Wrestling falls to Oklahoma in home opener
The No. 18 Arizona State University wrestling team opened its home dual schedule in front of 807 fans on Thursday night inside Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe and gave the fans some things to cheer about, but, in the end, the visiting No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners won the close matches and left Tempe with a 32-7 victory. The loss dropped the Sun Devils to 2-1 on the year while the Sooners improved to 3-0.
The dual opened at 174 pounds where Eric Starks looked to knock-off No. 6 Tyler Caldwell. Despite hanging tough and forcing the action, Starks gave up points on an escape and riding time to fall, 2-0, to Caldwell. One match later, Jake Meredith tried to upset a nationally ranked foe in No. 10 Erich Schmidtke and held a 4-1 lead through one period, but was unable to maintain that lead and, just as Starks did, fell by two points in an 8-6 decision. The Sooners’ lead rose to 9-0 through the 197 pound match as Keldrick Hall scored a 9-3 decision over Luke Macchiaroli and extended the lead to 15-0 with No. 13 Nathan Fernandez’ pin of Levi Cooper in 1:13.
The Sun Devils got onto the board for the first time at 125 pounds as No. 3 Anthony Robles won the first of three battles between Top 20-ranked wrestlers. Robles faced No. 9 Jarrod Patterson and built an 8-1 lead through the first period before extending that lead to 11-1 through two. Starting in neutral, Robles scored a takedown and then closed the match with a three-point near-fall to score a 16-1 technical fall victory. Robles is 3-0 on the year with one technical fall and two wins by fall.
Despite the momentum gained by Robles’ win, the Sooners bounced back and won the next three matches to extend their lead to 26-5. Jordan Keller downed ASU’s Ben Ashmore, 2-0, in the 133 match before No. 1 Zack Bailey recorded a 20-3 technical fall over Kalin Goodsite at 141. The third win came at 149 as Seth Vernon downed Luke Ashmore, 6-1.
With two matches remaining, the Sun Devils looked to close out with two wins and got the first victory at 157 as No. 6 Bubba Jenkins downed No. 13 Matt Lester, 7-5. Jenkins used a lightning-fast duck-under to score a pair of takedowns in the first period and led, 4-2, through one. Leading 4-3 heading into the final period, Jenkins escaped to make it 5-3, but Lester tied the score with a takedown with 1:09 remaining. Jenkins, however, escaped and added a riding time point for the 7-5 win. The final match of the night came at 165 where No. 19 Chase Nelson pinned No. 16 Te Edwards in 4:22. Edwards was docked one team point at the end of his match to bring the final to 32-7.
Most of the Sun Devils on the roster will travel to Fullerton, Calif., and compete in the Fullerton Open on Saturday inside Titan Gym on the CS Fullerton campus. Robles and Jenkins will compete in the 45th NWCA All-Star Classic presented by The Marines on Sunday in Fresno, Calif.
#8 Oklahoma (3-0) def. #18 Arizona State (2-1), 32-7
Thursday, November 18, 2010 • Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe)
174 - #6 Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Eric Starks, 2-0
184 - #10 Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. Jake Meredith, 8-6
197 - Keldrick Hall (OU) dec. Luke Macchiaroli, 9-3
285 - #13 Nathan Fernandez (OU) pinned Levi Cooper, 1:13
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) tech fall #9 Jarrod Patterson, 16-1 (6:55)
133 - Jordan Keller (OU) dec. Ben Ashmore, 2-0
141 - #1 Zack Bailey (OU) tech fall Kalin Goodsite, 20-3 (4:41)
149 - Seth Vernon (OU) dec. Luke Ashmore, 6-1
157 - #6 Bubba Jenkins (AS) dec. #13 Matt Lester, 7-5
165 - #19 Chase Nelson (OU) pinned #16 Te Edwards, 4:22
Attendance: 807 • Official: Pat Fitzgerald