Wrestling falls at OU

November 22, 2009

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.<separator></separator>The dual began at 125 pounds with No. 3 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/robles_anthony00.html"… Robles</a> 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.<separator></separator>Leading 5-0, the Sun Devils added to the lead as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/ashmore_ben00.html">Ben Ashmore</a> 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.<separator></separator>For the second time this weekend, No. 5 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/drouin_chris00.html">C… Drouin</a> 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.<separator></separator>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 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/varela_vicente00.html"… Varela</a> dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 5 Kyle Terry at 149, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/edwards_te00.html">Te Edwards</a> lost a 17-10 decision to Shane Vernon at 157 and Kyle Edwards dropped a 5-2 decision to Tyler Caldwell at 165.<separator></separator>Leading 11-9, the Sun Devils tried to hold their edge in the overall dual, but <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/starks_eric00.html">Er… Starks</a> 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, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/meredith_jake00.html">… Meredith</a> fell at 184 to Erich Schmidtke, 3-1, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/pike_anthony00.html">A… Pike</a> was pinned in 47 seconds by No. 7 Eric Lapotsky at 197 and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/nye_erik00.html">Erik Nye</a> lost a 3-2 decision to No. 13 Nathan Fernandez at heavyweight.<separator></separator>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.<separator></separator>#12 Oklahoma def. #20 Arizona State, 24-11 McCasland Field House • Norman, Okla. 125 - #3 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/robles_anthony00.html"… Robles</a> (AS) tech fall Justin Forrest, 16-0 133 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/ashmore_ben00.html">Ben Ashmore</a> (AS) dec. Alex Ekstrom, 7-5 141 - #5 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/drouin_chris00.html">C… Drouin</a> (AS) dec. #17 Zack Bailey, 3-1 149 - #5 Kyle Terry (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/varela_vicente00.html"… Varela</a>, 4-0 157 - Shane Vernon (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/edwards_te00.html">Te Edwards</a>, 17-10 165 - Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/deberry_kyle00.html">K… DeBerry</a>, 5-2 174 - #9 Jeff James (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/starks_eric00.html">Er… Starks</a>, 4-3 184 - Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/meredith_jake00.html">… Meredith</a>, 3-1 197 - #7 Eric Lapotsky (OU) pinned <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/pike_anthony00.html">A… Pike</a>, 0:47 285 - #13 Nathan Fernandez (OU) dec. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/nye_erik00.html">Erik Nye</a>, 3-2