeit at 197 for their lone victory of the dual, Nye went into overtime to win a 2-1 sv decision.

The final dual of the day opened at 125 pounds with No. 3 Robles winning a 10-2 major decision over No. 15 Ben Kjar in the only meeting of ranked opponents in the dual to put the Sun Devils ahead for good and on its way to a sweep of the duals on the day. Robles' win also gave him his 47th career bonus-point victory and tying him for seventh all-time in ASU history with David Douglas (1999-02) and Aaron Simpson (1995-98). Ashmore (decision), Drouin (major), Varela (decision) and Edwards (major) added wins to stake ASU to an 18-0 lead before Utah Valley won two in a row, including a win by decision at 165 and win by fall at 174. Leading 18-9, ASU won at 184 as Meredith secured a decision victory before both teams swapped forfeits over the last two weight classes with UVU winning at 197 and Nye winning at heavyweight for ASU.

ASU will return to action at home on Friday night at 8 p.m. as the Sun Devils play host to No. 25 Nebraska. UFC fighters and former Sun Devil All-Americans Cain Velasquez, Aaron Simpson, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway will serve as honorary coaches and sign autographs following the dual.

#23 Arizona State (5-4-0) def. Harvard (2-4-1), 39-12
Lone Star Duals * Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) pinned Steven Keith, 1:47
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) pinned Fermin Mendez, 1:44
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) pinned Tony Buxton, 6:24
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) major Nick Brazeau, 14-4
157 - #1 J.P. O'Connor (H) dec. Te Edwards, 6-5
165 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) tech fall Michael Sadler, 18-3
174 - Eric Starks (AS) pinned Bryan Panzano, 3:32
184 - #7 Louis Caputo (H) dec. Jake Meredith, 7-2
197 - Sean Murphy (H) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) pinned Spencer Desena, 6:04

#23 Arizona State (6-4-0) def. Air Force (2-5-0), 38-6
Lone Star Duals * Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) pinned Andrew Zwirlein, 2:00
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) major Tyler Untrauer, 9-1
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) dec. #14 Cole VonOhlen, 6-4
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) tech fall Gabe Martinez, 20-5
157 - Michael Swigart (AS) pinned Darren Stowe, 1:03
165 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) major Justin Shadrix, 16-3
174 - Eric Starks (AS) dec. Tyler French, 6-5
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) major Josh Mohr, 10-2
197 - Neil Delaney (AF) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) dec. Steve Larson, 2-1 sv

#23 Arizona State (7-4-0) def. Utah Valley (5-1-0), 27-15
Lone Star Duals * Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) major #15 Ben Kjar, 10-2
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) dec. Flint Ray, 6-5
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) major Jeff Newby, 12-4
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) dec. Justin Morrill, 3-2
157 - Te Edwards (AS) major Clay Frost, 15-4
165 - Jeb Clark (UV) dec. Kyle DeBerry, 7-5
174 - Brad Darrington (UV) pinned Eric Starks, 6:48
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) dec. Casen Eldredge, 6-1
197 - Josh Wood (UV) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) won by forfeit
Arizona State Wrestling Bounced from National Duals with 23-10 Loss to Wisconsin

Robles, Starks and Nye win matches, but Sun Devils fall again on Saturday

TEMPE - Three members of the No. 22 Arizona State University wrestling team won their matches, but it was not enough to send the Sun Devils to a victory as No. 18 Wisconsin captured a 23-10 decision in the consolation first round of the 2010 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals inside the UNI Dome on Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday. With the loss, the Sun Devils fell to 4-4 overall on the year and were eliminated from the tournament while the Badgers improved to 3-4 on the season.

No. 3 Anthony Robles opened the dual at 125 pounds and, for the second time on the day, won by major decision, this time scoring a 9-1 defeat of Drew Hammen, to put the Sun Devils on top, 4-0. The lead was short-lived, however, as No. 7 Tyler Graff scored a 12-3 major decision over ASU's Ben Ashmore to knot the score at four each and start a run of five wins in a row for the Badgers.

UW won the next two bouts by identical 6-0 scores with Cole Schmitt upsetting No. 16 Chris Drouin at 141 before No. 2 Kyle Ruschell stopped Vicente Varela at 149 pounds. Michael Swigart put up a strong fight once again at 157 pounds, but Greg Burke won the match, 8-6, before No. 1 Andrew Howe downed Kyle DeBerry with a 16-5 major decision for a 17-4 Badger lead.

Eric Starks picked-up ASU's second win of the dual as he took a 10-3 decision over Jim Duffy at 174 pounds, but UW won the next two matches with Jake Meredith falling in a 5-2 decision at 184 to Travis Rutt and Anthony Pike dropping a 6-3 decision to Jackson Hein at 197. With the team scored at 23-7, No. 13 Erik Nye took to the mat at heavyweight and won his match, 3-1, to end the dual with the Sun Devils on the short end of a 23-10 score.

The Sun Devils return to the road next weekend for a trio of duals on Saturday, January 16, at the 2010 Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas, and open the competition at 10 a.m. CT against Harvard. ASU also will face Air Force (2 p.m. CT) and Utah Valley (8 p.m. CT) that day.

#18 Wisconsin (3-4) def. #22 Arizona State (4-4), 23-10
UNI Dome * Cedar Falls, Iowa * NWCA National Duals
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) major Drew Hammen, 9-1
133 - #7 Tyler Graff (W) major Ben Ashmore, 12-3
141 - Cole Schmitt (W) dec. #16 Chris Drouin, 6-0
149 - #2 Kyle Ruschell (W) dec. Vicente Varela, 6-0
157 - Greg Burke (W) dec. Michael Swigart, 8-6
165 - #1 Andrew Howe (W) major Kyle DeBerry, 16-5
174 - Eric Starks (AS) dec. Jim Duffy, 10-3
184 - Travis Rutt (W) dec. Jake Meredith, 5-2
197 - Jackson Hein (W) dec. Anthony Pike, 6-3
285 - #13 Erik Nye (AS) dec. Eric Bugenhagen, 3-1
#22 Arizona State Wrestling Wins Seven Matches to Down CS Bakersfield, 25-13

Sun Devils remain perfect in Pac-10 action with third conference win of the season

TEMPE - With seven individual wins, including two that produced bonus points, the No. 22 Arizona State University wrestling team opened the second half of its season with a 25-13 road victory over the host Roadrunners of CS Bakersfield inside the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., on Sunday afternoon in a Pac-10 dual. The victory kept the Sun Devils perfect in the conference at 3-0 and improved them to 4-2 overall on the season while the Roadrunners slipped to 0-3 on the year with a 0-2 record in the Pac-10.

The dual opened at 184 pounds with Jake Meredith taking a 5-1 victory over Mike Larson to stake the visitors to an early 3-0 team lead. Larson carried a 1-0 lead through two periods before Meredith started the third period down and reversed Larson for a 2-1 lead. Meredith added a two-point near fall and one more point for riding time to take the win. At 197 pounds, rookie Anthony Pike was trailing 8-3 in the second period before Riley Orozco pinned him at 4:55 to put the hosts in front, 6-3.

But, that lead for the Roadrunners was short-lived as No. 15 Erik Nye knocked off the top-ranked heavyweight in the Pac-10 rankings, No. 16 Mitch Monteiro, with a 5-3 decision to tie the team score at 6-6. With the match scoreless through one, Monteiro chose down to open the second and escaped for a 1-0 lead before Nye made it 2-1 with a takedown. After Monteiro escaped, the match was tied at 2-2 heading into the third where Nye escaped and then took down Monteiro for a 5-2 lead. The CSUB big man escaped with 1:03 remaining, but no more scoring was to be had as Nye took the decision.

From there, the Sun Devils piled on 10 points to take the lead for good as the light weights took to the mats. First up, No. 3 Anthony Robles used four takedowns and one three-point near fall to easily score a 13-1 major decision over Frank Lomas to win the 125-pound match and give ASU a 10-6 lead. Then, Ben Ashmore made it 16-6 after the 133-pound match as he scored a takedown 15 seconds into the match before working for the fall and getting it as he stuck Tyler Iwamura in 1:21.

CSUB cut the lead to 16-10 after 141 pounds as No. 12 Elijah Nacita scored a major decision over ASU's No. 11 Chris Drouin, 13-5, but the Sun Devils rebounded with two wins in a row as Vicente Varela and Michael Swigart won at 149 and 157, respectively, to make it 22-10 ASU. First up, Varela used three takedowns, one reversal and one three-point near fall to take a 12-5 decision over John Cardenas. Then, Swigart won a close match as he took a 2-0 lead into the second period before Andrew Balch escaped to open the period and then took down Swigart with one second remaining in the stanza. Trailing, 3-2, Swigart chose down to open the third and reversed Balch at 1:06 and then rode him out for the 4-3 win.

The hosts picked up a win at 165 as Joey Granata defeated Kyle DeBerry, 5-4. DeBerry was up 2-1 through the first period on a takedown before Granata took the 3-2 lead through two periods on a reverse. DeBerry chose neutral to open the third and scored a takedown, but, with one second remaining in the match, was reversed by Granata to fall, 5-4. The final match of the day came at 174 pounds and featured a meeting between a pair of high school teammates as ASU's Eric Starks won a 4-3 decision over his fellow Battle Ground High School graduate Trevor Hall. Hall held a 2-1 lead through one with a takedown before a Starks escape in the second tied it at 2-2. Hall escaped in the third for a 3-2 lead before Starks took down Hall with two seconds remaining in the match to win, 4-3.

Next up for the Sun Devils will be the 2010 NWCA National Duals that will be held in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday and Sunday (January 9-10). The match-ups for the first round of the double-elimination team tournament will be announced later this week.

#22 Arizona State (4-2, 3-0 Pac-10) def. CS Bakersfield (0-3, 0-2 Pac-10), 25-13
Icardo Center * Bakersfield, Calif.
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) dec. Mike Larson (CB), 5-1
197 - Riley Orozco (CSB) pinned Anthony Pike (AS), 4:55
285 - #15 Erik Nye (AS) dec. #16 Mitch Monteiro (CB), 5-3
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) major Frank Lomas (CB), 13-1
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) pinned Tyler Iwamura (CB), 1:21
141 - #12 Elijah Nacita (CB) major #11 Chris Drouin (AS), 13-5
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) dec. John Cardenas (CB), 12-5
157 - Michael Swigart (AS) dec. Andrew Balch (CB), 4-3
165 - Joey Granata (CB) dec. Kyle DeBerry (AS), 5-4
174 - Eric Starks (AS) dec. Trevor Hall (CB), 4-3
Pac-10 Road Dual Awaits Arizona State Sun Devil Wrestling on Sunday

Arizona State heads to Bakersfield for showdown with Roadrunners

Following a two-week break, the No. 22 Arizona State University wrestling team will return to the competition mats this weekend as the Sun Devils (3-2, 2-0 Pac-10) will travel to the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., to take on host CS Bakersfield (0-2, 0-1 Pac-10) for a Pac-10 dual at 2 p.m. PT Sunday. The Sun Devils last competed on December 20 when they finished in a tie for fourth place at the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions.

LOOKING FOR THREE'S
When the Sun Devils face the Roadrunners on Sunday, they will look to continue one streak to three in a row and also halt one streak before it hits three. If the Sun Devils win the dual, they will move to 3-0 on the season in conference action after sweeping a season-opening weekend at UC Davis (38-6) and at CS Fullerton (37-4). A victory also would halt a two-dual skid in the series with CS Bakersfield as this weekend's host has won the last two after ASU had won three in a row.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released its coaches' team rankings once again on December 22 with Sun Devils sliding one spot to No. 22 after tying for fourth at the Reno Tournament of Champions. For the first time this season, six of the Sun Devils' dual opponents are ranked in the Top 25, including No. 2 Iowa State, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 Nebraska, No. 19 Cal Poly and No. 25 Oregon State. The Sun Devils are one four Pac-10 teams in the national Top 25 which also includes No. 8 Boise State. In three other rankings, the Sun Devils remained among the Top 20 as they are No. 18 in the D1CollegeWrestling.net rankings; No. 19 in the InterMat ranking; and No. 20 in the Wrestling Insider Magazine rankings.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
All four of those ranking services have three Sun Devils ranked this week (December 22) with Amateur Wrestling News ranking each wrestler the highest, including No. 3 Anthony Robles (125), No. 11 Chris Drouin (141) and No. 15 Erik Nye (285). One service, D1CollegeWrestling.net, has Ben Ashmore ranked this week at 133 pounds as he stands 24th.

PAC-10 RANKINGS
UC Davis, the host of the 2010 Pac-10 Conference Wrestling Championships, has begun releasing rankings for the conference and, in the December 7 release, has nine of the 10 starters ranked among the Top 5 in the conference at their respective weights. Anthony Robles leads the way for Arizona State as he is ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds while Eric Starks is No. 2 at 174. Chris Drouin (141), Kyle DeBerry (165) and Erik Nye (285) are all ranked No. 3 while Jake Meredith (184) is No. 4. Ben Ashmore (133), Vicente Varela (149) and Te Edwards (157) are all ranked No. 5 currently.

IN THE SERIES: CS BAKERSFIELD
Arizona State leads the all-time series with CS Bakersfield, 20-9-1, and holds a 12-4-0 lead in duals contested in Bakersfield, Calif. The Roadrunners have won the last two duals overall, including a 36-15 score last year in Tempe and a 22-13 decision in Bakersfield during the 2007-08 season. The Roadrunners are looking to defeat ASU three times in a row for just the second time ever (1980-81 season through 1982-83 season).

LAST TIME: ASU VS. CSUB
CS Bakersfield jumped out to a 17-0 lead through three matches to run away with the dual victory as the visiting Roadrunners won a 36-15 decision in a dual that saw all but two matches end in decision. Eric Starks (decision), Anthony Robles (pin) and Chris Drouin (pin) were the only victors for the host Sun Devils as CSUB won four matches by pin fall, one by technical fall, one by major decision and one by decision. Similar to this season, the Sun Devils entered the dual with a perfect 2-0 record in the Pac-10 before the loss to CSUB.

MARQUEE MATCHES
Four weight classes could feature some highly anticipated matches this weekend with those match-ups coming at 141, 165, 184 and heavyweight. At 141, Chris Drouin (#3) and Elijah Nacita (#5) could meet again with Drouin looking to exact some revenge after falling to Nacita, 8-1, in the Reno Tournament of Champions on December 20. The match at 165 looks to feature Joey Granata (#2) and Kyle DeBerry (#3) in one of the three matches (according to the December 7 rankings) that has a Roadrunner ranked ahead of a Sun Devil. The match at 184 is another closely ranked battle as Jake Meredith (#4) and Mike Larson (#5) could meet while the heavyweight battle could be just that as Erik Nye (#3) will look to upset Mitch Monteiro (#1).

FAMILIARITY
One match in the dual will pit former teammates against one another as Eric Starks and Trevor Hall meet at 174 pounds. Starks, a sophomore, and Hall, a junior, were teammates at Battle Ground High School in Battle Ground, Wash., before heading off to a pair of Pac-10 schools for their collegiate careers. The duo have not met on the collegiate mats so far.

RECAP: RENO
The No. 21 Arizona State University wrestling team saw five of its individuals place in the Top 6 with Anthony Robles taking second place at 125 pounds to lead the way as the Sun Devils placed in a tie for fourth overall at the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions event that was held in Reno on Sunday. The Sun Devils scored 77 points to tie with Ohio for fourth while No. 3 Oklahoma State won the title with 154 points. No. 17 Edinboro was second with 85.5 points and No. 15 Penn State was third with 83 points. The team finish for the Sun Devils is their best since the 2002 tournament in which they place third overall for the third time in the event. ASU has moved up the standings each of the last two seasons, taking sixth last year and fourth this year, to give the program nine Top 6 finishes in their 11 appearances. Robles, the top seed and second-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, went 4-1 on the day and moved easily to the semifinals with wins by fall in 59 second and 1:25 before scoring a 17-2 technical fall. He needed a late takedown to defeat fifth-seeded and 11th-ranked Chris Notte of Oklahoma State before third-seeded and seventh-ranked Eric Morrill of Edinboro won a 4-3 decision in the finals. Heavyweight Erik Nye had another strong showing in tournament action for the Sun Devils as he went 4-2 on the day and took fourth place with both losses coming in close decisions. Nye opened the tournament with a win by fall in 2:09 before advancing to the semifinals where he fell to eventual champion Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, the top-seeded and third-ranked wrestler in the nation. Nye rebounded with a win in the consolation semifinals before falling to Kurt Klimek of CS Fullerton, 3-1. Two Sun Devils placed fifth in their respective weight classes with Chris Drouin and Vicente Varela earning those finishes at 141 and 149, respectively. The second-seeded and fifth-ranked Drouin advanced to the semifinals before third-seeded and sixth-ranked Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State, the eventual champion, handed the ASU junior a 3-2 setback. Drouin found himself in a battle for fifth place at the end of the day and defeated Navy’s Matt Pagan for the second time, this time with a 4-3 decision. Varela, like Nye, also had another strong showing in tournament action as he won four elimination matches in a row to place. After going 1-1 in the championship rounds, Varela won by fall in 1:07, an 18-5 major decision and then a 7-2 decision over the eighth-seeded Luke Silver of Oklahoma State before taking another win by major (9-0). Varela, who fell in the consolation semifinals, won fifth place by medical forfeit. The final Sun Devil to place was Eric Starks at 174 pounds as he took sixth. The sophomore won his first three matches of the day to advance to the semifinals, but lost his next three in decisions decided by four or less to settle for sixth.

CLOSE OR NOT
So far this year, Anthony Robles is 14-2 with his two losses coming in tournament finals in Las Vegas and Reno. In Reno, Robles rolled his first three opponents with two falls (0:59 and 1:25) and a 17-2 techincal fall before defeating No. 8 Chris Notte (Oklahoma State) for the second time this year, 2-1. In the final, Robles lost a one-point decision, falling 4-3 to No. 7 Eric Morrill (Edinboro). His previous loss this year came to No. 1 Angel Escobedo (Indiana), 4-2, in Vegas.

KEEPING IT CLOSE
Heavyweight Erik Nye holds a 12-7 record so far this season with a 6-5 record in matches decided by two or fewer points. With a 2-1 record in those type of matches at Reno two weeks ago, Nye is now 2-2 on the year in matches decided by two points and he is 4-3 in matches decided by one point.

VARELA IMPROVING
For the first time in the regular season in his two years of competition, Vicente Varela placed in a tournament as he finished fifth in the Reno Tournament of Champions (took seventh at the 2009 Pac-10 tournament). Varela won four matches in a row in the consolation rounds, including a fall in 1:07, a 7-2 decision and pair of majors (18-5, 9-0) before falling in the consolation semifinals. So far this year, Varela holds a 12-6 record and is tied for the second-most wins on the team. At this point last year, Varela was 7-7 overall and ended the season with a 10-13 record, two fewer wins than he already has this season.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Sun Devils will remain on the road next weekend as they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the 2010 NWCA National Duals on January 9-10. The dual opponents for the Sun Devils will be determined next week as they will be based upon the most current national rankings. Northern Iowa is hosting the event inside the UNI Dome on its campus.
Five Arizona State Sun Devils Place to Lead Wrestling Team to 4th Place in Reno TOC

Robles finishes runner-up to lead ASU to best Reno finish since placing 3rd in 2002

RENO, Nev. - The No. 21 Arizona State University wrestling team saw five of its individuals place in the Top 6 with Anthony Robles taking second place at 125 pounds to lead the way as the Sun Devils placed in a tie for fourth overall at the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions event that was held in Reno on Sunday. The Sun Devils scored 77 points to tie with Ohio for fourth while No. 3 Oklahoma State won the title with 154 points. No. 17 Edinboro was second with 85.5 points and No. 15 Penn State was third with 83 points.

The team finish for the Sun Devils is their best since the 2002 tournament in which they place third overall for the third time in the event. ASU has moved up the standings each of the last two seasons, taking sixth last year and fourth this year, to give the program nine Top 6 finishes in their 11 appearances.

Robles, the top seed and second-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, went 4-1 on the day and moved easily to the semifinals with wins by fall in 59 second and 1:25 before scoring a 17-2 technical fall. He needed a late takedown to defeat fifth-seeded and 11th-ranked Chris Notte of Oklahoma State before third-seeded and seventh-ranked Eric Morrill of Edinboro won a 4-3 decision in the finals.

Heavyweight Erik Nye had another strong showing in tournament action for the Sun Devils as he went 4-2 on the day and took fourth place with both losses coming in close decisions. Nye opened the tournament with a win by fall in 2:09 before advancing to the semifinals where he fell to eventual champion Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, the top-seeded and third-ranked wrestler in the nation. Nye rebounded with a win in the consolation semifinals before falling to Kurt Klimek of CS Fullerton, 3-1.

Two Sun Devils placed fifth in their respective weight classes with Chris Drouin and Vicente Varela earning those finishes at 141 and 149, respectively. The second-seeded and fifth-ranked Drouin advanced to the semifinals before third-seeded and sixth-ranked Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State, the eventual champion, handed the ASU junior a 3-2 setback. Drouin found himself in a battle for fifth place at the end of the day and defeated Navy’s Matt Pagan for the second time, this time with a 4-3 decision.

Varela, like Nye, also had another strong showing in tournament action as he won four elimination matches in a row to place. After going 1-1 in the championship rounds, Varela won by fall in 1:07, an 18-5 major decision and then a 7-2 decision over the eighth-seeded Luke Silver of Oklahoma State before taking another win by major (9-0). Varela, who fell in the consolation semifinals, won fifth place by medical forfeit.

The final Sun Devil to place was Eric Starks at 174 pounds as he took sixth. The sophomore won his first three matches of the day to advance to the semifinals, but lost his next three in decisions decided by four or less to settle for sixth.

The Sun Devils will return to action after the turn of the new year as they will travel to Bakersfield, Calif., on January 3 for a Pac-10 dual with the Roadrunners of CS Bakersfield.

15th Reno Tournament of Champions
Reno Events Center • Reno, Nev.
COMPLETE ASU RESULTS
#/# indicates tournament seed/national ranking
125 - #1/#2 Anthony Robles (4-1, Runner-up)
Champ 1st - Robles pinned Chase Dirden (MS Northern), 0:59
Champ 2nd - Robles pinned Kody Klaus (UC Davis), 1:25
Quarterfinal - Robles tech fall #8/nr Andre Gonzalez (CS Fullerton), 17-2 (7:00)
Semifinal - Robles dec. #5/#11 Chris Notte (Oklahoma State), 2-1
Final - #3/#7 Eric Morrill (Edinboro) dec. Robles, 4-3

133 - #3#17 Ben Ashmore (2-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - Ashmore dec. Justin Durham (CS Bakersfield), 7-2
Champ 2nd - Ashmore dec. ns/NCAA2 #6 Kyle Pedretti (Upper Iowa), 8-7
Quarterfinal - Kasey Garnhart (Wyoming) dec. Ashmore, 3-1
Conso 4th - Cory Vombaur (Wyoming) dec. Ashmore, 4-0

133 - David Prado (1-2, DNP) - not scoring for the team
Champ 2nd - #1/#8 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) pinned Prado, 2:30
Conso 2nd - Prado tech fall Tyler Johnson (South Dakota State), 17-1 (5:07)
Conso 3rd - Cory Vombaur (Wyoming) dec. Prado, 9-3

141 - #2/#5 Chris Drouin (3-2, 5th Place)
Champ 2nd - Drouin dec. Darrin Boing (Ohio), 8-2
Quarterfinal - Drouin major Matt Pagan (Navy), 12-3
Semifinal - #3/#6 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) dec. Drouin, 3-2
Conso Semi - #4/nr Elijah Nacita (CS Bakersfield) dec. Drouin, 8-1
5th/6th Place - Drouin dec. Matt Pagan (Navy), 4-3

149 - Vicente Varela (6-2, 5th Place)
Champ 1st - Varela pinned Jesse Westphal (MS Mankato), 3:39
Champ 2nd - #6/nr Glen Shober (Navy) dec. Varela, 3-2
Conso 2nd - Varela pinned Justin Eldred (Southern Oregon), 1:07
Conso 3rd - Varela major Trent Stevenson (SW Oregon), 18-5
Conso 4th - Varela dec. #8/nr Luke Silver (Oklahoma State), 7-2
Conso Quarter - Varela major J.J. Johnson (Eastern Michigan), 9-0
Conso Semi - #3/#17 Barrett Abel (UC Davis) dec. 6-4
5th/6th Place - Varela won by medical forfeit over #7/nr Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro)

149 - Tony Ruiz (1-2, DNP) - not scoring for the team
Champ 2nd - #5/nr Quinten Fuentes (Oklahoma State) pinned Ruiz, 2:54
Conso 2nd - Ruiz dec. Jesse Westphal (MS Mankato), 8-4
Conso 3rd - Dave Christian (Cal Poly) dec. Ruiz, 8-3


157 - Michael Swigart (1-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - Swigart dec. Justin Turek (MS Mankato), 6-2
Champ 2nd - #3/#6 Chase Pami (Cal Poly) pinned Swigart, 4:06
Conso 2nd - Nick Jordan (CS Fullerton) dec. Swigart, 7-4

165 - #8/nr Kyle DeBerry (3-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - DeBerry dec. Tel Todd (MS Mankato), 6-0
Champ 2nd - Kyle Kiss (North Carolina) dec. DeBerry, 6-5
Conso 2nd - DeBerry dec. Justin Brandel (Eastern Michigan), 5-1
Conso 3rd - DeBerry dec. ns/NJCAA #7 Derek Mestrovich (Clackamas), 8-3
Conso 4th - #6/nr Michael Cutherbertson (Boise State) dec. DeBerry, 5-2

165 - Te Edwards (3-2, DNP) - not scoring for the team
Champ 1st - Edwards dec. Blake Ginsburg (CS Fullerton), 8-1
Champ 2nd - #6/nr Michael Cutherbertson (Boise State) dec. Edwards, 5-0
Conso 2nd - Edwards pinned Caanan Towns (Upper Iowa), 2:53
Conso 3rd - Edwards dec. Joey Wilson (UC Davis), 3-1
Conso 4th - Kyle Kiss (North Carolina) dec. Edwards, 6-4

174 - #3/nr Eric Starks (3-3, 6th Place)
Champ 1st - Starks dec. Phillip Joseph (Eastern Michigan), 5-3
Champ 2nd - Starks pinned Jake Rice (SW Oregon), 4:57
Quarterfinal - Starks dec. ns/NCAA 2 #2 Mitch Norton (Upper Iowa), 9-7
Semifinal - #2/nr Ryan DesRoches (Cal Poly) dec. Starks, 6-3
Conso Semi - #5/nr Jacob Ison (Ohio) dec. Starks, 4-0
5th/6th Place - Brock Smith (Wyoming) dec. Starks, 7-4

184 - #7/nr Jake Meredith (2-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - Meredith dec. Chris Platt (Southern Oregon), 8-4
Champ 2nd - Meredith dec. Rory McBryde (UC Davis), 6-4
Quarterfinal - #2/#13 David Erwin (Penn State) major Meredith, 10-1
Conso 4th - Mark Savalle (CS Fullerton) pinned Meredith, 4:51

197 - Anthony Pike (0-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - Clay Steadman (Penn State) dec. Pike, 5-4
Conso 2nd - #2/#10 Tyler Sorenson (South Dakota State) pinned Pike, 3:59

285 - #5/17 Erik Nye (4-2, 4th Place)
Champ 1st - Nye pinned Nick Hylton (Navy), 2:09
Champ 2nd - Nye dec. David Morgan (CS Bakersfield), 5-3
Quarterfinal - Nye won by medical forfeit over #4/NCAA2 #1 Brady Wilson (MS Mankato)
Semifinal - #1/#3 Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State) dec. Nye, 4-1
Conso Semi - Nye dec. #6/nr David Wade (Eastern Michigan), 3-2
3rd/4th Place - Kurt Klimek (CS Fullerton) dec. Nye, 3-1
Reno Tournament Awaits #21 Arizona State Wrestling on Sunday

Sun Devils return to the mats after one week off for fall finals

With final exams for the fall semester behind them, the No. 21 Arizona State University wrestling team will return to work on the mats this weekend as the Sun Devils are set to travel to Reno, Nev., for the 15th Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday. The Sun Devils will be one of 26 teams on hand for the one-day event at the Downtown Convention Center that will feature teams from NCAA Division I (17), NCAA II (four), NAIA (three) and NJCAA (two).

SECOND OF FOUR
The Sun Devils are entering their second individual tournament of the season this weekend after competing in the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational two weeks ago in Las Vegas to open the tournament schedule. Following this weekend's action in Reno, the Sun Devils will not compete in an individual tournament until the end of the season championship events that include the Pac-10 Conference and NCAA Wrestling Championships.

TOUGH FIELD
Similar to the Las Vegas event last time, the Reno Tournament of Champions will be filled with highly regarded teams and individuals from all four divisions, including six teams currently ranked in the NWCA Division I Top 25 (December 15 poll). Along with the No. 21 Sun Devils, the other nationally ranked teams include No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Boise State, No. 15 Penn State, No. 17 Edinboro and No. 19 Cal Poly. The nine non-NCAA Division I schools entered into the tournament all carry national rankings from their respective divisions, including Division II teams No. 2 Newberry College, No. 3 Adams State, No. 9 Minnesota State-Mankato and No. 12 Upper Iowa; NAIA teams No. 4 Great Falls, No. 5 Southern Oregon and No. 15 Montana State-Northern; and NJCAA teams No. 7 Clackamas CC and No. 14 Southwestern Oregon CC.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released its coaches' team rankings once again on Tuesday with Sun Devils remaining at No. 21 for the second week in a row. Five of ASU's 2009-10 opponents are also currently members of the national Top 25 rankings, including No. 2 Iowa State, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 12 Nebraska, and No. 25 Oregon State. In the two other rankings, the Sun Devils remained among the Top 20 as they are No. 16 in the Wrestling Insider Magazine rankings and are No. 15 in the InterMatWrestle.com rankings.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
Several ranking services have three or four of the Sun Devils ranked in their respective nationally rankings with both Anthony Robles and Chris Drouin ranked in all polls. Robles is currently ranked No. 2 at 125 pounds by D1CollegeWrestling.net and No. 3 by both InterMatWrestle.com and Wrestling Insider Magazine (AWN has not released their latest rankings yet this week) while Drouin is ranked No. 7 by D1, No. 10 by InterMat and No. 12 by WIN. Heavyweight Erik Nye is ranked in two polls, including No. 17 by D1 and No. 20 by WIN while Ben Ashmore (133) is No. 17 according to D1.

IN THE EVENT: RENO
In their previous 10 trips to the Reno Tournament of Champions, the Sun Devils have placed among the Top 6 on eight occasions and finished no lower than 14th overall (2006). Although Arizona State has not won the team title in Reno, it has come close on six occasions, including finishing the tournament as the runner-up in 2000, 2003 and 2004 while adding third-place showings in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Including the 2008 event, the Sun Devils have placed sixth twice with finishes of 11th and 14th also being recorded.

LAST TIME: 2009 RENO TOURNAMENT
After two years in a row of placing outside of the Top 10, the Sun Devils placed sixth overall at the 2008 Reno Tournament of Champions, scoring 63 points while No. 13 Oklahoma State won the team title with 146.5 points, No. 17 Edinboro was second in 132.5 and North Carolina third with 94. Individually, the Sun Devils had two place-winners with both Anthony Robles and Chris Drouin winning titles. Robles was the top-seed at 125 pounds and dominated his way to the title as he won one fall and three technical falls before scoring a 9-2 decision over No. 15 Obe Blanc (Oklahoma State) in the final. At 141 pounds, Drouin also was the top-seed and went 6-0 on the day with one fall, one technical fall, one medical forfeit and two decision wins before defeating unranked Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) in the final, 7-5, on a takedown in overtime.

QUICK RECAP: LAS VEGAS
Four Sun Devils placed among the Top 8 as the team finished 11th overall at the 28th Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational in Primm, Nev., on December 4-5. Anthony Robles (125), Ben Ashmore (133), Chris Drouin (141) and Erik Nye (285) all placed with Robles leading the way with a runner-up finish as he fell, 4-2, to top-ranked and 2008 NCAA Champion Angel Escobedo (Indiana) in the final. Drouin posted a 4-3 record on the weekend and finished sixth at 141 pounds while Nye also finished sixth and went 6-2 on the weekend. Ashmore took eighth place at 133 pounds with a 3-2 overall record.

DOMINANT
Anthony Robles once again had a strong showing in a tournament setting as he went the distance (seven minutes) in only two of his six matches in Las Vegas. Robles opened the tournament with three wins in a row by fall, including times of 2:21, 3:59 and 2:09, before winning a 17-2 technical fall in 4:29. He added a decision win by a 7-2 score before falling in the final. With his four bonus-point wins, Robles moved into 11th on the career bonus-point wins list at Arizona State with 38 total career wins by major decision (10), technical fall (15) and fall (13). He needs four more to tie Jeremy Mendoza (2003-06) for 10th with 42 career bonus wins. Robles' 15 career technical fall wins currently stand third (since 1994-95) with Nick Frost (2000-04) holding the record of 17.

MORE THAN OTHERS
While the lightest Sun Devil made quick work of his opponents, the heaviest, Erik Nye, did not have it as easy as he not only wrestled in eight matches, but also went into overtime in three of those matches. Nye, who went 6-2 and placed sixth at heavyweight, won by fall and then by a 7-2 decision before falling to No. 17 Ed Bordas (Rider) in a 3-2 decision that came in the first tie-breaker set. Nye rebounded with a win by fall before winning a 3-1 decision in sudden victory and then followed that with a 2-1 win in the second tie-breaker set. Nye went on to upset No. 16 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 3-2, before losing by injury default in the consolation semifinals.

CLOSELY CONTESTED
Ben Ashmore, similar to Nye, had several close matches in Las Vegas as all three of his wins came by one point each. Ashmore had wins of 1-0, 6-5 and 5-4 on the weekend.

PIKE PINS
Heading into the Las Vegas Invitational, true freshman Anthony Pike had fallen in his three previous matches and was in search of his first collegiate win. In his first match of the tournament, he got just that as he stuck Rory McBryde (UC Davis) in 1:14 to collect his first win. Pike went 2-2 in the tournament with his other win coming by fall as well (4:27).

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
Over the past few weeks, four individuals have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their education and compete for the wrestling program at Arizona State upon completion of their high school careers. The soon-to-be Sun Devils include Louis Trujillo of Rio Rancho, N.M.; Nathan Hoffer of Anchorage, Alaska; Joel Smith of Collins Hill, Ga.; and local product Shane McGough of Scottsdale. According to InterMat, three of those signees are ranked among the Top 100 recruits this season, including Trujillo, who enters his senior season ranked as the No. 27 recruit and No. 4 at 135 pounds. Hoffer is the No. 66 recruit and No. 5 at 140 pounds while Smith is the No. 82 recruit and No. 9 at 140 pounds. McGough, although not ranked among the Top 100 recruits, enters the season ranked No. 9 nationally at 130 pounds and is one of the top wrestlers in the state.

TAKING NOTICE
With four strong recruits signed, head coach Shawn Charles' 2010 recruiting class is already being lauded as one of the best in the nation as InterMat has pegged it as the No. 10 class in the nation following the early signing period. The schools ahead of the Sun Devils include No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Northwestern, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Cornell, No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Missouri and No. 9 Ohio State.

GOING GLOBAL
Over the weekend, three with ties to the program were in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., participating for Team USA at the 2009 FILA World Grappling Championships with all three helping the Americans to a pair of world team titles and placing among the Top 5 individually. Ben Askren, the ASU's Director of Operations, won the no-gi 84kg (185) division with a 3-1 decision over Jacob Volkmann (USA), the 2008 world champion, to lead the trio from Tempe while former Sun Devil wrestler Jeff Funicello placed fifth in the same division. In the 120kg (264.5) division, current Sun Devil Kenny Lester also earned a medal as he took the bronze by defeating Srdjan Kliseric (Serbia), 6-1. Funicello also competed in the 84kg gi tournament and also took fifth to contribute points toward the U.S. winning another team title.

AWAY FROM THE TEAM
Here are some other things happening involving former members of the program:
* Former Sun Devil Kelsey Campbell and several other women's freestyle wrestlers traveled to Beijing, China, to take part in a 10-day training and exhibition trip with Team China. Campbell was a two-time Women's Collegiate National Champion while with the Sun Devils and recently won the 2009 U.S. Championship at 59kg (130 pounds).
* In the world of mixed martial arts (MMA), four former Sun Devil wrestlers have found out who, when and where their next fights will be in the UFC with three making the trip to Australia for the UFC's first event 'down under'. First up, Aaron Simpson (6-0) will face Tom Lawlor (6-1) at UFC Fight Night on January 11 in Fairfax, Va. Then, on February 20, in Sydney, Australia, three Sun Devils will fight in UFC 110 with Cain Velasquez (7-0) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1) fighting in the main event. Ryan Bader (11-0) will meet Keith Jardine (14-7-1) in a light heavyweight fight while C.B. Dollaway also will fight (his fight details will be announced later).

COME BACK!
Speaking of Velasquez and other alumni, the Sun Devil wrestling program has been encouraging alums to come out and support the current mat men in their home duals. On January 22, when the Sun Devils play host to Nebraska at 7 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena, the program is inviting all former Sun Devil wrestlers back to WFA for Alumni Night. All alums in attendance will be recognized at 'halftime' of the dual and Velasquez will be on hand after the dual to sign autographs for all fans in attendance. More information for alums will be announced at a later date.

PICKING UP THE PACE
Entering the dual with Grand Canyon, the Sun Devils had pinned just three opponents with only one fall coming in the first period (Vicente Varela, 2:30 against UC Davis). In the dual with the Antelopes, the Sun Devils won three matches by fall with two of those pin times coming in under 1:34 of the first period. Chris Drouin was the first to pin an opponent, doing so in 5:36 before Jake Meredith and Erik Nye made short work of their opponents, needing just 1:00 and 1:34, respectively, to secure a six-point win for the team. Although quite fast, both men still have one teammate ahead of them for the honor of fastest fall as Tony Ruiz (149) stuck an opponent at the Fullerton Open two weeks ago in just 44 seconds.

GET CONNECTED, STAY CONNECTED
Are you a social net-worker that wants to get connected to the Sun Devils? Well, we have two ways you can do that! If you are on Twitter, request to follow our program by going to Twitter.com/ASUWrestling for our latest tweets. If you are on Facebook, type Sun Devil Wrestling into the search box and join our fan page, which will have updates and photos throughout the year. And be sure to check back throughout the season to find out about special happenings, including auctions for seats on the ASU bench and other great deals.

DO WE KNOW YOU?
While the social network sites are a great way to get updates on us, another way for future Sun Devils, their coaches, our alumni and all friends of the program can stay in touch with us is by filling out the form on the wrestling page of TheSunDevils.com. On that page, under the headlines, are links to filling out a recruiting questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for our alumni to reconnect and for others to also become part of the program. Make sure you fill out the form to stay up-to-date on the program.

UP CLOSE
Fans have the unique opportunity to get up close to the action as they can purchase mat side tickets for the entire season for a $75 donation to the program. Fans can also support the program and show their Sun Devil pride by purchasing 'Wrestling with the Devil' T-shirts. Both the ticket and T-shirt forms can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on TheSunDevils.com (look under SUPPORT ASU WRESTLING). Merchandise and autographs with the wrestlers and coaches also will be available on the arena floor following the dual.

ONE YEAR OLDER
Last year, the Sun Devils had a starting line-up much of the season that consisted of two sophomores, two juniors, three true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen. With eight of the 10 in just their first or second seasons, the Sun Devils had one of the youngest lineups in the nation. This year, however, those young wrestlers enter the season with more experience and a line-up that has just two freshmen, Michael Hawkins (redshirt freshman) and Anthony Pike (true freshman) at 197.

MAKING HIS DEBUT
Just the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of the program, former Sun Devil All-American Shawn Charles made his debut on the sideline over the weekend and became the fourth coach in a row to win his first dual with the Sun Devils as Arizona State downed host UC Davis, 39-6. The past three coaches each posted victories in their debuts, including a 30-15 win at CS Bakersfield for Bobby Douglas (1974-75 season), a 23-15 win at Clarion for Lee Roy Smith (1992-93) and a 40-6 home win for Thom Ortiz against CS Fullerton (2001-02). Ted Bredehoft, following one forfeit win and one forfeit loss, led his team to victory with a 38-0 blanking of Cal Poly Pomona (1962-63) to also collect a win in his first dual in which wrestling took place. The only coach that did not register a victory in his first dual was John Wadas, who saw his Sun Devils fall at home to Utah, 23-11, to open the 1971-72 season.

LIFTING THE LID
Arizona State continued a recent string of success in their first dual of the season as the Sun Devils' defeat of UC Davis have ASU a win in it's fifth season-opening dual (including three in a row against UCD). Overall, the Sun Devils are 35-13-0 all-time in their first dual of the season and 32-16-0 all-time in their first road contest of the season.

AHEAD OF THE PAC(-10)
Since joining the Pac-10 Conference in time for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have built a 28-4-1 all-time record in their first conference dual of the season and hold a mark of 23-5-0 all-time in their first Pac-10 road dual of the year (ASU didn't wrestle a Pac-10 foe on the road five times) following the win at UC Davis. Arizona State is 12-0-1 in its last 13 Pac-10 openers with its last loss coming during the 1996-97 season in a 21-18 set back to CS Bakersfield in Tempe.

PAC-10 PROSPERITY
Despite posting a 3-4 record against Pac-10 foes last year, the Sun Devils still hold a strong record all-time against schools in the conference and are 2-0 so far this season. Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and seven others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State, Stanford, UC Davis). As members of the Pac-10, ASU holds an 84-21-1 record. When counting in the other schools that no longer compete, ASU is 125-21-1 against 17 teams during their time as members of the Pac-10.

BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS
In the 31 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 47 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since the 1979 championships.

BACK FOR MORE
Twenty-five wrestlers return to the roster once again this season, including nine of the 10 men that competed at the Pac-10 Championships. The Sun Devils return three Pac-10 finalists in Anthony Robles (125 champion), Chris Drouin (141 runner-up) and Eric Starks (174 runner-up) with both Robles and Drouin coming off an All-American season as the duo placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Other starters returning include David Prado (133), Vicente Varela (149), Te Edwards (157), Kyle DeBerry (165), Jake Meredith (184) and Imanibom Etukeren (285). Several others that started at various points in the season are also back this season, including Erik Nye (285), Michael Swigart (157) and Jerrad Trulson (157).

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The program also has welcomed eight new wrestlers to the fold with six coming to Tempe as true freshmen and two in their sophomore year at Arizona State. The newcomers include Carlos Castro (141, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Sergio Cortez (165, Moorpark, Calif./Royal HS), Tai Fukumoto (149, Seattle, Wash./Lakeside HS), Kalin Goodsite (133, Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King HS), Orson Lor (165, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Anthony Pike (197, Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside HS), Jared Stephens (133, Westland, Mich./Westland John Glenn HS) and Daniel Walker (133, Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain HS).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Not only did eight new wrestlers join the program this season, but so did three staff members, including Bryan Snyder (head assistant coach), Raymond Jordan (volunteer coach) and Ben Askren (director of operations).
* Snyder was a four-time All-American (157) for Nebraska and was a two-time national runner-up. A four-time Big XII Champion and three-time NWCA All-Star Classic selection, Snyder went 136-11 with a 69-4 dual record in his days in Lincoln. He was a four-time NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Big XII selection before earning two degrees from NU in 2002 (Sociology, Communication Studies).
* Jordan was a two-time All-American at Missouri, earning the honors at 174 (2009) and 184 (2008) to become just the fourth Tiger to earn All-America honors at two different weights. A four-time NCAA qualifier and 2007 Big XII Champion (174), Jordan went 123-29 in his career before earning a degree in Personal Finance Planning from MU in 2008.
* Askren, a U.S. Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Games, was a four-time NCAA All-American, four-time finalist and two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri. A two-time Dan Hodge Award winner, the three-time Big XII Champion went 153-7 in his career, won an NCAA record 18-consecutive matches by first-period pin and won 93 matches by pin in his career. Askren was a four-time NWCA All-Academic honoree and graduated from MU in 2007.

ALL-AMERICANS
With their performances in St. Louis, Robles and Drouin both earned All-America honors to become the 63rd and 64th national honorees in the program's history. Overall, the Sun Devil program has collected 104 total All-America honors with four individual earning four honors in their careers, including current head coach Shawn Charles, the first Sun Devil in program history to do so. Robles and Drouin will now look to become the 31st and 32nd Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors in a career, which also includes current assistant coach Brian Stith, who was a two-time honoree.

HOME OF THE SUN DEVILS
Wells Fargo Arena serves as the home of Arizona State's home wrestling duals, as well as basketball (men and women), women's gymnastics and women's volleyball. Opened in the spring of 1974, the 14,198-seat arena has been the home venue of some of the Sun Devil greats with all 16 Pac-10 team titles and one of the two Western Athletic Conference crowns attained by ASU. Since its opening, 57 Sun Devils have captured 109 individual conference titles while 67 different athletes have earned a total of 98 All-America honors. The Sun Devils stand 170-56-2 all-time inside Wells Fargo Arena (208-92-2 all-time at home). With its 36-3 defeat of Utah Valley on Jan. 10, 2005, ASU recorded its 150th victory at WFA.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Reno Tournament of Champions is the final action of 2009 for the Sun Devils... the team will return to action on January 3, 2010, at Pac-10 rival CS Bakersfield in a 2:00 p.m. PT dual inside the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif. Until then, the entire Sun Devil wrestling program would like to wish everyone the Happiest of Holidays and Happy New Year!
Robles Takes Second, Three Other Arizona State Wrestlers Place at Las Vegas Invitational

Sun Devils finish 11th as a team as Ashmore, Drouin, Nye also finish in the Top 8

TEMPE - Anthony Robles dropped a close 4-2 decision in the finals and three of this teammates placed among the Top 8 individually as the final rounds of competition came to a close Saturday afternoon at the 28th Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational inside the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm, Nev. Robles was joined in the Top 8 by Ben Ashmore (eighth at 133), Chris Drouin (sixth at 141) and Erik Nye (sixth at heavyweight) to give the Arizona State University wrestling team four of its eight competitors podium finishes in one of the premier tournaments held each year.

Overall, the Sun Devils scored 69.5 points and finished just outside of the Top 10 as they took 11th place in the 44-team field. No. 4 Ohio State edged No. 9 Cornell for the team title, 122.5-121.5, while No. 12 Oklahoma (109.5), No. 7 Boise State (97.5) and No. 11 Nebraska (94.0) rounded out the Top 5. No. 13 Indiana (90.5), No. 23 Cal Poly (79.5), Oregon State (77.5), Wyoming (71.0) and No. 18 Wisconsin (73.5) also finished in the Top 10.

Robles, who entered the weekend with a perfect 5-0 record, left the tournament with a 10-1 overall mark as he went 5-1 as the second-seed in the 125-pound weight class. After rolling through his first four opponents on Friday, Robles faced sixth-seeded and 12th-ranked Michael Martinez (Wyoming) and scored a 7-3 victory in the semifinals to advance to the final against top-seeded and top-ranked Angel Escobedo (Indiana). As a freshman two years ago, Robles faced Escobedo in the first round of the NCAA Championships and fell to the eventual national champion, 4-2. In the rematch today, Robles once again was on the short end of a 4-2 score, giving him a second-place finish in the tournament.

The remaining three Sun Devils in the tournament all were in the consolation quarterfinals on the second day of the tournament with two winning their first match of the day. At 133 pounds, Ashmore, the eighth-seeded wrestler, meet up with fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Steve Mytych (Drexel) and was pinned in 1:19 to fall to the seventh place match where he faced Flint Ray (Utah Valley), an opponent he defeated one day earlier. But, the second meeting did not take place as Ashmore did not compete as he medically forfeited the match to take eighth place.

At 141 pounds, the second-seeded Drouin, who lost his first match of the year one day earlier, looked to get back on the winning track and did so in his first match as defeated third-seeded and eighth-ranked Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech) in a 5-1 decision. In the consolation semifinal, fourth-seeded and 13th-ranked Kyle Dake (Cornell) got the best of Drouin and won the match, 4-0, to send Drouin to the fifth-place match where Drouin was pinned in 1:42 by seventh-seeded and 18th-ranked Levi Jones (Boise State), the same foe that handed him his first loss of the year. With the loss, Drouin ended the tournament in sixth place.

The final Sun Devil to compete on the day was Nye at heavyweight, who faced another Pac-10 foe as he took on fifth-seeded and 16th-ranked Clayton Jack (Oregon State) in the consolation quarterfinals. After handing Jack a 3-2 loss, Nye faced third-seeded and 11th-ranked Nathan Fernandez (Oklahoma) and looked to avenge a loss from earlier this season, but Nye sustained an injury and could not continue, losing the match by injury default at 4:50. With the injury, Nye did not wrestle in the placement match and settled for sixth place.

The Sun Devils will have a week off from competition to focus on final exams before returning to the Silver State on Sunday, December 20, to compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.

28th Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational
Star of the Desert Arena * Primm, Nev.
ASU Results * Day Two (Saturday)
#/# indicates tournament seed/national ranking
125 - #2/#3 Anthony Robles (5-1, Runner-up)
Semifinal - Robles dec. #6/#12 Michael Martinez (Wyoming), 7-3
Final - #1/#1 Angel Escobedo (Indiana) dec. Robles, 4-2

133 - #8/nr Ben Ashmore (3-2, Eighth Place)
Conso Quarter - #4/#10 Steve Mytych (Drexel) pinned Ashmore, 1:19
7th Place Match - Flint Ray (Utah Valley) defeats Ashmore, medical forfeit (no match)

141 - #2/#3 Chris Drouin (4-3, Sixth Place)
Conso Quarter - Drouin dec. #3/#8 Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech), 5-1
Conso Semifinal - #4/#13 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. Drouin, 4-0
Fifth Place Match - #7/#18 Levi Jones (Boise State) pinned Drouin, 1:42

285 - #10/nr Erik Nye (6-2, Sixth Place)
Conso Quarter - Nye dec. #5/#16 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 3-2
Conso Semifinal - #3/#11 Nathan Fernandez (Oklahoma) def. Nye, injury default at 4:50
Fifth Place Match - #7/#17 Ed Bordas (Rider) defeats Nye, medical forfeit (no match)

COMPLETE ASU RESULTS (BOTH DAYS)
#/# indicates tournament seed/national ranking
125 - #2/#3 Anthony Robles (5-1, Runner-up)
Champ Pigtail - Robles pinned Seth Chavez (NM Highlands), 2:21
Champ 1st - Robles pinned ns/NJCAA #6 Kyle McCrite (North Idaho), 3:59
Champ 2nd - Robles pinned Kyle O'Brien (Western State), 2:09
Quarterfinal - Robles tech fall #7/nr Jarod Patterson (Oklahoma), 17-2 (4:29)
Semifinal - Robles dec. #6/#12 Michael Martinez (Wyoming), 7-3
Final - #1/#1 Angel Escobedo (Indiana) dec. Robles, 4-2

133 - #8/nr Ben Ashmore (3-2, Eighth Place)
Champ 1st - Ashmore dec. Eric Spint (Virginia Tech), 1-0
Champ 2nd - Ashmore dec. Flint Ray (Utah Valley), 6-5
Quarterfinal - #1/#12 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) major Ashmore, 12-3
Conso 5th - Ashmore dec. CJ Napier (Nebraska), 5-4
Conso Quarter - #4/#10 Steve Mytych (Drexel) pinned Ashmore, 1:19
7th Place Match - Flint Ray (Utah Valley) defeats Ashmore, medical forfeit (no match)

141 - #2/#3 Chris Drouin (4-3, Sixth Place)
Champ 1st - Drouin dec. Mike Koehnlein (Nebraska), 7-2
Champ 2nd - Drouin dec. Juan Archuletta (Purdue), 8-2
Quarterfinal - #7/#18 Levi Jones (Boise State) dec. Drouin, 5-2
Conso 5th - Drouin dec. Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin), 11-7
Conso Quarter - Drouin dec. #3/#8 Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech), 5-1
Conso Semifinal - #4/#13 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. Drouin, 4-0
Fifth Place Match - #7/#18 Levi Jones (Boise State) pinned Drouin, 1:42

149 - Vicente Varela (3-2, DNP)
Champ Pigtail - Varela dec. ns/NAIA #8 Benny Garcia (Cal Baptist), 5-4
Champ 1st - Varela dec. Dave Christian (Cal Poly), 6-4
Champ 2nd - #2/#2 Lance Palmer (Ohio State) dec. Varela, 5-0
Conso 3rd - Varela dec. Justin Morrill (Utah Valley), 6-4
Conso 4th - #7/#18 Desi Green (Buffalo) dec. Varela, 6-4

165 - Te Edwards (3-2, DNP)
Champ 1st - Edwards dec. Adam Hogue (Harvard), 6-4
Champ 2nd - #4/#12 Donnie Jones (West Virginia) major Edwards, 14-6
Conso 3rd - Edwards dec. Aaron Hynes (Michigan), 11-10
Conso 4th - Edwards dec. Ryan Smith (Oregon State), 3-2
Conso 5th - John-Martin Cannon (Buffalo) pinned Edwards, 6:59

184 - Jake Meredith (0-2, DNP)
Champ Pigtail - #3/#7 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) major Meredith, 11-2
Conso 1st - Brian Crudden (Brown) major Meredith, 10-2

197 - Anthony Pike (2-2, DNP)
Champ Pigtail - Pike pinned Rory McBryde (UC Davis), 1:14
Champ 1st - ns/NCAAII #4 Donovan McMahill (Western State) tech fall Pike, 21-4
Conso 2nd - Pike pinned Ethan Weisrock (CS Fullerton), 4:27
Conso 3rd - Tyler Smith (Rider) pinned Pike, 0:55

285 - #10/nr Erik Nye (6-2, Sixth Place)
Champ Pigtail - Nye pinned ns/NJCAA #1 Josh Marquez (Cal Baptist), 5:25
Champ 1st - Nye dec. Pat Walker (Illinois), 7-2
Champ 2nd - #7/#17 Ed Bordas (Rider) dec. Nye, 3-2 tb1
Conso 3rd - Nye pinned ns/NJCAA #3 Roger McCovey (North Idaho), 2:53
Conso 4th - Nye dec. Matt McLaughlin (Wyoming), 3-1 sv1
Conso 5th - Nye dec. #8/nr Ricky Alcala (UC Davis), 2-1 tb2
Conso Quarter - Nye dec. #5/#16 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 3-2
Conso Semifinal - #3/#11 Nathan Fernandez (Oklahoma) def. Nye, injury default at 4:50
Fifth Place Match - #7/#17 Ed Bordas (Rider) defeats Nye, medical forfeit (no match)
Arizona State Wrestling Set to Compete at Las Vegas Invitational

Sun Devils entering first tournament of the season, face tough opponents

Following three weeks of dual meet competition, the No. 21 Arizona State University wrestling team is set to compete in its first tournament action of the season as the Sun Devils will make their annual trek to the 28th Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational this weekend inside the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm, Nev. The Sun Devils, who are 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, have competed in five duals so far this year, including four of those duals coming on the road to open the season.

ITS IN THE DETAILS: CKLVI
For more information on the tournament, fans can visit www.CKLVwrestle.com. InterMatWrestle.com also will be on location and will be providing a live blog of the happenings from around the competition area. Action starts both days at 9 a.m. PT (10 a.m. Arizona).

FIRST OF FOUR
The Sun Devils' participation in the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational will be their first of four individual tournaments this year and the first of two in a row in the month of December. After competition this Friday and Saturday, the Sun Devils will next wrestle in the Reno Tournament of Champions on December 20. The remaining two individual tournaments with team scoring come at the end of the season with the Pac-10 and NCAA Championships.

TOUGH FIELD
This year's Las Vegas field includes 44 teams with 12 teams ranked in the latest NWCA Division I Rankings with three others receiving votes. Those teams include No. 4 Ohio State, No. 7 Boise State, No. 9 Cornell, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 Indiana, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 19 Old Dominion, No. 20 Illinois, No. 21 ASU, No. 23 Cal Poly and No. 24 Virginia Tech (Bucknell, Oregon State and Purdue are each receiving votes this week). Along with those squads, six other schools from smaller divisions also are entered into the tournament, including No. 7 Western State and No. 13 San Francisco State from NCAA Division II; No. 3 Cal Baptist and No. 12 Embry-Riddle from NAIA; and No. 4 North Idaho and No. 17 Western Wyoming from the NJCAA.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released its coaches' team rankings once again on Tuesday with Sun Devils slipping one spot to No. 21 after three consecutive weeks ranked No. 20. Five of ASU's 2009-10 opponents are also currently members of the national Top 25 rankings, including No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 23 Cal Poly. Oregon State also is on the list as receiving votes. In the two other rankings, the Sun Devils remained among the Top 15 as they are No. 13 in the Wrestling Insider Magazine rankings and are No. 15 in the InterMatWrestle.com rankings.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
Although only two Sun Devils are ranked this week, both Anthony Robles (125) and Chris Drouin (141) are ranked among the Top 5 in the nation in their respective weight classes. For Robles, Wrestling Insider Magazine (W.I.N.) has him as their No. 2 wrestler at 125 pounds while both Amateur Wrestling News (AWN) and InterMat have him at No. 3. Drouin, on the other hand, holds the same rankings as Robles according to W.I.N. and InterMat as they have him No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while AWN has Drouin at No. 5. No other Sun Devils are ranked this week (Ben Ashmore fell out of the AWN Top 20 this week).

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
Over the past few weeks, four individuals have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their education and compete for the wrestling program at Arizona State upon completion of their high school careers. The soon-to-be Sun Devils include Louis Trujillo of Rio Rancho, N.M.; Nathan Hoffer of Anchorage, Alaska; Joel Smith of Collins Hill, Ga.; and local product Shane McGough of Scottsdale. According to InterMat, three of those signees are ranked among the Top 100 recruits this season, including Trujillo, who enters his senior season ranked as the No. 27 recruit and No. 4 at 135 pounds. Hoffer is the No. 66 recruit and No. 5 at 140 pounds while Smith is the No. 82 recruit and No. 9 at 140 pounds. McGough, although not ranked among the Top 100 recruits, enters the season ranked No. 9 nationally at 130 pounds and is one of the top wrestlers in the state.

TAKING NOTICE
With four strong recruits signed, head coach Shawn Charles' 2010 recruiting class is already being lauded as one of the best in the nation as InterMat has pegged it as the No. 10 class in the nation following the early signing period. The schools ahead of the Sun Devils include No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Northwestern, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Cornell, No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Missouri and No. 9 Ohio State.

IN THE EVENT: LAS VEGAS
The 2009 Las Vegas Invitational will be the 28th edition of the tournament with the Sun Devils making their 25th all-time appearance in the event, which includes every tournament held since the 1985 event. In that time, the Sun Devils have won the event three times, including the 1987, 1989 and 1992 tournaments, while finishing as the runner-up twice (1988, 1997). Overall, Arizona State has placed among the Top 5 16 times and among the Top 10 on 21 different occasions. The Sun Devils individually will be looking to capture a crown with the last individual winner coming in 2006 when current assistant coach Brian Stith won the 157 title.

LAST TIME: 2008 LAS VEGAS INVITE
The Sun Devils competed in the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational last year in Las Vegas and accumulated 45 points to finish 18th overall as a team. Individual, Anthony Robles and Chris Drouin were the lone Sun Devils to place in the Top 8 of the event as Robles took third place at 125 pounds and Drouin was fifth at 141 pounds.

QUICK RECAP: GRAND CANYON
Arizona State won 7-of-10 matches, including six that produced bonus points, and easily defeated visiting Grand Canyon, 39-16, Sunday inside Wells Fargo Arena. ASU won three matches by forfeit (125, 149 and 157) and picked up six more team points each at 141, 184 and 285 as No. 5 Chris Drouin (5:36), Jake Meredith (1:00) and Erik Nye (1:34), respectively, pinned their foes. The final win came at 133 where Ben Ashmore won a 6-3 decision over Todd Wilcox, who entered the match with a perfect 13-0 record on the year.

COPPER STATE SHOWDOWNS
For the third year in a row, the Sun Devils will wrestle against two schools hailing from the state of Arizona, which, prior to the 2007-08 season, had not happened since 1981 when ASU won, 34-12, at Arizona and 43-6 at home against Northern Arizona. The first of the two intrastate battles took place last Sunday with Grand Canyon visiting the Sun Devils while the second dual will be held January 24 at 3 p.m. when the Sun Devils travel north to Prescott to face Embry-Riddle, just the program's second road dual against another Arizona school since 1993. In that 16 year span, the Sun Devils have wrestled another Arizona school 12 times (12-0), defeating Embry-Riddle nine times and Grand Canyon three times (including the 39-16 win this year). Overall, the Sun Devils stand 56-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona, including 9-0 against ERAU and 3-0 against GCU, the lone remaining programs in the state.

STILL UNDEFEATED
Two current starters remain undefeated on the season through the first three weeks of competition and they include Anthony Robles at 125 pounds and Chris Drouin at 141 pounds. Both men are 5-0 on the year and will be tested this weekend with a very strong field of highly-ranked foes assembled for the Las Vegas Invitational.

ROBLES ROLLING
So far this year, Anthony Robles has built a 5-0 overall record with only one match going the full seven minutes as he defeated No. 8 Chris Notte of Oklahoma State, 2-0, in a road dual. Three of his wins have come by technical falls as he has outscored his opponents 58-8 in those three matches. His most recent win was a forfeit by Grand Canyon, giving him a team-high 24 teams points scored this year (Chris Drouin is second with 20).

PICKING UP THE PACE
Entering the dual with Grand Canyon, the Sun Devils had pinned just three opponents with only one fall coming in the first period (Vicente Varela, 2:30 against UC Davis). In the dual with the Antelopes, the Sun Devils won three matches by fall with two of those pin times coming in under 1:34 of the first period. Chris Drouin was the first to pin an opponent, doing so in 5:36 before Jake Meredith and Erik Nye made short work of their opponents, needing just 1:00 and 1:34, respectively, to secure a six-point win for the team. Although quite fast, both men still have one teammate ahead of them for the honor of fastest fall as Tony Ruiz (149) stuck an opponent at the Fullerton Open two weeks ago in just 44 seconds.

AWAY FROM THE TEAM
Several wrestlers with ties to the program have been and will be competing in international events recently and here is a look at what they are doing:
* Volunteer coach Raymond Jordan recently traveled to Nice, France, for the Henri Deglane Challenge (Nov. 27-28) and returned with a bronze medal after posting a 3-1 record at the 84kg (185 pounds) freestyle division. Jordan was representing Sunkist Kids WC.
* Former Sun Devil Kelsey Campbell and several other women's freestyle wrestlers will travel to Beijing, China, next week to take part in a 10-day training and exhibition trip with Team China. Campbell was a two-time Women's Collegiate National Champion while with the Sun Devils and recently won the 2009 U.S. Championship at 59kg (130 pounds).
* Grappling, the newest emerging style of wrestling, will take center stage in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on December 12-13, as the FILA World Grappling Championships will take place in the Sunshine State with three with ties to the program set to represent Team USA. Current wrestler Kenny Lester will compete in three events, the No-Gi 120kg, Gi 120kg and Gi Absolute (open) divisions while current Director of Operations Ben Askren will compete in the No-Gi 84kg division. Former Sun Devil Jeff Funicello will compete in both the No-Gi and Gi 84kg divisions. Grappling is a form of submission wrestling which does not allow striking.
* In the world of Mixed Martial Arts, several former Sun Devils are making names for themselves with one former ASU All-American fighting next month as Aaron Simpson (6-0) will take on Tom Lawlor (6-1) at UFC Fight Night in Fairfax, Va., on January 11, 2010. Other former Sun Devils will be fighting in events after that and their fights will be announced at a later date.

GET CONNECTED, STAY CONNECTED
Are you a social net-worker that wants to get connected to the Sun Devils? Well, we have two ways you can do that! If you are on Twitter, request to follow our program by going to Twitter.com/ASUWrestling for our latest tweets. If you are on Facebook, type Sun Devil Wrestling into the search box and join our fan page, which will have updates and photos throughout the year. And be sure to check back throughout the season to find out about special happenings, including auctions for seats on the ASU bench and other great deals.

DO WE KNOW YOU?
While the social network sites are a great way to get updates on us, another way for future Sun Devils, their coaches, our alumni and all friends of the program can stay in touch with us is by filling out the form on the wrestling page of TheSunDevils.com. On that page, under the headlines, are links to filling out a recruiting questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for our alumni to reconnect and for others to also become part of the program. Make sure you fill out the form to stay up-to-date on the program.

UP CLOSE
Fans have the unique opportunity to get up close to the action as they can purchase mat side tickets for the entire season for a $75 donation to the program. Fans can also support the program and show their Sun Devil pride by purchasing 'Wrestling with the Devil' T-shirts. Both the ticket and T-shirt forms can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on TheSunDevils.com (look under SUPPORT ASU WRESTLING). Merchandise and autographs with the wrestlers and coaches also will be available on the arena floor following the dual.

ONE YEAR OLDER
Last year, the Sun Devils had a starting line-up much of the season that consisted of two sophomores, two juniors, three true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen. With eight of the 10 in just their first or second seasons, the Sun Devils had one of the youngest lineups in the nation. This year, however, those young wrestlers enter the season with more experience and a line-up that has just two freshmen, Michael Hawkins (redshirt freshman) and Anthony Pike (true freshman) at 197.

MAKING HIS DEBUT
Just the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of the program, former Sun Devil All-American Shawn Charles made his debut on the sideline over the weekend and became the fourth coach in a row to win his first dual with the Sun Devils as Arizona State downed host UC Davis, 39-6. The past three coaches each posted victories in their debuts, including a 30-15 win at CS Bakersfield for Bobby Douglas (1974-75 season), a 23-15 win at Clarion for Lee Roy Smith (1992-93) and a 40-6 home win for Thom Ortiz against CS Fullerton (2001-02). Ted Bredehoft, following one forfeit win and one forfeit loss, led his team to victory with a 38-0 blanking of Cal Poly Pomona (1962-63) to also collect a win in his first dual in which wrestling took place. The only coach that did not register a victory in his first dual was John Wadas, who saw his Sun Devils fall at home to Utah, 23-11, to open the 1971-72 season.

LIFTING THE LID
Arizona State continued a recent string of success in their first dual of the season as the Sun Devils' defeat of UC Davis have ASU a win in it's fifth season-opening dual (including three in a row against UCD). Overall, the Sun Devils are 35-13-0 all-time in their first dual of the season and 32-16-0 all-time in their first road contest of the season.

AHEAD OF THE PAC(-10)
Since joining the Pac-10 Conference in time for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have built a 28-4-1 all-time record in their first conference dual of the season and hold a mark of 23-5-0 all-time in their first Pac-10 road dual of the year (ASU didn't wrestle a Pac-10 foe on the road five times) following the win at UC Davis. Arizona State is 12-0-1 in its last 13 Pac-10 openers with its last loss coming during the 1996-97 season in a 21-18 set back to CS Bakersfield in Tempe.

PAC-10 PROSPERITY
Despite posting a 3-4 record against Pac-10 foes last year, the Sun Devils still hold a strong record all-time against schools in the conference and are 2-0 so far this season. Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and seven others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State, Stanford, UC Davis). As members of the Pac-10, ASU holds an 84-21-1 record. When counting in the other schools that no longer compete, ASU is 125-21-1 against 17 teams during their time as members of the Pac-10.

BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS
In the 31 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 47 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since the 1979 championships.

BACK FOR MORE
Twenty-five wrestlers return to the roster once again this season, including nine of the 10 men that competed at the Pac-10 Championships. The Sun Devils return three Pac-10 finalists in Anthony Robles (125 champion), Chris Drouin (141 runner-up) and Eric Starks (174 runner-up) with both Robles and Drouin coming off an All-American season as the duo placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Other starters returning include David Prado (133), Vicente Varela (149), Te Edwards (157), Kyle DeBerry (165), Jake Meredith (184) and Imanibom Etukeren (285). Several others that started at various points in the season are also back this season, including Erik Nye (285), Michael Swigart (157) and Jerrad Trulson (157). In all, the returnees include four seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores and two redshirt freshmen.

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The program also has welcomed eight new wrestlers to the fold with six coming to Tempe as true freshmen and two in their sophomore year at Arizona State. The newcomers include Carlos Castro (141, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Sergio Cortez (165, Moorpark, Calif./Royal HS), Tai Fukumoto (149, Seattle, Wash./Lakeside HS), Kalin Goodsite (133, Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King HS), Orson Lor (165, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Anthony Pike (197, Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside HS), Jared Stephens (133, Westland, Mich./Westland John Glenn HS) and Daniel Walker (133, Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain HS).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Not only did eight new wrestlers join the program this season, but so did three staff members, including Bryan Snyder (head assistant coach), Raymond Jordan (volunteer coach) and Ben Askren (director of operations).
* Snyder was a four-time All-American (157) for Nebraska and was a two-time national runner-up. A four-time Big XII Champion and three-time NWCA All-Star Classic selection, Snyder went 136-11 with a 69-4 dual record in his days in Lincoln. He was a four-time NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Big XII selection before earning two degrees from NU in 2002 (Sociology, Communication Studies).
* Jordan was a two-time All-American at Missouri, earning the honors at 174 (2009) and 184 (2008) to become just the fourth Tiger to earn All-America honors at two different weights. A four-time NCAA qualifier and 2007 Big XII Champion (174), Jordan went 123-29 in his career before earning a degree in Personal Finance Planning from MU in 2008.
* Askren, a U.S. Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Games, was a four-time NCAA All-American, four-time finalist and two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri. A two-time Dan Hodge Award winner, the three-time Big XII Champion went 153-7 in his career, won an NCAA record 18-consecutive matches by first-period pin and won 93 matches by pin in his career. Askren was a four-time NWCA All-Academic honoree and graduated from MU in 2007.

ALL-AMERICANS
With their performances in St. Louis, Robles and Drouin both earned All-America honors to become the 63rd and 64th national honorees in the program's history. Overall, the Sun Devil program has collected 104 total All-America honors with four individual earning four honors in their careers, including current head coach Shawn Charles, the first Sun Devil in program history to do so. Robles and Drouin will now look to become the 31st and 32nd Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors in a career, which also includes current assistant coach Brian Stith, who was a two-time honoree.

HOME OF THE SUN DEVILS
Wells Fargo Arena serves as the home of Arizona State's home wrestling duals, as well as basketball (men and women), women's gymnastics and women's volleyball. Opened in the spring of 1974, the 14,198-seat arena has been the home venue of some of the Sun Devil greats with all 16 Pac-10 team titles and one of the two Western Athletic Conference crowns attained by ASU. Since its opening, 57 Sun Devils have captured 109 individual conference titles while 67 different athletes have earned a total of 98 All-America honors. The Sun Devils stand 170-56-2 all-time inside Wells Fargo Arena (208-92-2 all-time at home). With its 36-3 defeat of Utah Valley on Jan. 10, 2005, ASU recorded its 150th victory at WFA.

RICHES WRESTLING COMPLEX
On Saturday, January 7, 2006, the Sun Devils dedicated their new training facility in a joint celebration with the gymnastic team. The Riches Wrestling Complex, the John Spini Women's Gymnastics Training Center and the Cavanagh/Dickey Olympic Sports Plaza were dedicated and showcased as fans and over 200 supporters toured two of the premier training centers in the nation while both teams showcased their teams by holding practices. The facilities are located off Sixth Street behind the Kajikawa Football Practice Fields and beyond the outfield wall at Farrington Softball Stadium. Since the opening, the facility has hosted numerous practices for the Sun Devils and Sunkist and was a two-week training home for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Team before it headed to Beijing. One of the wrestlers that trained at the facility along side the Sun Devils was Henry Cejudo, who won Olympic Gold this summer.

NEXT TIME OUT
Arizona State will take a week off from competition to focus on the completion of the fall semester and take final exams, but will return to the mats on Sunday, December 20, as they take part in the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.
#20 Arizona State Wrestling Opens Home Slate with 39-16 Defeat of Grand Canyon

Sun Devils win three falls and add three wins by forfeit to take home opener

TEMPE - With three wins by fall and three more by forfeit, the No. 20 Arizona State University wrestling team snapped a two-dual losing streak and handily defeated visiting Grand Canyon, 39-16, Sunday afternoon inside Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils, who won 7-of-10 matches, improved to 3-2 overall on the season while their local rivals from the Phoenix slipped to 1-1 overall.

The win over the Antelopes improved ASU's record to 3-0-0 in the all-time series and 56-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona. The Sun Devils also won their home opener for the fourth year in a row.

The dual opened at 125 pounds with the Sun Devils taking an instant 6-0 lead in the team race as No. 3 Anthony Robles won by forfeit to raise his record to 5-0 on the year. That lead grew to 9-0 after the 133-pound as No. 20 Ben Ashmore won a 6-3 decision over previously undefeated Todd Wilcox. Ashmore took a 3-0 lead into the second period with a takedown and penalty point before making it 4-0 with an escape in the second. In the third period, however, Wilcox escaped and scored a takedown to make 4-3, but Ashmore escaped, fought off another shot and added a point for 1:56 of riding time to take the decision.

At 141, No. 5 Chris Drouin joined Robles at 5-0 on the season as he scored a pin of Kyle Wilson at 5:36 for six more team points and a 15-0 lead. Drouin took down Wilson and then added five back points to finish the first on top, 7-0. Drouin chose down in the second and escaped before adding a takedown and two near-fall points before the end of the period and a 12-0 lead. In the third, Wilson chose neutral before Drouin took him down and turned him to his back for the pin. From there, the ASU team advantage grew to 27-0 as both Vicente Varela (149) and Te Edwards (157) won by forfeit.

At 165 pounds, Michael Swigart saw his first action of the season as he filled in for Kyle DeBerry and found himself on the short end of a pin by Stephen Towne at 4:18. GCU's Victor Carazo followed that at 174 pounds as he caught Eric Starks on the edge of the mat and pinned him in 1:43 to make it 27-12 in the team race.

Jake Meredith halted the Antelopes' winning streak in the 184 pound match as the Sun Devil sophomore recorded the fastest fall of the day by sticking Daniel Garay in 1:00. Meredith earned the takedown and started his ride on the edge of the mat before locking up Garay and earning the fall for a 33-12 lead. GCU won their final match of the day at 197 as Kevin Treftz won a 16-4 major decision over Anthony Pike before ASU's Erik Nye pinned Brian Cooper in 1:34 to close out the dual with ASU on top, 39-16.

The Sun Devils will enter into their first tournament competition of the season next weekend as they travel to Primm, Nev., for the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

#20 Arizona State defeats Grand Canyon, 39-16
Wells Fargo Arena * Tempe, Ariz.
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) won by forfeit
133 - #20 Ben Ashmore (AS) dec. Todd Wilcox, 6-3
141 - #5 Chris Drouin (AS) pinned Kyle Wilson, 5:36
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) won by forfeit
157 - Te Edwards (AS) won by forfeit
165 - Stephen Towne (GC) pinned Michael Swigart, 4:18
174 - Victor Carazo (GC) pinned Eric Starks, 1:43
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) pinned Daniel Garay, 1:00
197 - Kevin Treftz (GC) major Anthony Pike, 16-4
285 - Erik Nye (AS) pinned Brian Cooper, 1:34
Official: Charlie Jones * Attendance: 367
#20 Arizona Sun Devil Wrestling Set to Host Intrastate Rival Grand Canyon

ASU faces the Antelopes on Sunday; look to halt two-dual losing streak

Following a tough road swing through Oklahoma that resulted in a pair of losses to nationally ranked foes, the No. 20 Arizona State University wrestling team will look to get back to its winning ways this weekend in its home opener as the Sun Devils welcome the Antelopes of nearby Grand Canyon University on Sunday. ASU and GCU -- an NCAA Division II school in Phoenix -- will meet inside Wells Fargo Arena at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

COPPER STATE SHOWDOWNS
For the third year in a row, the Sun Devils will wrestle against two schools hailing from the state of Arizona, which, prior to the 2007-08 season, had not happened since 1981 when ASU won, 34-12, at Arizona and 43-6 at home against Northern Arizona. The first of the two intrastate battles is set to take place this Sunday at 2 p.m. with Grand Canyon visiting the Sun Devils while the second dual will be held January 24 at 3 p.m. when the Sun Devils travel north to Prescott to face Embry-Riddle, just the program's second road dual against another Arizona school since 1993. In that 16 year span, the Sun Devils have wrestled another Arizona school 10 times (11-0), defeating Embry-Riddle nine times and Grand Canyon twice. Overall, the Sun Devils stand 55-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona, including 9-0-0 against ERAU and 2-0-0 against GCU, the lone remaining programs in the state.

ROUGH ROAD
After opening their season with two wins on the road in California, the Sun Devils dropped a pair of duals on the road in Oklahoma, falling 21-9 at No. 4 Oklahoma State and 24-11 at No. 12 Oklahoma over the weekend. Despite the losses, the Sun Devils hung tough throughout as all 10 matches at OSU were decisions, including three that were decided by two points and three others decided by three points. In the dual with the Sooners, only two matches produced bonus points (one for each side) with the remaining eight matches ending in decision, including two, one-point endings and three, two-point decisions.

STILL UNDEFEATED
While eight Sun Devils entered the weekend with undefeated records, only two came out of the Midwest road swing with zero losses on the year as both No. 3 Anthony Robles (125) and No. 5 Chris Drouin (141) went 2-0 on the weekend.

TAKING DOWN THE BEST
Chris Drouin's weekend included a pair of nationally ranked opponents with the Sun Devil junior winning both matches. First up in Stillwater, Drouin used an early takedown in the first period to push himself to a 4-1 victory over No. 11 Jamal Parks. Then, on Sunday, Drouin and No. 17 Zack Bailey met with Drouin's early takedown also standing as the difference as the 2009 All-American won by a 3-1 score.

GETTING TECHNICAL
Once again this year, opponents are finding it difficult to score on Anthony Robles. Through four matches, Robles has won three technical falls and one decision, a 2-0 defeat of No. 8 Chris Notte of Oklahoma State. Combined this year, Robles has outscored his opponents, 60-8 and has shut out his last two foes, including the 2-0 defeat of Notte and a 16-0 technical fall over Justin Forrest of Oklahoma. Robles' previous wins were technical falls of 20-3 and 22-5 on the road at UC Davis and CS Fullerton, respectively.

ON THE SCENE
Ben Ashmore has put together a solid opening to the season as the junior stands 3-1 and is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation according to Amateur Wrestling News (Nov. 24). Ashmore opened the year with a win by forfeit at UC Davis and followed that with a pin of Eddie Garcia of CS Fullerton in 6:15. He nearly knocked off No. 11 Jordan Oliver, instead falling in a tough 4-2 overtime decision in his return to Stillwater. He rebounded on Sunday with a 7-5 decision over Alex Ekstrom of Oklahoma.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released its coaches' team rankings once again on Tuesday with Sun Devils remaining in the No. 20 position for the third week in a row. Five of ASU's 2009-10 opponents are also currently members of the national Top 25 rankings, including No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 25 Cal Poly. Oregon State also is on the list as receiving votes.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
According to the latest Amateur Wrestling News Individual Rankings (Nov. 24), three Sun Devils are currently members of the national Top 20 with all three coming in the lightest weights. Anthony Robles remained No. 3 at 125 pounds while Chris Drouin remained No. 5 at 141 pounds. At 133 pounds, Ben Ashmore is the newest addition to the rankings for the Sun Devils as he enters the list this week at No. 20.

IN THE SERIES: GRAND CANYON
The Sun Devils hold a 2-0-0 advantage in the all-time series with the Antelopes after winning each of the last two duals after Grand Canyon started their program. The Sun Devils are 1-0-0 all-time at home after winning the first meeting in the series, 42-10, in Tempe. In the last meeting, the Sun Devils traveled into Phoenix to Antelope Gym and recorded a 41-6 defeat of the host Antelopes on January 3, 2009.

LAST TIME: ASU VS. GCU
The Sun Devils traveled to Phoenix and won 9-of-10 matches to cruise to a 41-6 defeat of Grand Canyon in a dual held in Antelope Gym on January 3, 2009. The dual opened at 157 pounds with the Sun Devils winning the first nine matches in a row, including seven that produced bonus points. Michael Swigart (157), Kyle DeBerry (165) and Jake Cranford (197) all won by major decision; Chris Drouin (141) won by technical fall; Jake Meredith (184) won by fall in 1:44 and both Imanibom Etukeren (285) and Anthony Robles (125) each won by forfeit. Other winners for the Sun Devils included Eric Starks (174) and Angel Alegre (133).

GET CONNECTED, STAY CONNECTED
Are you a social net-worker that wants to get connected to the Sun Devils? Well, we have two ways you can do that! If you are on Twitter, request to follow our program by going to Twitter.com/ASUWrestling for our latest tweets. If you are on Facebook, type Sun Devil Wrestling into the search box and join our fan page, which will have updates and photos throughout the year. And be sure to check back throughout the season to find out about special happenings, including auctions for seats on the ASU bench and other great deals.

DO WE KNOW YOU?
While the social network sites are a great way to get updates on us, another way for future Sun Devils, their coaches, our alumni and all friends of the program can stay in touch with us is by filling out the form on the wrestling page of TheSunDevils.com. On that page, under the headlines, are links to filling out a recruiting questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for our alumni to reconnect and for others to also become part of the program. Make sure you fill out the form to stay up-to-date on the program.

UP CLOSE
This weekend, the Sun Devils will be playing host to Grand Canyon (Nov. 29, 2 p.m.) inside Wells Fargo Arena in their first of five home duals this year. Fans have the unique opportunity to get up close to the action as they can purchase mat side tickets for the entire season for a $75 donation to the program. Fans can also support the program and show their Sun Devil pride by purchasing 'Wrestling with the Devil' T-shirts. Both the ticket and T-shirt forms can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on TheSunDevils.com (look under SUPPORT ASU WRESTLING). Merchandise and autographs with the wrestlers and coaches also will be available on the arena floor following the dual.

ONE YEAR OLDER
Last year, the Sun Devils had a starting line-up much of the season that consisted of two sophomores, two juniors, three true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen. With eight of the 10 in just their first or second seasons, the Sun Devils had one of the youngest lineups in the nation. This year, however, those young wrestlers enter the season with more experience and a line-up that has just two freshmen, Michael Hawkins (redshirt freshman) and Anthony Pike (true freshman) at 197.

MAKING HIS DEBUT
Just the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of the program, former Sun Devil All-American Shawn Charles made his debut on the sideline over the weekend and became the fourth coach in a row to win his first dual with the Sun Devils as Arizona State downed host UC Davis, 39-6. The past three coaches each posted victories in their debuts, including a 30-15 win at CS Bakersfield for Bobby Douglas (1974-75 season), a 23-15 win at Clarion for Lee Roy Smith (1992-93) and a 40-6 home win for Thom Ortiz against CS Fullerton (2001-02). Ted Bredehoft, following one forfeit win and one forfeit loss, led his team to victory with a 38-0 blanking of Cal Poly Pomona (1962-63) to also collect a win in his first dual in which wrestling took place. The only coach that did not register a victory in his first dual was John Wadas, who saw his Sun Devils fall at home to Utah, 23-11, to open the 1971-72 season.

LIFTING THE LID
Arizona State continued a recent string of success in their first dual of the season as the Sun Devils' defeat of UC Davis have ASU a win in it's fifth season-opening dual (including three in a row against UCD). Overall, the Sun Devils are 35-13-0 all-time in their first dual of the season and 32-16-0 all-time in their first road contest of the season.

AHEAD OF THE PAC(-10)
Since joining the Pac-10 Conference in time for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have built a 28-4-1 all-time record in their first conference dual of the season and hold a mark of 23-5-0 all-time in their first Pac-10 road dual of the year (ASU didn't wrestle a Pac-10 foe on the road five times) following the win at UC Davis. Arizona State is 12-0-1 in its last 13 Pac-10 openers with its last loss coming during the 1996-97 season in a 21-18 set back to CS Bakersfield in Tempe.

PAC-10 PROSPERITY
Despite posting a 3-4 record against Pac-10 foes last year, the Sun Devils still hold a strong record all-time against schools in the conference and are 2-0 so far this season. Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and seven others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State, Stanford, UC Davis). As members of the Pac-10, ASU holds an 84-21-1 record. When counting in the other schools that no longer compete, ASU is 125-21-1 against 17 teams during their time as members of the Pac-10.

BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS
In the 31 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 47 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since the 1979 championships.

BACK FOR MORE
Twenty-five wrestlers return to the roster once again this season, including nine of the 10 men that competed at the Pac-10 Championships. The Sun Devils return three Pac-10 finalists in Anthony Robles (125 champion), Chris Drouin (141 runner-up) and Eric Starks (174 runner-up) with both Robles and Drouin coming off an All-American season as the duo placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Other starters returning include David Prado (133), Vicente Varela (149), Te Edwards (157), Kyle DeBerry (165), Jake Meredith (184) and Imanibom Etukeren (285). Several others that started at various points in the season are also back this season, including Erik Nye (285), Michael Swigart (157) and Jerrad Trulson (157). In all, the returnees include four seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores and two redshirt freshmen.

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The program also has welcomed eight new wrestlers to the fold with six coming to Tempe as true freshmen and two in their sophomore year at Arizona State. The newcomers include Carlos Castro (141, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Sergio Cortez (165, Moorpark, Calif./Royal HS), Tai Fukumoto (149, Seattle, Wash./Lakeside HS), Kalin Goodsite (133, Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King HS), Orson Lor (165, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Anthony Pike (197, Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside HS), Jared Stephens (133, Westland, Mich./Westland John Glenn HS) and Daniel Walker (133, Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain HS).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Not only did eight new wrestlers join the program this season, but so did three staff members, including Bryan Snyder (head assistant coach), Raymond Jordan (volunteer coach) and Ben Askren (director of operations).
* Snyder was a four-time All-American (157) for Nebraska and was a two-time national runner-up. A four-time Big XII Champion and three-time NWCA All-Star Classic selection, Snyder went 136-11 with a 69-4 dual record in his days in Lincoln. He was a four-time NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Big XII selection before earning two degrees from NU in 2002 (Sociology, Communication Studies).
* Jordan was a two-time All-American at Missouri, earning the honors at 174 (2009) and 184 (2008) to become just the fourth Tiger to earn All-America honors at two different weights. A four-time NCAA qualifier and 2007 Big XII Champion (174), Jordan went 123-29 in his career before earning a degree in Personal Finance Planning from MU in 2008.
* Askren, a U.S. Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Games, was a four-time NCAA All-American, four-time finalist and two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri. A two-time Dan Hodge Award winner, the three-time Big XII Champion went 153-7 in his career, won an NCAA record 18-consecutive matches by first-period pin and won 93 matches by pin in his career. Askren was a four-time NWCA All-Academic honoree and graduated from MU in 2007.

ALL-AMERICANS
With their performances in St. Louis, Robles and Drouin both earned All-America honors to become the 63rd and 64th national honorees in the program's history. Overall, the Sun Devil program has collected 104 total All-America honors with four individual earning four honors in their careers, including current head coach Shawn Charles, the first Sun Devil in program history to do so. Robles and Drouin will now look to become the 31st and 32nd Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors in a career, which also includes current assistant coach Brian Stith, who was a two-time honoree.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Sun Devils will compete in their first tournament action of the season next weekend as they will travel to Primm, Nev., for the 2009 Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday, December 4-5.
Robles, Drouin Stay Perfect, but #20 Arizona State Wrestling Falls at #12 OU, 24-11

Three lightest weights win on the road before Sooners win final seven matches

TEMPE - The No. 20 Arizona State University wrestling team's three lightest weight classes secured wins to stake the Sun Devils to an early 11-0 lead, but the team was unable to win any more matches as the host No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners came back with seven victories in a row to take the team win, 24-11, Sunday afternoon inside McCasland Field House in Norman, Okla. The loss, ASU's second in a row, sends the Sun Devils to a 2-2 overall record while the Sooners improved to 2-0 on the year.

The dual began at 125 pounds with No. 3 Anthony Robles dominating Justin Forrest with a 16-0 technical fall in 4:17. Robles took Forrest down just 10 seconds into the match and turned him three times for nine more points to take an 11-0 lead into the second stanza. There, the two wrestlers started neutral before Robles took down Forrest and scored another three-point near-fall for the tech fall, his third of the season.

Leading 5-0, the Sun Devils added to the lead as Ben Ashmore rebounded from a tough loss on Friday night with a 7-5 decision over Alex Ekstrom at 133 pounds. Ashmore took down his foe and held a 2-1 lead through one before Ekstrom chose bottom and escaped to tie the match at 2-2. Another Ashmore takedown and Ekstrom escape made it 4-3 Ashmore through two before an Ashmore escape to open the third made it 5-3. Ekstrom tied it with a takedown of his own with 1:18 remaining, but Ashmore escaped and added a point for 2:03 of riding time for the final score.

For the second time this weekend, No. 5 Chris Drouin had a tough match at 141 pounds as he faced a Top 20 foe and, for the second time, Drouin won a decision, this time defeating No. 17 Zack Bailey, 3-1. The deciding points came in the first period as Drouin used a takedown with just eight seconds remaining in the period for a 2-0 lead. Both men used escapes to open the second and third periods to end the scoring with Drouin on top.

Despite the 11-0 lead, the Sooners went on to win the remaining seven matches, including five decisions that were decided by four or fewer points with two being decided by a single point. ASU maintained its lead through the second trio of matches as Vicente Varela dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 5 Kyle Terry at 149, Te Edwards lost a 17-10 decision to Shane Vernon at 157 and Kyle Edwards dropped a 5-2 decision to Tyler Caldwell at 165.

Leading 11-9, the Sun Devils tried to hold their edge in the overall dual, but Eric Starks was unable to upset No. 9 Jeff James, dropping a 4-3 decision at 174 for his first loss of the year and a 12-11 OU lead. From there, Jake Meredith fell at 184 to Erich Schmidtke, 3-1, Anthony Pike was pinned in 47 seconds by No. 7 Eric Lapotsky at 197 and Erik Nye lost a 3-2 decision to No. 13 Nathan Fernandez at heavyweight.

ASU will play host to its first of five home duals next Sunday as local rival Grand Canyon comes to Wells Fargo Arena for a 2 p.m. dual.

#12 Oklahoma def. #20 Arizona State, 24-11
McCasland Field House * Norman, Okla.
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) tech fall Justin Forrest, 16-0
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) dec. Alex Ekstrom, 7-5
141 - #5 Chris Drouin (AS) dec. #17 Zack Bailey, 3-1
149 - #5 Kyle Terry (OU) dec. Vicente Varela, 4-0
157 - Shane Vernon (OU) dec. Te Edwards, 17-10
165 - Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Kyle DeBerry, 5-2
174 - #9 Jeff James (OU) dec. Eric Starks, 4-3
184 - Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. Jake Meredith, 3-1
197 - #7 Eric Lapotsky (OU) pinned Anthony Pike, 0:47
285 - #13 Nathan Fernandez (OU) dec. Erik Nye, 3-2
#20 Arizona State Wrestling Wins 9-of-10 Matches to Down Host CS Fullerton, 37-4

Sun Devils conclude opening weekend road trip with two dominating wins in California

TEMPE - The No. 20 Arizona State University wrestling team concluded its first weekend of action on the road Sunday as the Sun Devils won 9-of-10 matches to easily defeat host CS Fullerton, 37-4, at a dual held inside Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif. The Sun Devils, who defeated UC Davis, 38-6, on Friday, improved to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10 Conference while the Titans slipped to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.

Of the nine matches won by the Sun Devils, five produced bonus points, giving ASU bonus point in 11 of its 17 wins on the weekend. Overall, eight individuals exited the weekend with perfect 2-0 records including four Sun Devils that won both of their matches by major decision or better. Those individuals included Anthony Robles at 125 (two technical falls), Ben Ashmore at 133 (forfeit and pin), Vicente Varela at 149 (pin and major) and Eric Starks at 174 (two major decisions).

The dual with the Titans opened at 165 pounds and Kyle DeBerry put the Sun Devils ahead for good as he built a 6-2 lead midway through the second period before pinning Blake Ginbsburg in 4:18 to give the visitors a quick 6-0 lead. At 174, Starks took a 6-1 lead through two periods and finished with an 11-1 major decision over Todd Noel to push the advantage to 10-0. Jake Meredith extended the lead to 13-0 after his 8-3 decision over Mark Savalle at 184 pounds.

The hosts picked up their only win of the afternoon at 197 pounds with Dylan Klink scoring an 11-1 major decision over Michael Hawkins, cutting the lead to 13-4. Heavyweight Erik Nye got the Sun Devils back on track, however, as he took a 2-0 lead through the first period and fought off a takedown at the end of the match for the 3-2 win.

Leading 16-4, the Sun Devils added 11 more over the next two matches as No. 3 Robles recorded a 22-5 technical fall over Andre Gonzalez before Ashmore stuck Eddie Garcia at 6:15 of the 133 match after leading 10-2 through the first two periods. With a 27-4 lead, the Sun Devils added three more hard-earned points at 141 as No. 5 Chris Drouin needed a late takedown to come back from an early 2-1 deficit for a 7-5 win over Adin Duenas. Varela added his second bonus point win of the weekend one match later as he took the 149 contest with a 17-4 major decision over Mario DeCaro before Te Edwards closed out the team victory with a 14-8 decision over Nick Jordan.

ASU remains on the road next weekend with a pair of clashes with nationally ranked Big 12 teams as the Sun Devils meet No. 5 Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. CT in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday night before facing No. 16 Oklahoma on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT in Norman, Okla.

#20 Arizona State def. CS Fullerton, 37-4
Fullerton, Calif.
165 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) pinned Blake Ginsburg, 4:18
174 - Eric Starks (AS) major Todd Noel, 11-1
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) dec. Mark Savalle, 8-3
197 - Dylan Klink (CF) major Michael Hawkins, 11-1
285 - Erik Nye (AS) dec. Kurt Klimek, 3-2
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) tech fall Andre Gonzalez, 22-5 (6:18)
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) pinned Eddie Garcia, 6:15
141 - #5 Chris Drouin (AS) dec. Adin Duenas, 7-5
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) major Mario DeCaro, 17-4
157 - Te Edwards (AS) dec. Nick Jordan, 14-8
#20 Arizona State Wrestling Blasts UC Davis in Season Opener, 38-6

Arizona State wins 8-of-10 matches with six producing bonus points in first dual of year

TEMPE - The Arizona State University wrestling team won eight matches in a row with six of those victories producing bonus points to easily down host UC Davis in Davis, Calif., on Friday night to open the 2009-10 season and give new head coach Shawn Charles a win in his debut with the program. Ranked No. 20 in the nation according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), the Sun Devils are now 1-0-0 on the season and 1-0-0 in the Pac-10 Conference while the Aggies fell to 0-1-0 and 0-1-0 in the conference.

The dual opened at heavyweight with Sun Devil senior Erik Nye dropping a tough 4-3 decision to Ricky Alcala, spotting the hosts an early 3-0 lead before ASU took over. Starting with the 125-pound match, the Sun Devils won eight in a row and took the lead for good with its first victory of the night as No. 3 Anthony Robles scored a 20-3 technical fall over Mark Jay Acosta to put ASU on top, 4-3.

After Ben Ashmore won his Sun Devil debut at 133 pounds by forfeit to put ASU on top, 10-3, No. 5 Chris Drouin added to the lead as he defeated Justin Arredondo in the 141-pound match with a 17-1 technical fall. The Sun Devils picked up wins in the next two matches win pins as Vicente Varela stuck Randall Watts in 2:30 and Te Edwards pinned Trevor Machado-Ching in 4:42.

Leading 28-3, the visitors tacked on 10 more points over the next three matches, first with Kyle DeBerry taking a 10-4 decision over David Watts at 165. From there, Eric Starks won the Sun Devils' sixth bonus-point match as he scored a 16-3 major decision over Joshua Esparza before Jake Meredith took a 4-1 decision over Stephan Hampton at 184. In the final match of the night, UCD's Rory McBryde spoiled the debut of Michael Hawkins as the Sun Devils' redshirt freshman lost a 3-2 decision to bring the final score to 38-6 in favor of ASU.

With the win, the Sun Devils improved their all-time record to 5-0-0 against the Aggies with a perfect 3-0-0 mark in duals held in Davis while making Charles the fourth Sun Devil coach to win his debut. ASU also improved to 35-13-0 all-time in its first dual of the year and 32-16-0 in its first road dual of the year while improving to 28-4-1 all-time in its first Pac-10 dual of the year and 23-5-0 in its first conference road dual of the season.

The Sun Devils will remain on the road this weekend for a second Pac-10 dual as they travel to Fullerton, Calif., for a 2 p.m. PT contest with CS Fullerton inside Titan Gym.

#20 Arizona State def. UC Davis, 38-6
Davis, Calif.
285 - Ricky Alcala (UCD) dec. Erik Nye, 4-3
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (ASU) tech fall Mark Jay Acosta, 20-3
133 - Ben Ashmore (ASU) won by forfeit
141 - #5 Chris Drouin (ASU) tech fall Justin Arredondo, 17-1
149 - Vicente Varela (ASU) pinned Randall Watts, 2:30
157 - Te Edwards (ASU) pinned Trevor Machado-Ching, 4:42
165 - Kyle DeBerry (ASU) dec. David Watts, 10-4
174 - Eric Starks (ASU) major Joshua Esparza, 16-3
184 - Jake Meredith (ASU) dec. Stephan Hampton, 4-1
197 - Rory McBryde (UCD) dec. Michael Hawkins, 3-2
#17 Arizona State Wrestling Opens Year With Two Pac-10 Road Duals

Sun Devils head to UC Davis, CS Fullerton in Shawn Charles' first

TEMPE - The Arizona State University wrestling team, ranked No. 17 nationally, will open its 2009-10 campaign on the road this weekend with a pair of duals against Pac-10 Conference foes as first-year head coach Shawn Charles and his Sun Devils face UC Davis (0-0) and CS Fullerton (0-0) on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Sun Devils (0-0) and Aggies will meet at 7 p.m. PT inside the Pavilion in Davis, Calif., on Friday night before the Sun Devils and Titans meet at 2 p.m. PT Sunday inside Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif.

GET CONNECTED, STAY CONNECTED
Are you a social net-worker that wants to get connected to the Sun Devils? Well, we have two ways you can do that! If you are on Twitter, request to follow our program by going to Twitter.com/ASUWrestling for our latest tweets. If you are on Facebook, type Sun Devil Wrestling into the search box and join our fan page, which will have updates and photos throughout the year. And be sure to check back throughout the season to find out about special happenings, including auctions for seats on the ASU bench and other great deals.

DO WE KNOW YOU?
While the social network sites are a great way to get updates on us, another way for future Sun Devils, their coaches, our alumni and all friends of the program can stay in touch with us is by filling out the form on the wrestling page of TheSunDevils.com. On that page, under the headlines, are links to filling out a recruiting questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for our alumni to reconnect and for others to also become part of the program. Make sure you fill out the form to stay up-to-date on the program.

UP CLOSE
In just three weeks, the Sun Devils will be playing host to Grand Canyon (Nov. 29, 2 p.m.) inside Wells Fargo Arena in their first of five home duals this year. Fans have the unique opportunity to get up close to the action as they can purchase mat side tickets for the entire season for a $75 donation to the program. Fans can also support the program and show their Sun Devil pride by purchasing 'Wrestling with the Devil' T-shirts. Both the ticket and T-shirt forms can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on TheSunDevils.com (look under SUPPORT ASU WRESTLING).

IN THE LINE-UP
When the Sun Devils hit the road this weekend, there will be many familiar faces in the starting line-up as eight of the 10 wrestlers are returning to the starting line-up after earning the position one year ago. Returning to the line-up will be Anthony Robles (125), Chris Drouin (141), Vicente Varela (149), Te Edwards (157), Kyle DeBerry (165), Eric Starks (174), Jake Meredith (184) and Erik Nye (285). The two newcomers to the starting 10 include Ben Ashmore at 133 and Michael Hawkins at 197.

ONE YEAR OLDER
Last year, the Sun Devils had a starting line-up much of the season that consisted of two sophomores, two juniors, three true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen. With eight of the 10 in just their first or second seasons, the Sun Devils had one of the youngest lineups in the nation. This year, however, those young wrestlers enter the season with more experience and a line-up that has just one freshman, Michael Hawkins (redshirt freshman) at 197.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
The first national rankings of the season were released by InterMatWrestle.com recently with the Sun Devils entering the season ranked No. 17. Six of Arizona State's opponents this season are currently ranked among the Top 25 nationally, including No. 2 Iowa State, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 22 Harvard and No. 23 Cal Poly.

INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
After advancing to the national semifinals and earning All-America honors last season as sophomores, both Anthony Robles and Chris Drouin enter the season highly regarded on the national scene as both are ranked among the Top 5 in their respective weight classes. Robles, who placed fourth at the NCAA Championships last year, will start the season as the No. 3 competitor at 125 pounds while Drouin, the sixth-place finisher at the national meet in 2009, will open the year as the No. 5 wrestler at 141.

ALL-STAR SELECTION
The 44th NWCA All-Star Classic will feature some of the best wrestlers in the nation in exhibition matches and Sun Devil Anthony Robles has been selected to compete in the event where he will face No. 4 Zach Sanders (Minnesota). The 20th different Sun Devil to be selected to compete in the event, Robles faced Sanders twice last year and went 1-1, losing a 7-3 decision in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational before taking a 19-10 major decision in the consolation semifinals of the NCAA Championships. The 44th NWCA All-Star Classic will be held at CS Fullerton on Sunday, November 22, at 2 p.m. inside Titan Gym.

MAKING HIS DEBUT
Just the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of the program, former Sun Devil All-American Shawn Charles will be making his debut on the sideline this weekend and will look to become the fourth coach in a row to win his first dual with the Sun Devils. The past three coaches each posted victories in their debuts, including a 30-15 win at CS Bakersfield for Bobby Douglas (1974-75 season), a 23-15 win at Clarion for Lee Roy Smith (1992-93) and a 40-6 home win for Thom Ortiz against CS Fullerton (2001-02). Ted Bredehoft, following one forfeit win and one forfeit loss, led his team to victory with a 38-0 blanking of Cal Poly Pomona (1962-63) to also collect a win in his first dual in which wrestling took place. The only coach that did not register a victory in his first dual was John Wadas, who saw his Sun Devils fall at home to Utah, 23-11, to open the 1971-72 season.

LIFTING THE LID
Arizona State will look to continue a recent string of success in their first dual of the season as the Sun Devils have won each of its last four season-opening duals, including the last two years in duals with UC Davis, who the Sun Devils open the 2009-10 season against Friday in Davis, Calif. Overall, the Sun Devils are 34-13-0 all-time in their first dual of the season and are 31-16-0 all-time in their first road contest of the season.

AHEAD OF THE PAC(-10)
Since joining the Pac-10 Conference in time for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have built a 27-4-1 all-time record in their first conference dual of the season and hold a mark of 22-5-0 all-time in their first Pac-10 road dual of the year (ASU didn't wrestle a Pac-10 foe on the road five times). Arizona State is 11-0-1 in its last 12 Pac-10 openers with its last loss coming during the 1996-97 season in a 21-18 set back to CS Bakersfield in Tempe. ASU lost its last Pac-10 road opener in a 20-19 decision at Stanford last year with its last win in its first Pac-10 road dual coming at the start of the 2007-08 season, a 20-17 win at UC Davis.

PAC-10 PROSPERITY
Despite posting a 3-4 record against Pac-10 foes last year, the Sun Devils still hold a strong record all-time against schools in the conference. Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and seven others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State, Stanford, UC Davis). As members of the Pac-10 Conference, the Sun Devils hold an 82-21-1 record. When counting in the other schools that no longer compete, the Sun Devils hold a record of 123-21-1 against 17 teams during their time as members of the Pac-10.

BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS
In the 31 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 47 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since the 1979 championship tournament.

IN THE SERIES: UC DAVIS
Arizona State holds a perfect 4-0-0 against UC Davis in the all-time series and is 2-0-0 in duals held in Davis, Calif. The Sun Devils won the last meeting with a 26-12 decision at home last year and won the last dual held at UCD, a 20-17 decision to open the 2007-08 season.

LAST TIME: ASU VS. UCD
In the last meeting, the Sun Devils came from behind to take a 26-12 victory from the Aggies in a home dual held at Mesa High School as Arizona State won 6-of-10 contests with four producing bonus points. After falling behind, 6-0, following decision losses at 149 and 157, Kyle DeBerry won a 4-3 decision over former Pac-10 finalist Dustin Noack before Eric Starks won a 17-9 major decision to put ASU ahead, 7-6. Jake Cranford (decision) and Thor Moen (forfeit) won at 184 and 197, respectively, to give ASU a 16-6 lead before a loss at heavyweight made it 16-9. From there, No. 8 Anthony Robles pinned No. 11 Marcos Orozco in 4:05 to put the dual away with No. 7 Chris Drouin scoring a 12-3 major decision in the final match to close out the dual.

IN THE SERIES: CS FULLERTON
The Sun Devils are 15-3-0 all-time against the Titans, but have dropped the last three duals in a row, including a 20-18 decision at home last year. Prior to its 26-18 loss in Fullerton, Calif., during the 2007-08 season, the Sun Devils had won six in a row inside Titan Gym.

LAST TIME: ASU VS. CSUF
In a back-and-forth battle, the Titans escaped Tempe with a 20-18 victory last year, winning their third dual in a row in the series. ASU took an early 3-0 lead with a decision win for Jake Meredith before an overtime loss at 197 and a decision loss at heavyweight put ASU behind, 6-3. No. 12 Anthony Robles put the Sun Devils in the lead once again with a 15-0 technical fall win at 125, but CSUF reclaimed the lead with a technical fall of their own at 133 to move ahead, 11-8. The score was tied at 11-11 following the 141 match as No. 6 Chris Drouin edged Adin Duenas, 5-4, but a pin at 149 and a decision loss at 157 put the Sun Devils down, 20-11. Kyle DeBerry won a decision at 165 to bring ASU to within six, but Eric Starks, despite his best effort, could not pick up the pin, instead winning a 12-2 major decision for four team points.

ALREADY STARTED
While the Sun Devils are set to open their season on the road this weekend, several members of the program have already stepped onto the mat once this season as 13 individuals competed unattached from Arizona State at the Embry-Riddle Collegiate Open in Prescott, Ariz., on Saturday (November 7). Three of those competitors placed in the Top 4 of their weight classes with freshman Kalin Goodsite leading the way by placing second at 133 pounds. Jake Hannaford also placed in the 133 division as he finished fourth overall while Orlando Jimenez took fourth place at 149.

BACK FOR MORE
Twenty-five wrestlers return to the roster once again this season, including nine of the 10 men that competed at the Pac-10 Championships. The Sun Devils return three Pac-10 finalists in Anthony Robles (125 champion), Chris Drouin (141 runner-up) and Eric Starks (174 runner-up) with both Robles and Drouin coming off an All-American season as the duo placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Other starters returning include David Prado (133), Vicente Varela (149), Te Edwards (157), Kyle DeBerry (165), Jake Meredith (184) and Imanibom Etukeren (285). Several others that started at various points in the season are also back this season, including Erik Nye (285), Michael Swigart (157) and Jerrad Trulson (157). In all, the returnees include four seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores and two redshirt freshmen.

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The program also has welcomed eight new wrestlers to the fold with six coming to Tempe as true freshmen and two in their sophomore year at Arizona State. The newcomers include Carlos Castro (141, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Sergio Cortez (165, Moorpark, Calif./Royal HS), Tai Fukumoto (149, Seattle, Wash./Lakeside HS), Kalin Goodsite (133, Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King HS), Orson Lor (165, Tucson, Ariz./Amphi HS), Anthony Pike (197, Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside HS), Jared Stephens (133, Westland, Mich./Westland John Glenn HS) and Daniel Walker (133, Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain HS).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Not only did eight new wrestlers join the program this season, but so did three staff members, including Bryan Snyder (head assistant coach), Raymond Jordan (volunteer coach) and Ben Askren (director of operations).
* Snyder was a four-time All-American (157) for Nebraska and was a two-time national runner-up. A four-time Big XII Champion and three-time NWCA All-Star Classic selection, Snyder went 136-11 with a 69-4 dual record in his days in Lincoln. He was a four-time NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Big XII selection before earning two degrees from NU in 2002 (Sociology, Communication Studies).
* Jordan was a two-time All-American at Missouri, earning the honors at 174 (2009) and 184 (2008) to become just the fourth Tiger to earn All-America honors at two different weights. A four-time NCAA qualifier and 2007 Big XII Champion (174), Jordan went 123-29 in his career before earning a degree in Personal Finance Planning from MU in 2008.
* Askren, a U.S. Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Games, was a four-time NCAA All-American, four-time finalist and two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri. A two-time Dan Hodge Award winner, the three-time Big XII Champion went 153-7 in his career, won an NCAA record 18-consecutive matches by first-period pin and won 93 matches by pin in his career. Askren was a four-time NWCA All-Academic honoree and graduated from MU in 2007.

LAST TIME OUT: 2009 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Anthony Robles and Chris Drouin both collected All-America honors and combined to score 27.5 team points to place the Sun Devil program in a tie for 20th place at the NCAA Championships that were held in St. Louis, Mo. Robles, seeded 12th at 125 pounds, moved his way through the bracket to the national semifinals before slipping into the consolation bracket. On the final day, he scored a 19-10 major decision over 11th-seed Zach Sanders (Minnesota) before falling, 3-1, to No. 4 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) to settle for fourth place. Drouin, seeded seventh, also advanced to the national semifinal at 141 before falling to the consolations. On the final day, Drouin dropped a tough 3-1 overtime decision to second-seeded Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin) before falling in the fifth-place match. Overall, Robles went 4-2 in the tournament with two wins by major decision and wins over the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 11 wrestlers in the event while Drouin posted a 3-3 record and facing the No. 2 and No. 3 wrestlers in the tournament.

ALL-AMERICANS
With their performances in St. Louis, Robles and Drouin both earned All-America honors to become the 63rd and 64th national honorees in the program's history. Overall, the Sun Devil program has collected 104 total All-America honors with four individual earning four honors in their careers, including current head coach Shawn Charles, the first Sun Devil in program history to do so. Robles and Drouin will now look to become the 31st and 32nd Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors in a career, which also includes current assistant coach Brian Stith, who was a two-time honoree.

CENTURY MARK
Robles' victory in the finals of the Pac-10 Championships gave the Sun Devil program its 100th individual Pac-10 title and the 128th conference crown overall. The Sun Devils, once members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), won 28 titles before making the move to the Pac-10 Conference.

STREAKING
With Robles' crown this year, the Sun Devils have now won at least one individual title in each of the past 35 seasons, dating back to Bruce Young's WAC crown at 177 pounds in 1975. ASU also now has had at least one champion in each of the past 31 Pac-10 events.

NEXT TIME OUT
Arizona State will return to the road for another pair of contests, this time traveling to the Sooner State for a pair of showdowns with Big XII foes. First up will be a 7 p.m. CT dual at No. 6 Oklahoma State on Friday night in Stillwater before heading to Norman on Sunday for a 2 p.m. CT dual against No. 18 Oklahoma. Anthony Robles also will compete in the 44th NWCA All-Star Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT.
Arizona State Junior Robles Selected to Compete in NWCA All-Star Wrestling Classic Nov. 22

Sun Devil junior enters the season ranked No. 2 nationally after placing fourth last year

TEMPE - Anthony Robles, a junior on the Arizona State University wrestling team, has been selected to compete in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Star Classic that will be held Sunday, November 22, inside Titan Gym on the CS Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif. The defending Pac-10 Champion, Robles enters the exhibition event as the second-ranked wrestler in the nation at 125 pounds this year.

Robles, who advanced to the national semifinals last year and completed his second year in the Sun Devil line-up as an All-American with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, will face No. 4 Zach Sanders of Minnesota. The duo met on the mats twice last year and split those meetings with Sanders taking the first and Robles the second.

The first time they met came in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational with an unranked Sanders upsetting No. 8 Robles, 7-3. Then, on the final day of the collegiate season at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., Robles exacted his revenge as the No. 12 Sun Devil scored a 19-10 major decision over the No. 11 Golden Gopher in the consolation semifinals. Robles would lose his next match to place fourth overall in the national tournament while Sanders lost in the fifth-place match to finish sixth nationally.

The only Pac-10 wrestler in the field for the 44th edition of the Classic, Robles will become the 20th different Sun Devil to compete in the prestigious event. His current coaching staff all have competed in the NWCA All-Star Classic at least once in their respective careers, including head coach Shawn Charles (twice for Arizona State), head assistant coach Bryan Snyder (selected three times, competed once for Nebraska) and assistant coach Brian Stith (once for ASU). Stith was the most recent Sun Devil to compete as he dropped a close 2-1 decision to top-ranked Trent Paulson (Iowa State) at the 2007 Classic in Dallas, Texas.

Overall, the Sun Devils hold an all-time record of 9-12-1 in the Classic with three earning selections but not competing because of injury. The last time a Sun Devil won at the exhibition came in 2000 when Steve Blackford won a 13-2 major decision over Kirk White of Boise State at the 165-pound division.

2009 NWCA All-Star Classic Competitors
November 22, 2009 * CS Fullerton (Titan Gym)
125: #2 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) vs. #4 Zach Sanders (Minnesota)
133: #4 Steve Bell (Maryland) vs. #5 Daniel Dennis (Iowa)
141: #2 Nick Gallick (Iowa State) vs. #3 Alex Krom (Maryland)
149: #2 Lance Palmer (Ohio State) vs. #5 Kyle Borshoff (American)
157: #1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) vs. #2 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg)
165 :#4 Jonathan Reader (Iowa State) vs. #6 Andrew Rendos (Bucknell)
174: # Chris Henrich (Virginia) vs. #7 Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska)
184: #4 Max Askren (Missouri) vs. #5 Josh Patterson (Binghamton)
197: #1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) vs. #2 Craig Brester (Nebraska)
285: #1 Mark Ellis (Missouri) vs. #5 David Zabriskie (Iowa State)

Featured Bouts:
141: Adin Duenas (Cal State Fullerton) vs. Elijah Nacita (Cal State Bakersfield)
184: Zach Giesen (Stanford) vs. Enoch Francois (Cal Baptist University)
197: John Drake (Cal State Fullerton) vs. Riley Orozco (Cal State Bakersfield)
Maroon Wins 6-of-9 Matches to Defeat Gold, 19-10, at Arizona State Wrestle-Offs

Anthony Robles defeats Ben Ashmore, 7-4, in marquee match-up of the evening

TEMPE - The Arizona State University wrestling team held its annual Maroon and Gold Dual on Friday night at the Riches Wrestling Complex to determine the starters for the upcoming season and the maroon walked away victorious, 19-10, over the gold on the strength of winning six of the nine contests. The Sun Devils are preparing for their first dual of the year that will take place at UC Davis on November 13, just two weeks away.

The dual opened at 125 pounds with a match that everyone had been anticipating for several months now as Anthony Robles, a 2009 All-American at the weight class, came from behind to score a 7-4 decision over Ben Ashmore. Robles was trailing 2-0 at the end of the first as Ashmore scored a takedown and the challenger remained ahead, 3-2, at the end of two after he escaped after Robles took him down. After starting down and receiving a penalty point that tied the match, Robles reversed Ashmore and picked up two near-fall points before Ashmore escaped to make it a 7-4 final.

Leading 3-0 in the team standings, the maroon squad added another decision victory as David Prado scored a 6-4 decision over Jake Hannaford in overtime. After a scoreless first, Prado chose down and escaped before taking down Hannaford and riding him out for a 3-0 lead. Hannaford chose down in the third and took at 4-3 lead on an escape and then a takedown and a penalty point (stalling). Prado escaped to force overtime where he won on a takedown.

The maroon team extended its lead to 9-0 as 2009 All-American Chris Drouin pulled out a close 3-2 decision over Orlando Jimenez. After a scoreless first, Jimenez chose down and escaped for the lone point in the period. Trailing 1-0, Drouin chose down for the third and escaped, then took Jimenez down for a 3-1 lead. Jimenez escaped to inch closer, but neither man scored again.

Gold finally got on the board at 149 when Vicente Varela won a 10-3 decision over Tony Ruiz. Varela led, 2-1, through one and then used an escape and two takedowns in the second to make it 7-2. Varela added a takedown and one point on a second stalling call for the final score.

Te Edwards brought the gold side to a 9-7 deficit as he scored the first bonus-point victory of the night by defeating Lucas Mariacher in a 15-5 major decision. Edwards held a 6-2 lead through the first period as he scored two takedowns and two near-fall points. Mariacher chose down to start the second and escaped before Edwards scored twice more on takedowns for a 10-4 lead. Edwards escaped to open the third and then, once again, scored on two takedowns for the final margin of victory.

After trailing through the first five bouts, the gold team took their first lead (10-9) after the 165 match ended in a 12-6 victory for Kyle DeBerry over Sal Musto. DeBerry took down his foe and Musto escaped before the reverse happened, but DeBerry added a takedown at the end of the first period for a 5-3 lead. DeBerry chose down to start the second and escaped before scoring another takedown and riding Musto out. DeBerry added two more takedowns to Musto's three escapes in the third for the final score.

The gold team's lead, however, did not last long as Eric Starks scored a 16-3 major decision over Emilio Veramontes at 174 to put maroon back on top, 13-10. Starks opened up a 10-1 lead through one period with two takedowns and two, three-point near-falls and added an escape and takedown in the second. In the final period, a takedown and a stalling point provided the 2009 Pac-10 runner-up with his final margin of victory.

Although the match did not count toward the team score, the 184 match was good one as former Missouri All-American and current volunteer coach Raymond Jordan won an 8-4 decision over Jake Meredith in the featured match. Jordan took a 4-2 lead through one on a pair of takedowns and added two more in the second after choosing neutral. Meredith opened the third down and escaped, but could not find the takedown and fell to one of his coaches in the exhibition match.

The 197 match pitted a pair relative newcomers against one another with true freshman Anthony Pike scoring a 9-2 decision over redshirt freshman Michael Hawkins to push the maroon advantage to a score of 16-10. Pike scored a takedown for a 2-0 first period lead before Hawkins started down in the second and escaped for a 2-1 score. Pike scored twice more on takedowns and held a 6-2 lead through two before escaping bottom to open the third and then add a takedown for the 9-2 final.

In the final match of the night, the gold team needed a pin by Imanibom Etukeren to force a tie, but Erik Nye secured the team win for the maroon side as he took a 3-1 victory at heavyweight. After a scoreless first period, Nye chose down and escaped for a 1-0 lead and then added a takedown for a 3-0 lead through two periods. Etukeren chose down to start the third and escaped, but neither man scored again for the 3-1 final.

In two weeks, the Sun Devils will compete in a pair of Pac-10 duals on the road as they travel to UC Davis and CS Fullerton on November 13 and 15, respectively.

2009 Maroon and Gold Dual
Riches Wrestling Complex - Tempe
125 - Anthony Robles (M) dec. Ben Ashmore (G), 7-4
133 - David Prado (M) dec. Jake Hannaford (G), 6-4 sv
141 - Chris Drouin (M) dec. Orlando Jimenez (G), 3-2
149 - Vicente Varela (G) dec. Tony Ruiz (M), 10-3
157 - Te Edwards (G) major Lucas Mariacher (M), 15-5
165 - Kyle DeBerry (G) dec. Sal Musto (M), 12-6
174 - Eric Starks (M) major Emilio Veramontes (G), 16-3
184 - Raymond Jordan (G) dec. Jake Meredith (M), 8-4
197 - Anthony Pike (M) dec. Michael Hawkins (G), 9-2
285 - Erik Nye (M) dec. Imanibom Etukeren (G), 3-1
Mat-Side Season Tickets Available to Arizona State Wrestling Home Duals

Fans can sit closer to the action than anyone with their donation supporting the Sun Devils

TEMPE - The 2009-10 season for the Arizona State University wrestling team is getting closer each day with the Sun Devils' first dual just over two weeks away and their first home competition exactly one month away. And for those supporters that are not only anxious to see the Sun Devils open the season, but also want to be close to the action, the program is announcing the creation of season tickets that will allow fans to sit mat-side.

With a $75 donation, fans not only will be able to have one of the best seats in the house, but also will be able to help support and grow the financial stability of Sun Devil Wrestling. Along with obtaining a pass to home competitions, those fans that purchase a season ticket also will receive a "Wrestling with the Devil" T-shirt.

This year, the Sun Devils will play host to one intrastate foe, two Pac-10 Conference opponents and two other teams that finished the 2008-09 season among the Top 10 nationally at the NCAA Championships. ASU will take on Grand Canyon on November 29 in a battle of teams from the Valley of the Sun before facing Nebraska (January 22) and Oregon State (January 31) in the month of January. The final two weekends of the regular season will see the Sun Devils playing host to Iowa State (February 7) and Stanford (February 14) before heading into the Pac-10 Championships and the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The make your donation to the program and receive one of the best seats in the house, fill out the form located in the link at the top of the page and send it to the Sun Devil Wrestling office. Checks for your donation should be made out to the Sun Devil Club - Wrestling. For more information, please contact Bryan Snyder (head assistant coach) via email at bryansnyder@asu.edu.
Arizona State Wrestling Helps Raise Funds at Zoo Walk for Autism Research

Current members of the program joined forces with former ASU All-American G.T. Taylor

TEMPE - The Arizona State University wrestling program continued to take part in its community last week as the Sun Devils joined the Taylor Twins Team at the 2009 Zoo Walk for Autism Research that was held at the Phoenix Zoo on October 17. The Sun Devils, along with former two-time All-American G.T. Taylor, came together to walk the 1.1 mile loop at the zoo and raise money to research treatments for autism, which two of Taylor's sons are affected by.

"Two of my son's have autism and my wife Karen and I are very passionate about helping fund research for autism," Taylor said. "This was not only a great event for our family, but also for Arizona State University. ASU has a very large hand in the research for autism here in the state with professor James Adams leading the way. The walk was a great event and having the Sun Devil wrestlers there to support this community and help a worthy cause was remarkable. I know we appreciate their help."

Overall, the walk raised over $120,000 for autism research. The Taylor family (G.T. and Karen and their children Logan, Jordan and Rylan), Kirsten Metz, P. Clarke and the Sun Devil wrestlers and staff set out on the walk with a goal of raising $400. After the walk, The Taylor Twins Team had raised $560.

Athletically, Taylor was a two-time All-American for the Sun Devils, earning national honors at 177 pounds in 1990 (seventh place) and at 167 pounds in 1991 (seventh). A member of the program from 1988-92, Taylor was a part of four Pac-10 team championships and three NCAA Top 2 team placements, including the 1988 NCAA Championship crown. He and current Sun Devil head coach Shawn Charles were teammates during that time as well.
Arizona State Sun Devil Wrestling Gains Experience at Sunkist Kids International Open

Twenty with ties to ASU Wrestling competed in wrestling, grappling events in Phoenix

TEMPE - Many current and former members of the Arizona State University wrestling program were on hand to compete in a pair of events over the weekend as the Sunkist Kids International Open and the USA Wrestling Grappling World Team Trials were held simultaneously in Phoenix. Fifteen current Sun Devils competed in the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling events for their club team, Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, while several others with ties to the program competed in the grappling and women's freestyle events. In all, ASU athletes collected three grappling titles and five total medals, two Greco-Roman medals and one freestyle championship with two total medals, giving the program four titles and nine medals (Top 3 placements) overall.

The lone wrestling champion came in the women's freestyle event as Kelsey Campbell, a silver medalist at the 2009 Pan-American Championships, went 4-0 to win the 59kg (130) division, defeating Deanna Rix, 1-0, 3-1, in the final. The other medal in freestyle came from Ben Askren, ASU wrestling's Director of Operations, as the 2008 Olympian went 3-1 and dropped a close 2-1, 1-1, decision to Chris Pendelton in the final.

Eric Nye, who is ranked third in the latest USA Wrestling Greco-Roman rankings at 120kg (264.5), finished third overall in his division as he posted a 3-1 record to place the highest of any current Sun Devil competing. Kenny Lester finished sixth in the same division while Kyle DeBerry took sixth in the 74kg (163) freestyle division with a 2-3 record. In all, 13 current members of the program competed in the freestyle competition and will now turn their focus toward folkstyle (the high school and collegiate style) and the start of the collegiate season.

Several with ties to the program also competed in the grappling event and earned berths into the FILA World Grappling Championships that will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on December 11-13. Askren (no-gi 84kg), Jeff Funicello of American Pankration (gi 84kg, no-gi 84kg) and Lester (both gi and no-gi at 120kg and absolute) have qualified to compete for Team USA in two months. Askren, who has recently been fighting in MMA events, won four matches to claim the no-gi 84kg division, winning his first three matches with submissions and then taking the title with 6-0 decision over Jacob Volkmann.

Funicello was second in the 84kg gi competition to earn an automatic berth and was fourth in the no-gi division (could receive an at-large selection to the world event). Lester competed in four events and won two, including the 120kg and absolute gi divisions while placing third in no-gi 120kg and fourth in no-gi absolute. Another former heavyweight at ASU, Kellan Fluckiger, also competed in the no-gi 120kg division and placed fourth overall, which makes him a possible at-large selection to the world event as well.

The current Sun Devil squad will continue preparing for the start of their 2009-10 season by holding its Maroon and Gold Dual (wrestle-offs) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Riches Wrestling Complex on campus. The first duals of the season are just over two weeks away as the Sun Devils will travel to conference rivals UC Davis and CS Fullerton on November 13 and 15, respectively, to open the year.

2009 Sunkist Kids International Open
Saturday-Sunday, October 24-25
Phoenix, Ariz.
Greco-Roman - 74kg (163)
Orson Lor (SK) - DNP (0-2)

Greco Roman - 120kg (264.5)
Eric Nye (SK) - 3rd (3-1)
Kenny Lester (SK) - 6th (1-1)

Freestyle - 60kg (132.25)
Angel Alegre (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Travis Forster (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Kalin Goodsite (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Jake Hannaford (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Daniel Walker (SK) - dnp (1-2)

Freestyle - 66kg (145.5)
Vicente Varela (SK) - dnp (2-2)
Carlos Castro (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Wes Fimbrez (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Orlando Jimenez (SK) - dnp (0-2)

Freestyle - 74kg (163)
Kyle DeBerry (SK) - 6th (2-3)
Sergio Cortez (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Orson Lor (SK) - dnp (0-2)
Jerrad Trulson (SK) - dnp (0-2)

Freestyle - 84kg (185)
Ben Askren (SK) - 2nd (3-1)
Raymond Jordan (SK) - 4th (3-2)

Women's Freestyle - 59kg (130)
Kelsey Campbell (SK) - Champion (4-0)

2009 USA Wrestling Grappling World Team Trials
Friday-Saturday, October 23-24
Phoenix, Ariz.
No Gi - 84kg (185)
Ben Askren (SK) - Champion (4-0)
Jeff Funicello (American Pankration) - 4th (2-2)

No Gi - 120kg (264.5)
Kenny Lester (SK) - 3rd
Kellan Fluckiger (SK) - 4th

No Gi - Absolute
Kenny Lester (SK) - 4th

Gi - 84kg (185)
Jeff Funicello (AP) - 2nd

Gi - 120kg (264.5)
Kenny Lester (SK) - Champion

Gi - Absolute
Kenny Lester (SK) - Champion
Matches Set for Arizona State Sun Devil Wrestling's Annual Maroon and Gold Dual

Wrestle-offs will be held to determine the team's starters for the upcoming dual season

TEMPE - The matches have been set for the Arizona State University wrestling program's annual Maroon and Gold Dual, Head Coach Shawn Charles announced today. The event, which serves as the program's wrestle-offs for the starting positions in the upcoming dual season, will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night inside the Riches Wrestling Complex on campus.

Head Assistant Coach Bryan Snyder will coach the gold team while Assistant Coach Brian Stith will guide the maroon team in the annual competition. In all, 10 matches have been set which include nine wrestle-offs for the starting position and one featured match as well. That featured match will see Jake Meredith take on volunteer coach Raymond Jordan at 184 pounds.

Here is a look at the matches:
125: Anthony Robles vs. Ben Ashmore - perhaps the most anticipated match of the dual will be the first on the mat as two highly skilled competitors face off for the starting job at 125. Robles is coming off a 29-8 season last year that saw him win titles at the Reno Tournament of Champions and Pac-10 Championships before earning his first All-America honor by finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships. Although redshirting during the season, Ashmore still found his way into several competitions as an unattached competitor and met up with Robles in the consolation quarterfinals of the Midlands Championships where Ashmore took a 3-2 decision before placing fifth and Robles seventh.

133: David Prado vs. Jake Hannaford - Prado ended the season as the starter at 133 for the Sun Devils and placed eighth at the Pac-10 Championships while Hannaford is making his return to the roster after not being part of the program for three seasons.

141: Chris Drouin vs. Orlando Jimenez: Drouin will look to retain his starting position for the third year in a row after posting a 29-9 record in 2009 that culminated with his first All-America honor by placing sixth at the NCAA Championships. A pre-season pick for the national Top 4, Drouin also won the Reno tournament last year and was runner-up in both the Las Vegas Invitational and Pac-10 Championships. Jimenez is making the move up to 141 this season after posting a 2-6 overall record last year at 133.

149: Tony Ruiz vs. Vicente Varela - Varela will look to remain the starter once again as the sophomore is coming off a rookie season that saw him finish 10-13 overall and placing seventh at the Pac-10 Championships to finish among the Top 8 first the first time in a collegiate tournament. Ruiz did not compete during last season after transferring in from Cerrittos College.

157: Lucas Mariacher vs. Te Edwards - After initially opening his freshman season as a redshirt last year, Edwards earned a place in the starting line up and went on to finish fifth in the Pac-10 Championships to post a 4-8 overall record in limited action. Mariacher did not compete during the 2009 season.

165: Sal Musto vs. Kyle DeBerry - DeBerry will look to retain the starting nod after recording a 14-14 overall record last year as a redshirt freshman and placing fifth at the Pac-10 Championships. Musto competed in one match last year (also as a redshirt freshman) and dropped a tough 9-7 decision in overtime.

174: Eric Starks vs. Emilio Veramontes - Starks emerged as a strong competitor last year in his true freshman season and posted a 15-11 overall record while earning the No. 2 seed at the Pac-10 Championships and taking second in a 5-2 decision to No. 12 Nate Lee of Boise State. Veramontes did not compete last year as he redshirted his first season with the program.

184: Jake Meredith vs. Raymond Jordan - The featured match will see Meredith taking on a tough competitor in Jordan, who was a two-time All-American at Missouri with one each at 174 pounds and 184 pounds. Meredith, in his true freshman season last year, posted an 11-12 overall record and was 5-4 in duals before placing sixth overall at the Pac-10 Championships. Jordan, who went 123-29 in his collegiate career, recently placed fourth at the Sunkist Kids International Open at 185 pounds.

197: Anthony Pike vs. Michael Hawkins - The 197 match will see a pair of relative newcomers to the program square off for the starting job as Pike will look to make the varsity line up as a true freshman and Hawkins will try for the job after redshirting last season. Pike was a two-time state champion in Arizona, including last year at Sunnyside HS in Tucson, while Hawkins was a two-time state placer in Colorado after winning 94 career matches with 59 coming by fall.

285: Erik Nye vs. Imanibom Etukeren - The heavyweight match will feature the two starters from last year as Nye will look to reclaim the job that he held at the start of the year before being forced out of the line up. Nye was 3-2 in the first month of the season with both of his losses coming one-point decisions while Etukeren posted a 2-11 record and finished eighth in the Pac-10 Championships.

2009 Maroon and Gold Dual
125 - Anthony Robles (M) vs. Ben Ashmore (G)
133 - David Prado (M) vs. Jake Hannaford (G)
141 - Chris Drouin (M) vs. Orlando Jimenez (G)
149 - Tony Ruiz (M) vs. Vicente Varela (G)
157 - Lucas Mariacher (M) vs. Te Edwards (G)
165 - Sal Musto (M) vs. Kyle DeBerry (G)
174 - Eric Starks (M) vs. Emilio Veramontes (G)
184 - Jake Meredith (M) vs. Raymond Jordan (G)
197 - Anthony Pike (M) vs. Michael Hawkins (G)
285 - Erik Nye (M) vs. Imanibom Etukeren (G)
Arizona State Wrestling Again Lends a Hand at the Wilson Neighborhood Cleanup

Sun Devils on hand to assist elementary school children pick up trash throughout the area
 
TEMPE - For the fourth year in a row, the Arizona State University wrestling program took part in the Wilson Neighborhood Cleanup project as the Sun Devils met with the children of Wilson Elementary School in Phoenix to pick-up trash from around the neighborhoods surrounding the school. The volunteers met on Saturday, September 19, and worked in the areas in and around the school's campus near 20th Street off of Van Buren Road.
 
As they had done in the past, the Sun Devils were on hand to help invigorate students, parents and the community residents to take pride and ownership of their neighborhood by working to clear debris from the streets. Organized by the Wilson Community Center, the day started at 8 a.m. with the Sun Devils meeting with the members of the community and students of Wilson Elementary School before breaking off into groups with the volunteering children to begin the clean up. After a two-hour clean up, all involved came together at the school for lunch.
 
The Wilson community is distinguished by a highly mobile, single parent impoverished population and is surrounded by substance abuse, prostitution and substandard housing. As an inner-city school district, Wilson Elementary School District serves approximately 1,500 children, many of which reside below the poverty level. Twenty-five percent of the children that attend Wilson School are classified as homeless while 75% live in dilapidated housing or local hotels. Ninety-eight percent of the total population qualifies for the free/reduced-cost Federal lunch program. According to the Arizona State Education Department data, Wilson School District is considered to be the most "at-risk" in Maricopa County.
 
 
 
Alex Ryan
Associate Media Relations Director
Arizona State University
SID for: Cross Country, Track & Field
Water Polo and Wrestling
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2007 Women's NCAA Outdoor T&F Champs
2008 Men's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2008 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
500 E. Veterans Way
Carson Student-Athlete Center, Rm. 131
Tempe, AZ 85287-2505
Direct: (480) 965-4987
Cell: (480) 734-7794
Fax: (490) 965-5408
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Arizona State Sun Devil Wrestling Announces Schedule for the 2009-10 Season

Five home events and several prestigious tournaments await ASU in Shawn Charles' first year
 
TEMPE - The 2009-10 schedule for the Arizona State University wrestling team was announced by Head Coach Shawn Charles today and will feature five home duals and participation in several of the nation's top individual and team dual tournaments. The first season under Charles' direction will see the Sun Devils compete in seven road duals, including an intrastate dual at Embry-Riddle and a tough road swing through the Sooner State early on. ASU also will compete in a pair of dual tournaments (NWCA National Duals and the Lonestar Duals) as well as returning to a pair of individual tournaments that have been mainstays on the schedule (Las Vegas and Reno).
 
"As soon as you look at our schedule, you will see how competitive of a schedule we have this year," Charles said. "We did that, in part, because we are committed to making sure our guys are ready for the Pac-10 Championships and for the NCAA Championships where they can become All-Americans, earn the right to become a national champion and to help us win the Pac-10 title this year. We are looking for progress throughout the season. Our main focal point is we will start with what we start with and then, as the season goes on, we build up and improve so that come conference time, we are prepared to win the title and then send guys to the NCAA tournament to become national champions. That is our goal."
 
Of the duals slated for home and away, the Sun Devils will face three teams that placed in the Top 20 nationally last year, including home dates with fourth-place Nebraska and third-place Iowa State and a trip to 16th-place Oklahoma State. The Sun Devils also will compete in the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and the Lonestar Duals in Arlington, Texas, which will give ASU more chances to face the best in the nation. At the National Duals alone, the Sun Devils could face the Top 5 teams from the 2009 NCAA Championships (Iowa, Ohio State, Iowa State, Nebraska and Cornell), as well as seven other teams that finished among the Top 15 nationally one year ago.
 
"Going to the national duals is huge because we are going to be butting heads with some of the best programs in the country," Charles said. "For me, I want to see progress. From our first dual on November 13 through the National Duals, I want to see progress in our athletes as far as their strength and conditioning levels, their confidence levels and their technical skill levels. I want to see them wrestling and wrestling well."
 
The Sun Devils will open their season with four-consecutive road duals with two each slated for the opening two weekends. First up, ASU will hit the road for two Pac-10 duals as it faces UC Davis (Nov. 13) and CS Fullerton (Nov. 15) and then will travel to America's Heartland for its duals at Oklahoma State (Nov. 20) and Oklahoma (Nov. 22). The trip to both Oklahoma schools will mark the sixth time ASU has faced both in the same weekend on the road and the first time since a trip during the 1999-00 season.
 
November will come to an end with the Sun Devils' fifth dual of the year as they play host to intrastate rival Grand Canyon, who ASU has defeated in each of the past two seasons. From there, the Sun Devils will participate in a trio of individual tournaments, including the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. (Dec. 4-5) and the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. (Dec. 20).
 
When the New Year begins, the Sun Devils will return to dual action on the road and open by facing CS Bakersfield in Bakersfield, Calif. (Jan. 3) before heading to the National Duals (Jan. 9-10) and the Lone Star Duals (Jan. 16). From there, ASU will have six more competitions to prepare for the championship season and will begin its push by hosting Nebraska (Jan. 22). Following the Sun Devils' first trip to Prescott, Ariz., to take on Embry-Riddle (Jan. 24), the team will return home for a Pac-10 dual with Oregon State (Jan. 31).
 
"We have some really good matches later in the season, too," Charles said. "We have Nebraska, which is very strong Big XII school, and later, we have Iowa State, who is supposed to be in position to challenge for the national title this year. No matter who it is, when that time comes, I feel we should be winning. I want to see hard work and effort from our guys, but by that time in the season, we should be challenging the best programs in the nation and our guys should be confident enough and in good enough shape to beat the best in the country."
 
The month of February will see the Sun Devils compete in its final three duals of the season and will open with one road and one home dual. First up, ASU will travel to Cal Poly for a Pac-10 dual (Feb. 5) before returning home for its final non-conference dual as Iowa State visits Tempe (Feb. 7). One week later, the regular season comes to an end for ASU as it plays host to Stanford (Feb. 14). The Sun Devils will then return to Davis, Calif., for the Pac-10 Championships (Feb. 28-Mar. 1) before competing in the season-ending NCAA Championships (Mar. 18-20) in Omaha, Neb.
 
This season will mark the 48th year the program has competed on the varsity level and its 32nd year as a member of the Pac-10 Conference. In that time, the Sun Devils are the only program west of the Rocky Mountains to have captured the NCAA Division I title (1988) and have collected 16 Pac-10 championships, the second most in the history of the league. ASU has produced 64 individual All-Americans who have accumulated 108 total honors, including Charles, who is one of only four, four-time honorees (1990-93) in program history.
 
2009-2010 Sun Devil Wrestling Schedule
N          13       at    UC Davis *                                                             Davis, Calif.                                        TBA
N          15       at    CS Fullerton *                                                      Fullerton, Calif.                                 TBA
N          20       at    Oklahoma State                                                  Stillwater, Okla.                                 TBA
N          22       at    Oklahoma                                                             Norman, Okla.                                  TBA
N          29              Grand Canyon                                                      Wells Fargo Arena                           TBA
D         4-5       at    Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational                  Primm, Nev.                                       All Day
D          20       at    Reno Tournament of Champions                Reno, Nev.                                          All Day
J             3       at    CS Bakersfield *                                                  Bakersfield, Calif.                             2:00 pm
J       9-10       at    NWCA National Duals                                      Cedar Falls, Iowa                             TBD
J           16       at    Lone Star Duals                                                  Arlington, Texas                                TBD
J           22              Nebraska                                                               TBA                                                       TBA
J           24       at    Embry-Riddle                                                      Prescott, Ariz.                                     3:00 pm
J           31              Oregon State *                                                    Wells Fargo Arena                           TBA
F             5       at    Cal Poly *                                                               San Luis Obispo, Calif.                  TBA
F             7              Iowa State                                                            Wells Fargo Arena                           TBA
F           14              Stanford *                                                              Wells Fargo Arena                           2:00 pm
F       28-1       at    Pac-10 Championships                                   Davis, Calif.                                        All Day
M    18-20       at    NCAA Championships                                     Omaha, Neb.                                     All Day
 
 
Alex Ryan
Associate Media Relations Director
Arizona State University
SID for: Cross Country, Track & Field
Water Polo and Wrestling
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2007 Women's NCAA Outdoor T&F Champs
2008 Men's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2008 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
500 E. Veterans Way
Carson Student-Athlete Center, Rm. 131
Tempe, AZ 85287-2505
Direct: (480) 965-4987
Cell: (480) 734-7794
Fax: (490) 965-5408
---------------------------------------------------------------------

 Returning Arizona State University  Wrestlers and Walk-ons Invited to Meet & Greet on Aug. 24

Students interested in joining the team need to meet with Coach Charles that day
 
TEMPE - Shawn Charles, the head coach of the Arizona State University wrestling team, and his coaching staff will play host to a meet and greet on Monday, August 24, at the Riches Wrestling Complex on campus. The event, which will begin promptly at 3:30 p.m., is for all returning team members and any ASU student that is interested in joining the program as a walk-on for the up-coming season.
 
This meeting will be mandatory for all potential walk-ons as Coach Charles will discuss the steps it will take to join the team, including filling out essential paperwork and covering the training schedule for the coming weeks. All students in attendance should bring their identification card, Social Security number and ASU student identification number. Following the meeting, all students in attendance can mingle with the coaching staff while food (hamburgers and hot dogs) and drinks will be served.
 
Leading up to the meet and greet and throughout the season, both wrestlers and fans can get the latest news and updates on the program by following its tweets on Twitter (@ASUWrestling).
 
Alex Ryan
Associate Media Relations Director
Arizona State University
SID for: Cross Country, Track & Field
Water Polo and Wrestling
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2007 Women's NCAA Outdoor T&F Champs
2008 Men's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2008 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
500 E. Veterans Way
Carson Student-Athlete Center, Rm. 131
Tempe, AZ 85287-2505
Direct: (480) 965-4987
Cell: (480) 734-7794
Fax: (490) 965-5408
---------------------------------------------------------------------

ASU Wrestling Adds Snyder, Askren and Jordan to Coaching Staff

July 28, 2009

Trio combined for 10 All-America honors and two individual national titles while competing
 
TEMPE - Former collegiate standouts Bryan Snyder, Ben Askren and Raymond Jordan have joined the coaching staff of the Arizona State University wrestling program, Head Coach Shawn Charles announced Tuesday. All three individuals, who will join current assistant coach Brian Stith on the staff, were multiple All-Americans and conference champions in their time on the mats and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the mats in Tempe.
 
"I am very excited to have all three of these men on my staff," Charles said. "I have worked with them all in the past and I believe they bring a lot to the table as we push to become a very successful program once again. I really feel our coaching staff is second-to-none and I know each of these men are ready to work hard to help our program succeed both on the mats and off. I look forward to watching this program continue to grow with their help."
 
A four-time All-American and two-time NCAA runner-up for Nebraska, Snyder will serve as the head assistant coach on Charles' staff while both Askren and Jordan will serve as volunteer assistant coaches. Askren, a 2008 U.S. Olympian and two-time NCAA Champion at Missouri, and Jordan, a two-time All-American at Missouri, will also continue their training as members of the Sunkist Kids organization while assisting with the Sun Devil program. All three have worked with Charles in the past as well: Charles was a coach during Snyder's senior season and both were on the staff together for two seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05); Charles was an assistant coach at MU for the past two years where Askren was a volunteer coach and Jordan was a competitor for the Tigers.
 
Snyder was one of the top wrestlers at 157 pounds from 1999-02 as he collected four All-America honors after placing fourth, fifth, second and second in his NCAA appearances. One of the few four-time champions in the history of the Big XII Conference, Snyder compiled a career record of 136-11 with his .925 winning percentage standing as the best in Husker history. Snyder was equally as successful in the classroom during his time in Lincoln as he was selected as the school's 2002 Student-Athlete of the Year. He graduated from NU with a pair of degrees (Sociology and Communication Studies) in 2002 before coaching at Harvard for one season. After his stint with the Crimson, Snyder returned to NU where he served as a graduate assistant coach while working toward his Masters in Sociology, which he earned in 2005. Recently, he has spent the past three years at the University of Colorado where he studied as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology.
 
"I am really excited to work alongside Shawn Charles and the rest of the staff to bring Arizona State back to national prominence," Snyder said. I am confident that we can do big things at Arizona State and I am anxious to get on campus and get to work by helping our student-athletes excel on the mat and in the classroom as well."
 
"Bryan is going to help me bring together all the pieces that we need to make our program very successful," Charles said. "He coached at Harvard as well and academics is big on his list. I know he is going to help make sure that our wrestlers are doing the things academically that we need to do to be among the top programs in our sport and across the board. We are going to go after wrestlers that can get the job done in the classroom as well as on the mat and he will be a big part of that. He also is from one of the more prestigious high schools in the country (Easton High School in Pennsylvania) and I feel he will be able to help us attract some of the East Coast talent that will continue to help the Sun Devil program rise to the top once again."
 
Askren was one of the elite collegiate competitors in the nation during his time at Missouri (2003-07) where his exciting style of wrestling led him to the finals of the 174-pound weight class at the NCAA Championships four times. A three-time Big XII champion, Askren won the national title in each of his last two seasons by winning 87 matches in a row and pinning numerous foes. For his dominance, he was named the Dan Hodge Winner twice while also collecting the Schalles Award (Best Pinner) twice. Askren built a career record of 153-7 in Columbia with 93 wins by fall (fourth-best in NCAA history) while also posting a national record of 18-consecutive wins by fall in the first period. A four-time NWCA All-Academic and four-time Academic All-Big XII honoree, Askren spent the past two years as a volunteer assistant coach with the Tigers while training for and competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the member of Team USA went 1-1 in the 74kg freestyle competition.
 
"I am very excited to help Coach Charles take the Sun Devils back to the top," Askren said. "Coach Charles helped me tremendously in my Olympic run in 2008. I feel like Arizona State is a great school to recruit at and has the potential to challenge for a national title year after year. I am very motivated to seeing that become reality and look forward to doing all I can to help the Sun Devils reach that goal."
 
"With all his accolades, Ben certainly brings a lot of wrestling credentials to the table," Charles said. "He is going to be the guy that will work with our 165, 174 and 184-pound wrestlers and help prepare them to compete at a high level and to become national champions. He is a great guy and has a unique style of wrestling, which many call "funk". He will be able to teach our guys a different style of wrestling that I feel will help them understand the sport better and give them more tools to become better wrestlers and win more matches."
 
Jordan is the most recent graduate on the staff as he graduated in December with his degree in personal finance planning from MU. A four-time NCAA qualifier, Jordan was a two-time All-American for the Tigers and just the fourth MU wrestler to earn the national honor in multiple weight classes as he finished fifth at 184 pounds as a junior and then was third at 174 pounds as a senior. The 2007 Big XII champion at 184, Jordan compiled a career record of 123-29 and was the 15th wrestler in the program's history to record 100 or more victories in a career. His win total also stands as the fourth-most in program history. A three-time high school state champion from North Carolina and a high school All-American, Jordan was involved with the MU program off the mats as well as he served as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) on campus during his senior year.
 
"I am excited to come to Arizona State and work alongside a talented group of coaches," Jordan said. "The program has a strong tradition of being very successful and I am looking forward to helping restore that reputation. ASU is only one of a handful of programs that has tasted what it is like to win a National Championship and I hope to help them reach their goals of achieving that title again. I am really appreciative of this opportunity to join the Sun Devil staff and look forward to many great years ahead."
 
"Raymond is a hard worker and earned many accolades at Missouri," Charles said. "He will work with our wrestlers at 184, 197 and heavyweight and I know he will work hard to make sure those student-athletes are physically ready to compete and be well prepared to challenge for All-America honors and national titles. I am very happy to have someone like Raymond in our program because he is an all-around good guy with great character and determination to succeed. I was very excited when he told me he would be coming out to train with Sunkist and to help our program as well."
 
The Sun Devil coaching staff is currently preparing for the 2009-10 season and will look to build upon the program's 20th-place showing at the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships. ASU will be led by a pair of returning All-Americans in Anthony Robles (fourth place at 125) and Chris Drouin (sixth place at 141).
 
The Snyder File
* Four-time All-American for Nebraska at 157 pounds (1999-02)
* Two-time NCAA finalist (2001, 2002)
* Four-time Big XII Conference champion
* Three-time NWCA All-Star participant
* Career 136-11 overall and 69-4 dual records (#2 on NU wins lists)
* Career winning percentage leader at NU (.925)
* Four-time NWCA All-Academic
* Four-time Academic All-Big XII selection
* Graduated from NU in 2002 (two degrees: Sociology, Communication Studies) and in 2005 (Master's in Sociology)
* Working toward Ph.D. in Sociology at Colorado
 
The Askren File
* 2008 U.S. Champion and U.S. Olympian (74kg freestyle)
* Two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri at 174 pounds (2006, 2007)
* Four-time NCAA finalist and All-American (2004-07)
* Three-time Big XII Conference champion
* Two-time Dan Hodge Award winner
* Two-time Schalles Award winner
* Career 153-7 record at MU
* Won 93 matches by fall (fourth-most in NCAA history)
* Won 18-consecutive matches by fall in the first period (NCAA record)
* Undefeated over his last two years of competition at MU
* Won his last 87 matches in a row (Top 10 in NCAA history)
* Four-time NWCA All-Academic selection
* Four-time Academic All-Big XII selection
* Graduated from Missouri in 2007
 
The Jordan File
* Two-time All-American for Missouri at 174 (2009) and 184 (2008)
* Only the fourth Tiger to earn All-America honors at two different weights
* Four-time NCAA qualifier (three times at 184 and once at 174)
* 2007 Big XII Champion at 184 pounds
* Career record of 123-29 made him the 15th Tiger to win 100 or more matches in a career
* His 123 career wins ranks as the fourth-most in MU history
* Graduated from MU in December 2008 with a degree in Personal Finance Planning
 
 
Alex Ryan
Associate Media Relations Director
Arizona State University
SID for: Cross Country, Track & Field
Water Polo and Wrestling
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2007 Women's NCAA Outdoor T&F Champs
2008 Men's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
2008 Women's NCAA Indoor T&F Champs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
500 E. Veterans Way
Carson Student-Athlete Center, Rm. 131
Tempe, AZ 85287-2505
Direct: (480) 965-4987
Cell: (480) 734-7794
Fax: (490) 965-5408
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Arizona State Sun Devil Wrestling Names Shawn Charles to Head Coaching Position

Former four-time All-American has been hired to return to Tempe and lead his Alma mater

TEMPE - Shawn Charles, a four-time All-American and two-time national runner-up at Arizona State University, has been named the head coach of the Sun Devil wrestling program, Senior Associate Athletic Director Don Bocchi announced Friday. Charles, an Arizona native and one of the more successful Sun Devils in the program's history, will become only the sixth head coach in the program's 47-year history.

"We are very excited to announce Shawn Charles as our head wrestling coach and feel that his drive to succeed and his determination to bring Arizona State wrestling back to the top of the standings is exactly what we are looking for," Bocchi said. "His passion for this great sport is very evident and we believe he is going to put everything he has into helping our program return to the success he and his teammates enjoyed when they competed. We also found his commitment to the total student-athlete concept on pace with our desires to help these young men succeed in the classroom and in the community both now and in the future. We are encouraged by the experiences he has had elsewhere and we are looking forward to seeing what Coach Charles and his Sun Devils achieve in the years to come."

"I am excited to be back at my Alma mater and to be the guy to put it all together and make Arizona State successful once again," Charles said. "It is a great opportunity to come back to Tempe and strengthen this program as a coach and I am looking forward to goals I have set for this team in the coming years. One of my goals is to get the community involved with our program. I really believe that wrestling is a viable form of entertainment and I would really like to see the communities around Arizona get involved in supporting this form of entertainment.

"I also think it is important for our student-athletes to be recognized not only for their achievements on the mats, but in the classrooms as well," Charles said. "I want to win championships, but I also want to make sure our young men are succeeding academically and setting their sites on the future by graduating from college. For me, I know the environment, I know the community, I know the boosters, I know the alumni and I know the task that is front of me and I know that makes me the best person to help drive this program forward and do the things I need to do to ensure that Arizona State wrestling stays a Division I program and wins championships."

Charles will have a wealth of knowledge at his disposal as he works to bring the program back to the top of the national and conference standings after being there himself as a Sun Devil. In his years in Tempe (1990-93), Charles helped the Sun Devils to three Pac-10 Championships (1990, 1991 and 1993) while also helping the team place among the Top 6 nationally in each of the those three seasons, including a national runner-up finish in 1990 and a fourth-place showing in 1993. He earned All-America honors in all four of his years on the mat at 126 pounds, placing fifth as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore before taking national runner-up honors in his final two campaigns.

A two-time Pac-10 individual champion (1992 and 1993), Charles collected 103 victories in his collegiate career, ranking him tied for 19th on the program's all-time wins list. He also ranks 19th in career dual-match victories after he posted a 44-15-5 record in those matches. Charles also was a two-time competitor in the East-West All-Star Dual and captured the Las Vegas Invitational twice while also finishing second at the prestigious Midlands Championships once during his Sun Devil career.

Upon earning his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from ASU in 1993, the native of Tucson, Ariz., began his coaching career that has taken him all over the nation in the collegiate ranks and around the world as a representative of USA Wrestling. Charles, who has worked with programs in the Big XII Conference, the Mid-America Conference (MAC), the Ivy League and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), began his coaching career at Iowa State (1993-95) where he served as an assistant coach before he returned to the Valley of the Sun to serve as the head assistant coach at Phoenix College (1995-96).

From there, he returned to the Big XII where he worked as the assistant freestyle wrestling coach at Oklahoma (1996-97) before Central Michigan brought him as its head assistant coach (1997-01). While at CMU, eleven wrestlers earned All-America status and one was crowned national champion in 1999. Overall, the team recorded a pair of Top 10 national finishes as well.

Charles was then named the head assistant coach at Nebraska (2001-05) and helped the Corn huskers to two Top 10 finishes with 11 All-Americans and one national champion. With 22 All-Americans, two national champions and four Top 10 team finishes on his resume, Fresno State brought Charles back to the West by naming him the head coach. Despite qualifying four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, including future Sun Devil Greg Gifford, the program was discontinued after his only year, sending Charles across the nation to Brown (2006-07) for a one-year stint as it's assistant coach.

Over the past two seasons, Charles worked with a Big XII program, this time helping Missouri's program to a seventh-place finish in 2009 and five individual All-America honors. All told in his brief stint in Columbia, Mo., the Tigers earned eight All-America honors and had one individual champion. All told in his 18 years of coaching, Charles has worked with 39 NCAA All-Americans and three individual NCAA champions while also helping teams to Top 10 finishes as the NCAA Championships on seven occasions.

But his dedication to excellence was not only felt on the mats, it was recognized in the classroom as well. Three of his wrestlers were selected for scholar-athlete of the year honors while each of his coaching stops has seen him work with at least one national all-academic honoree. He also has participated in countless community activities at each of his coaching stops while also working to create and/or improve club wrestling programs in those areas.

Away from the collegiate coaching scene, Charles also has coached internationally, which includes him being named to the 2009 University World Team coaching staff after serving on the U.S. Olympic staff in both 2004 and 2008. A coach with Sunkist Kids, Charles also has served as a coach for two World Cups (2003, 2007) and has helped lead the U.S. at two international tournaments in the Ukraine. Most recently, Charles worked with MU wrestler Ben Askren, who represented the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics.

As an international competitor, Charles claimed 14 titles, including victories at tournaments in Iran, Manitoba (Canada), Slovakia, Bulgaria and Turkey while also winning the U.S. Open, the NYAC International and the Pan-American Championships. Along with several U.S. national titles, Charles twice placed second at the World Team Trials and was an alternate on the 1996 U.S. Olympic freestyle team.

Charles began his wrestling career in Tucson and competed for Santa Rita High School. While at SRHS, he captured three state titles over the course of his final three years and also won the division championship all three years.

Charles and his wife, the former Jill Hansen, are the parents of two boys, Shawn Charles, Jr. (seven) and Titus "Tyty" Charles (five).

The Charles File
* ASU's first four-time wrestling All-American (5th in 1990, 4th in 1991, 2nd in 1992, 2nd in 1992)
* Two-time Pac-10 Conference champion at 126 pounds
* Graduated from Arizona State in 1993 with B.S. in Computer Information Systems
* Ranks 19th (tie) on the ASU all-time victories list (103)
* Native of Tucson, Ariz., where he won three state titles at Santa Rita High School
* Has coached in four Division I conferences, including the Big XII, Ivy, Western Athletic and Mid-American
* Has worked with 39 NCAA Division I All-Americans and three individual NCAA Champions
* Helped teams place among the Top 10 nationally in the NCAA Division I Championships seven times

Charles' Coaching Resume
2007-09 - Missouri (assistant coach)
2006-07 - Brown (assistant coach)
2005-06 - Fresno State (head coach)
2001-05 - Nebraska (head assistant coach)
1997-01 - Central Michigan (head assistant coach)
1996-97 - Oklahoma (assistant freestyle coach)
1995-96 - Phoenix College (head coach)
1993-95 - Iowa State (assistant coach)

Arizona State's Kelsey Campbell Captures Silver at Pan-Am Wrestling Champs

Senior finished second in international competition held in Venezuela

TEMPE - Over the weekend, four members of the Arizona State University wrestling program were on the mats and posted impressive results, including Kelsey Campbell, who placed second in her first international tournament while competing for Team USA at the 2009 Pan-Am Wrestling Championships in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Three other Sun Devils competed at the Asics University Nationals in Akron, Ohio, as well.

In Venezuela, Campbell, the 2009 U.S. Women's Senior National Champion at 59kg, took to the mats for the Stars and Stripes and won her opening match, 1-0, 1-0, over Mirna Henriquez of Venezuela. In the semifinals, Campbell went the distance with Brazil's Joice Silva, winning the first period, 1-0, dropping the second, 3-0, and then rebounding to take the match with a 1-0 score in the third. In the finals, Campbell dropped a 1-0, 4-0 decision to Cuba's Yamilea Del Valle Alvarez to finish second and earn the silver medal.

Back in the States, three Sun Devils competed at the University Nationals in Akron, Ohio, where the winner of each weight class would represent the U.S. at the World University Games later this year. Vicente Varela had the best showing of the three competitors as the rising sophomore went 5-2 at 70kg and was one victory short of placing in the Top 8. Varela opened the tournament with a pair of wins by pin, including one at 19 seconds. After falling to Anthony Jones (Michigan WC) in the third round (2-0, 1-1), Varela ran off three wins in a row in the consolations before running into Jones once again. In that match, Varela won the first period before dropping the last two to fall, 0-3, 1-0, 1-0.

Kyle DeBerry and Jake Meredith also competed in the tournament and, like DeBerry, represented Sunkist Kids. DeBerry, competing at 74kg, lost his first-round match before winning two consolation matches and falling in the third round in a 1-0, 1-1 decision to Josh Zupancic (Oklahoma Underdog WC). Similar to DeBerry was Meredith's tournament at 84kg as the rising sophomore lost his first match of the tournament before winning two consolations in a row. In the end, he dropped a 0-1, 2-0, 2-0 decision to Kaleb Young (MN Storm) to end his tournament.
Arizona State Wrestling Program to Begin National Search to Replace Thom Ortiz

Sun Devil administration will begin search immediately to fill head coaching vacancy

TEMPE, Ariz. - Don Bocchi, Senior Associate Athletic Director at Arizona State University, has announced a change in leadership for the Sun Devil wrestling program with the departure of eight-year head coach Thom Ortiz. A national search for his replacement will begin immediately.

"I want to thank Thom Ortiz for his eight years of service and dedication to the Sun Devil program," Bocchi said. "It is never easy to see one of your own leave, but we believe our program can return to the top of the national standings, as well as the Pac-10 Conference, and that begins immediately as we start our search for Thom's replacement."

Ortiz, a former All-American and Pac-10 champion at ASU, has served as the head coach for his Alma mater since the 2001-02 season. During his time in the Valley of the Sun, his teams posted an overall record of 79-60-1 and went 44-13-0 against Pac-10 foes.

During the 2008-09 season, Ortiz worked with a pair of All-Americans as both Anthony Robles (125) and Chris Drouin (141) advanced to the national semifinals before placing fourth and sixth, respectively. During his eight-year tenure, Ortiz' Sun Devils tallied 17 All-America honors with three national finalists, including 2003 NCAA Champion Eric Larkin (149).
Arizona State's Campbell to Represent Team USA at 2009 Pan-Am Championships

Senior recently won the U.S. Senior Nationals and will represent USA in Venezuela next week

TEMPE - Kelsey Campbell, a senior on the Arizona State University wrestling team, has been selected to represent the United States in women's freestyle wrestling at the 2009 Pan-American Wrestling Championships, USA Wrestling announced today. Coming off her first senior national crown, Campbell will travel to Maracaibo, Venezuela, for the annual competition and take part in the women's 59kg (130 lbs.) freestyle event on Friday, April 24.

Last weekend in Las Vegas, Campbell, who won the Women's Collegiate National Championships in 2008 (59kg) and 2007 (63kg), entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and won all three of her matches to take the title. She first won a 2-1, 3-0 decision over Nena Garcia (Cumberlands) in the quarterfinals before scoring a 2-0, 2-0 decision over Natasha Umemoto (Sunkist Kids). In the finals, she lost the first round, 1-0, before winning the next two, 1-0, 1-0, to upset No. 1 seed Deanna Rix (NYAC) for her first senior national title.

The Pan-Am Wrestling Championships will feature athletes from nations throughout North, Central and South America. Last year, at the Championships held in Colorado Springs, Colo., the U.S. women pulled out the team title by a close three-point margin over Canada, winning the crown, 67-64. Venezuela (23), Brazil (20) and Mexico (18) rounded out the Top 5 in the team standings.

PAN AMERICAN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Maracaibo, Venezuela, April 23-25
U.S. Women's Freestyle Team
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Clarissa Chun, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Alyssa Lampe, Tomahawk, Wis. (Sunkist Kids)
55 kg/121 lbs. - Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (New York AC)
59 kg/130 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell, Milwaukie, Ore. (Sunkist Kids)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Elena Pirozkhova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Sheila McCabe, San Diego, Calif. (OCU Stars)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Jenna Pavlik, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC)
Coaches - Terry Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Izzy Izboinikov (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

U.S. Greco-Roman Team
55 kg/121 lbs. - Nate Engel, St. Helena, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Spenser Mango, St. Louis, Mo. (New York AC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Faruk Sahin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Jess Hargrave, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Aaron Sieracki, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Brad Ahearn, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Brandon Rupp, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Coach - Jay Antonelli (Chesapeake, Va.), Rob Hermann (Pensacola, Fla.)

U.S. Men's Freestyle Team
55 kg/121 lbs. - Obe Blanc, Naples, Fla. (Gator WC)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Matt Valenti, New York, N.Y. (New York AC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Brent Metcalf, Davison, Mich. (Gator WC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Jon Reader, Davison, Mich. (Cyclone WC)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Eric Luedke, Iowa City, Iowa (Gator WC)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Kyle Cerminara, Lewiston, Pa. (New York AC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Steve Mocco, Coralville, Iowa (New York AC)
Coaches - Bill Zadick (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Lou Rosselli (Columbus, Ohio)
Arizona State's Robles Named Pac-10 Conference Wrestler of the Year

Pac-10 Champion, All-American selected for top honor in a vote of conference coaches

TEMPE - The Pacific-10 Conference announced its annual wrestling award winners and Anthony Robles, a sophomore on the Arizona State University team, has been voted as the Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year, it was announced Wednesday. The 10th different Sun Devil to earn the wrestler of the year honor, Robles was selected in a vote of the conference coaches after winning his first Pac-10 title at 125 pounds and garnering All-America honors.

A native of Mesa, Ariz., Robles entered the Pac-10 Championships as the top-seed in his weight class, holding a 7-0 record against Pac-10 foes. At the Championships, Robles was voted as the Most Outstanding Wrestler as he went 3-0 with two wins by technical fall and one by pin en route to his first Pac-10 title. One year after falling in the finals, Robles came back and opened with a 16-0 technical fall in the first round before pinning Andre Gonzalez of CS Fullerton at 3:23 in the semifinals. In the championship match, Robles rolled his way to a 17-1 technical fall over Brandon Zoeteway of CS Bakersfield.

Following his first title, Robles added another first as he claimed All-America honors by going 4-2 overall and placing fourth at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo. Seeded 12th in the tournament, Robles opened with a 5-0 victory over Nikko Triggas of Ohio State before upsetting No. 5 Charlie Falck of Iowa, 8-3. In the quarterfinals, Robles assured himself of All-America honors as he upset No. 4 Brandon Precin of Northwestern with a 9-0 major decision. In the semifinals, however, No. 1 Paul Donahoe of Edinboro knocked Robles into the consolation rounds with a 5-2 decision before Robles again scored an upset with a 19-10 major decision over No. 11 Zachary Sanders of Minnesota. In the medal round, Precin came out on top with a 3-1 decision, giving Robles a fourth-place showing.

Overall, Robles ended his sophomore season with a 29-8 record overall and, of those 29 wins, 25 produced bonus points. On the year, Robles won a team-high 10 matches by technical fall, a team-high nine by pin fall and added three by major decision and two more by forfeit.

Historically, Robles is one of 10 Sun Devils that have collected 15 conference wrestler of the year honors, which stands as the most of any team in the league with Oregon State in second with eight total honors. Overall since the Pac-10 began awarding the wrestler and coach of the year awards in 1979 and the addition of the newcomer award in 2000, the Sun Devil program has accumulated 30 total awards (15 coaching honors with 15 wrestler of the year) with OSU's 16 and Boise States' nine rounding out the Top 3. BSU moved into third this year after Greg Randall was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and Jason Chamberlain was named Newcomer of the Year.

Robles also became the first wrestler in the lowest weight class to win the Pac-10 honor since former Sun Devil Gary Bohay won in 1983 while competing at 126 pounds. Outside of Robles and Bohay, the only other wrestler under 141 pounds to win the award was OSU's Babak Mohammadi (134 pounds) in 1994. Bohay's honor was the first for the Sun Devil program and since then, Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year honorees have included Eddie Urbano (1985), Adam Cohen (1986), Mike Davies (1987 & 1988), Dan St. John (1989 & 1990), Ray Miller (1992 & 1993), Steve Blackford (2000), Eric Larkin (2001, 2002 & 2003) and Cain Velasquez (2005).