Wrestling signs Richmond to National Letter of Intent

Thom Ortiz, the head coach of the Arizona State University wrestling team, announced today that Norman Richmond has signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his educational and athletic careers with the Sun Devils. Richmond is slated to compete at 133 pounds for the Sun Devils when he joins the program in time for the 2009-10 campaign.

“Norman is a fine addition to our team,” Ortiz said. “We strive to be the best team in the Pac-10 Conference and compete for national titles and Norman will certainly help our chances. He is an exciting competitor and we look forward to having him in our program.”

A native of Portland, Ore., Richmond is currently a member of the Sierra College team in Rocklin, Calif., the same school the produced current Sun Devil heavyweight and two-time undefeated California College champion Erik Nye. Richmond has already found success at SC as he won the 133-pound title at the California Championships in 2007 and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament. He also earned All-America honors while helping his team to the state title.

This season, Richmond has not competed in order to have three years of eligibility with the Sun Devils. His addition to the line-up could prove to shore up a very tough lightweight group that currently features a pair of sophomores that are ranked No. 8 in the nation: Anthony Robles at 125 and Chris Drouin at 141. Richmond already has had success against Pac-10 foes as he won the 2007 Fullerton Open with four of his five wins coming over wrestlers from Pac-10 schools. Prior to defeating Cal Poly’s Filip Novachcov in the final (11-7), Richmond knocked off top-seed and nationally ranked T.J. Dillashaw of CS Fullerton, 2-1. Dillashaw was fourth in the Pac-10 last season as the tournament’s No. 1 seed.

Prior to Sierra, Richmond won a pair of Oregon state championships. After missing the state tournament in his first two years of competition, Richmond tore through the competition and won the state title at 125 pounds during his junior season before adding the 133-pound title as a senior. He also competed in the USA Junior Nationals, winning the Greco-Roman title and placing second in freestyle.