Wrestling sweeps all three at Lone Star Duals

The No. 23 Arizona State University wrestling team competed in three duals at the 2010 Lone Star Duals Saturday in Grand Prairie, Texas, and walked away with three convincing victories as the Sun Devils posted victories over Harvard (39-12), Air Force (38-6) and Utah Valley (27-15) in the program’s first event in the state of Texas. The three victories snapped a two-dual losing streak for the Sun Devils and raised their record to 7-4-0 overall this season while their win over Utah Valley marked the 475th win all-time in ASU’s history.

Individually, five Sun Devils won all three of their matches on the day, including No. 3 Anthony Robles at 125 (two falls, one major), Ben Ashmore at 133 (one fall, one major, one decision), No. 15 Chris Drouin at 141 (one fall, one major, one decision), Vicente Varela at 149 (one tech, one major, one decision) and No. 14 Erik Nye at heavyweight (one fall, one forfeit and one decision). Michael Swigart at 157 also went undefeated as he won his only match on the day. Combined, the Sun Devils posted a 23-7 record on the day with seven wins by fall, one by forfeit, two by technical fall and seven by major decision.

In the first dual of the day, the Sun Devils won 7-of-10 matches and scored bonus points in all seven victories to defeat the Crimson (2-4-1), 39-12. ASU won the first four matches of the dual with Robles, Ashmore and Drouin each pinning their opponents before Varela added a 14-4 major decision to stake the Sun Devils to a 22-0 lead. At 157, Te Edwards nearly gave ASU another upset of a top-ranked foe (Drouin upset No. 1 Reese Humphrey of Ohio State at the National Duals last weekend) as he dropped a close 6-5 decision to No. 1 J.P. O’Connor. Kyle DeBerry (165) added a technical fall and Eric Starks (174) won by fall to increase the lead to 33-3. Jake Meredith (184) lost a 7-2 decision to No. 7 Louis Caputo before Harvard won by forfeit at 197 to make it 33-12 before Nye won by fall to close out the dual with a 27-point victory for the Sun Devils.

Next up for the Sun Devils was a dual with the Falcons that saw ASU win the first eight matches in a row and 9-of-10 overall to record a 32-point victory. The Sun Devils opened with Robles winning by fall, Ashmore by major decision and Drouin by a 6-4 decision over No. 14 Cole VonOlen in a battle of nationally ranked foes to put ASU ahead, 13-0. The Sun Devils added a technical fall win by Varela at 149 before Swigart pinned his foe in 1:30 to record his first victory by fall in his varsity career at ASU. DeBerry (165) and Meredith (184) each added wins by major decision with Starks taking a 6-5 decision at 174 to keep the winning streak going. After AFA won by forfeit at 197 for their lone victory of the dual, Nye went into overtime to win a 2-1 sv decision.

The final dual of the day opened at 125 pounds with No. 3 Robles winning a 10-2 major decision over No. 15 Ben Kjar in the only meeting of ranked opponents in the dual to put the Sun Devils ahead for good and on its way to a sweep of the duals on the day. Robles’ win also gave him his 47th career bonus-point victory and tying him for seventh all-time in ASU history with David Douglas (1999-02) and Aaron Simpson (1995-98). Ashmore (decision), Drouin (major), Varela (decision) and Edwards (major) added wins to stake ASU to an 18-0 lead before Utah Valley won two in a row, including a win by decision at 165 and win by fall at 174. Leading 18-9, ASU won at 184 as Meredith secured a decision victory before both teams swapped forfeits over the last two weight classes with UVU winning at 197 and Nye winning at heavyweight for ASU.

ASU will return to action at home on Friday night at 8 p.m. as the Sun Devils play host to No. 25 Nebraska. UFC fighters and former Sun Devil All-Americans Cain Velasquez, Aaron Simpson, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway will serve as honorary coaches and sign autographs following the dual.

#23 Arizona State (5-4-0) def. Harvard (2-4-1), 39-12
Lone Star Duals • Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) pinned Steven Keith, 1:47
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) pinned Fermin Mendez, 1:44
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) pinned Tony Buxton, 6:24
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) major Nick Brazeau, 14-4
157 - #1 J.P. O’Connor (H) dec. Te Edwards, 6-5
165 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) tech fall Michael Sadler, 18-3
174 - Eric Starks (AS) pinned Bryan Panzano, 3:32
184 - #7 Louis Caputo (H) dec. Jake Meredith, 7-2
197 - Sean Murphy (H) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) pinned Spencer Desena, 6:04

#23 Arizona State (6-4-0) def. Air Force (2-5-0), 38-6
Lone Star Duals • Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) pinned Andrew Zwirlein, 2:00
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) major Tyler Untrauer, 9-1
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) dec. #14 Cole VonOhlen, 6-4
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) tech fall Gabe Martinez, 20-5
157 - Michael Swigart (AS) pinned Darren Stowe, 1:03
165 - Kyle DeBerry (AS) major Justin Shadrix, 16-3
174 - Eric Starks (AS) dec. Tyler French, 6-5
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) major Josh Mohr, 10-2
197 - Neil Delaney (AF) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) dec. Steve Larson, 2-1 sv

#23 Arizona State (7-4-0) def. Utah Valley (5-1-0), 27-15
Lone Star Duals • Grand Prairie, Texas
125 - #3 Anthony Robles (AS) major #15 Ben Kjar, 10-2
133 - Ben Ashmore (AS) dec. Flint Ray, 6-5
141 - #15 Chris Drouin (AS) major Jeff Newby, 12-4
149 - Vicente Varela (AS) dec. Justin Morrill, 3-2
157 - Te Edwards (AS) major Clay Frost, 15-4
165 - Jeb Clark (UV) dec. Kyle DeBerry, 7-5
174 - Brad Darrington (UV) pinned Eric Starks, 6:48
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) dec. Casen Eldredge, 6-1
197 - Josh Wood (UV) won by forfeit
285 - #14 Erik Nye (AS) won by forfeit