Wrestling falls at OU
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