ASU wrestling rebounds, defeats Embry-Riddle
After falling in its two road duals in Iowa last weekend, the Arizona State University wrestling team rebounded nicely at home as the Sun Devils won 8-of-10 bouts to secure a 38-6 defeat of intrastate rival Embry-Riddle on Sunday afternoon inside Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The victory kept the Sun Devils perfect at home on the year and improved the team to 3-2 overall on the year while the visiting Eagles, ranked No. 13 in the latest NAIA national poll, fell to 0-4 on the season.
The dual once again opened at 125 pounds and No. 8 Anthony Robles set the early tone as he took an early 8-1 lead through the first period before pinning Andrew Ortega at 5:46 for a 6-0 ASU lead. At 133 pounds, Orlando Jimenez picked up the decision victory with a 10-6 score over Jeremy Mazon and pushed the Sun Devils ahead, 9-0. No. 8 Chris Drouin followed that with an 8-0 major decision over Isai Gomez at 141 pounds to push the advantage to 13-0 over the Eagles.
But, a close bout went to the visitors at 149 pounds as Vicente Varela could not hold his 4-2 lead through one period as Tyler Chang scored a 6-4 decision victory. Jerrad Trulson took back the momentum for the Sun Devils one bout later, though, as the sophomore dominated in the top position and rode his opponent, Clark Hensley, to an 8-0 major decision and a 17-3 team lead.
One of the most action-filled bouts of the day came at 165 pounds with Sal Musto making his Sun Devil debut, taking on NAIA-No. 8 Eli Arismendez. After trailing, 6-2, through the end of the second period, Musto started the period down and scrambled for a reversal and three near-fall points before Arismendez escaped to tie the score at seven and send the bout to sudden victory. However, in the overtime period, Musto shot in, but Arismendez slipped past him and scored the takedown for the 9-7 victory.
Leading 17-6, the Sun Devils received forfeit victories at 174 and 197 with Kyle DeBerry and Jeff Cappellini earning the wins, respectively. The win for Cappellini came in his first bout for the Sun Devils. In between the two forfeits, Jake Cranford scored a 6-1 decision over NAIA-No. 3 Travous DeGroat, marking the second year in a row the Sun Devil has knocked off the nationally-ranked Eagle. The dual came to a close in a quick fashion as heavyweight Erik Nye scored a takedown of Daniel Brutinel and then pinned him in 53 seconds for the 38-6 final.
Arizona State returns to action on the road next weekend as it takes part in the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday and Saturday.
Arizona State (3-2) defeats [#13] Embry-Riddle (0-4), 38-6
Sunday, November 30, 2008 • Wells Fargo Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
125 - #8 Anthony Robles (AS) pinned Andrew Ortega, 5:46
133 - Orlando Jimenez (AS) decision Jeremy Mazon, 10-6
141 - #8 Chris Drouin (AS) major Isai Gomez, 11-0
149 - Tyler Chang (ER) decision Vicente Varela, 6-4
157 - Jerrad Trulson (AS) major Clark Hensley, 8-0
165 - [#8] Eli Arismendez (ER) decision Sal Musto, 9-7 sv
174 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) won by forfeit
184 - Jake Cranford (AS) decision [#3] Travous DeGroat, 6-1
197 - Jeff Cappellini (AS) won by forfeit
285 - Erik Nye (AS) pinned Daniel Brutinel, 0:53
Attendance: 256 • Referee: Art Lomelli