Sun Devil Wrestling routs Cal Poly, 38-3

The Arizona State University wrestling team (8-11, 3-2 Pac-12) went out with a bang in their final home duel of the 2012-2013 season with a dominant performance over the Cal Poly Mustangs, taking the 38-3 victory on the evening.

ASU was out of their normal environment Friday evening, taking a trip to the East Valley to take on the Mustangs at the ASU Polytechnic Sun Devil Fitness complex. Amid the solid turnout of 616 were former football Coach Frank Kush, ASU senior vice presidents Christine Wilkinson and Jim Rund. Tom Daniels, a member of the first ASU varsity wrestling team, and Olympic silver medalist Townsend Saunders was also in attendance for tonight’s dual.  

No. 8-ranked senior Jake Meredith made sure to leave his mark with Sun Devil fans, finishing up the dual with a pin over Cal Poly’s JT Goodwin in 1:16 in the final home dual of his career. Meredith finished his 2013 regular season with a record of 23-6 and 71-47 in his Sun Devil career. 

Heavyweight Levi Cooper, the second senior on the young ASU squad, won his match by forfeit Friday night. Cooper, a standout at 285 pounds, closed his regular season career with a 20-10 record and 82-50 in his overall Sun Devil career. 

The youth of the Sun Devils showed their strengths as well, going 7-1 against the Mustangs.

Matthew Kraus commenced the domination for the Sun Devils with an exciting 4-2 win over Cal Poly’s Evan McKirdy. Nathan Hoffer followed his performance with a solid 14-4 performance, putting the Sun Devils up 19-3.

Joel Smith had perhaps the most exciting dual of the night, giving up a late takedown with fifteen seconds remaining but quickly turning it around for a reversal just before the buzzer to knock off Kyle Chene, 6-4. 

Codey Combs kept fans on their toes as well, also giving up a late takedown to Connor King in his first collegiate dual at 165 pounds that evened things at seven. Combs recovered to escape with ten seconds remaining and took down King at the buzzer for a 10-7 victory.

Redshirt freshman Blake Stauffer, who was also returning from injury, did not skip a beat in his return to the mat Friday night as he won the match, 14-0, over Cal Poly’s Mitchell Woods. 

Kevin Radford took part in a high-scoring affair but came out victorious in a 16-10 decision over Sean Dougherty to set up Meredith’s exciting fall to cap the evening.

ASU will now look to return to action in two weeks as the squad will host the 2013 Pac-12 Championships in Tempe, Ariz., at Wells Fargo Arena on March 2.