Arizona State dominates Pac-12 Championships, sends eight to NCAA Championships

(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

Arizona State reaches the final stretch of its 2023-2024 season with a trip to Kansas City, Missouri, where eight Sun Devils will get a shot at wrestling collegiate immortality.

The Sun Devils have gotten hot just in time for the most critical month in wrestling. Arizona State already boasts a Pac-12 Championship and its fourth in five years after winning half of all weight brackets. Still, they’ll have to do a lot more if they look to bring home some hardware this weekend, as the NCAA championships host the nation’s best across seven total conferences and 77 total eligible programs. 

NCAA brackets have been formulated, and seeds have been drawn; here’s a preview of the final Sun Devils competing this weekend. 

125) Richard Figueroa (12-5) sits as the No. 8 seed despite taking first in the Pac-12 championships. The weight class hosts several rotating leaders in the top position, so it’s anyone’s title to claim. Figueroa takes on Army’s No. 25 seed Ethan Bergic (18-8) to start his conquest. 

133) Julian Chlebove (18-8) sits at No. 24 and looks ahead to Northern Colorado’s No. 8 Dominic Serrano (26-4). Chlebove was runner-up to Little Rock’s Nasir Bailey at the Pac-12 Championships. 

141) Jesse Vasquez (9-2) is the No. 14 seed and takes on No. 19 Malyke Hines (18-7) out of Lehigh. The two have squared off already once this season in Tempe, where Vasquez took the 5-2 dual victory. 

149) Kyle Parco (21-3) holds the highest seed out of any Sun Devil along with 157’s Jacori Teemer at No .2. Parco squares off against Pitt’s No. 31 Finn Solomon (17-10). Parco beat Solomon 9-2 on the road against Pitt in January. Parco also holds a dominant key dual victory over No. 1 seed Ridge Lovett out of Nebraska, if the two were to meet in the finals it could be Parco’s best shot at a national championship. 

157) Jacori Teemer (21-3) sits at No. 2 in the 157-pound bracket with a first-round matchup against Little Rock’s No. 31 Matty Bianchi (17-8). Teemer bested Bianchi on the road in January, 10-4. Teemer also looks to have a straight shot at the title match should he best-projected semi-finalist, Cornell’s No. 3 Meyer Shapiro (23-2). 

174) No. 33 Cael Valencia (11-13) competes first for the Sun Devils Thursday morning in a bracket-qualifying match against No. 32 Brody Bauman (12-14) out of Purdue. Should Valencia advance, a matchup against the bracket’s best No. 1 Mekhi Lewis (15-0) out of Virginia Tech would hold in store. 

184) Tony Negron (13-9) sits at the No. 31 seed taking on No. 2 Isaiah Salazar (21-1) of Minnesota. Salazar was the Big Ten champion after defeating Bernie Traux of Penn State. Negron was second to Oregon State’s Troy Munoz- the current 4 seed. 

285) Cohlton Schultz (9-1) starts his quest for a heavyweight title with a matchup against No. 29 Nash Hutmacher (7-6) of Nebraska. The two teams competed in Tempe in late February, but the heavyweights didn’t contest as Schultz was unavailable due to competition in the Pan-Am games. Schultz would have to beat Penn State’s No.1 Greg Kerkvliet for a shot at the National Championship. The two met three years ago when Schultz bested Kerkvliet 14-8. 

The Sun Devil squad is projected a seventh place finish tied with Cornell at 52 total team points. Penn State holds Flowrestling’s top projected finish with 136 points, NC State at 83, and Nebraska in third at 58 points. 

 

Sun Devils win 24th and final Pac-12 championship

CORVALLIS, ORE- Arizona State divided and conquered the Pac-12 Championships in Corvallis, Oregon, winning five out of the ten weight classes and securing the program’s fourth conference tournament championship in five years. 

Nine Sun Devils brought home hardware, including five champions: Richard Figueroa (125), Jesse Vasquez (144), Kyle Parco (149), Jacori Teemer (157), and Heavyweight Cohlton Schultz. 

Wrestlers Julian Chlebove (133) and Tony Negron (184) claimed silver medals with losses to Little Rock’s Nasir Bailey (133) 8-3 and Oregon State Troy Munoz (184) 8-3. Chance McClane (165) earned third after defeating Oregon State’s Kekana Fouret 14-1.

Sun Devil Cael Valencia earned the wrestle-back second place victory after defeating Mason Reiniche of Oregon State 16-4 for third place before earning a tech fall over Little Rock’s Tyler Brennan 15-0 (7:00) to earn the silver at 174 pounds. 

Teemer now has his fourth Pac-12 title in five years with a decision win over Stanford’s Daniel Cardenas, 5-4, while Schultz is four for four on Pac-12 heavyweight titles after pinning Oregon State’s Boone McDermott, Parco now three-peats the 149-pound bracket after defeating Cal Poly’s Chance Lamer 5-1 for his 2nd victory over Lamer of the year. 

125-pound Richard Figueroa has caught fire in the second half of the season and continued the flame into Pac-12s, defeating Stanford’s Nico Provo in a sudden victory in the semi-finals before finishing the weekend a champion after a 2-1 decision victory over Oregon State’s Brandon Kaylor.  

141-pound Jesse Vasquez also brought the heat when it mattered the most, securing the decision victory over Oregon State’s Cleveland Belton 5-2 to earn his first Pac-12 title. 

ASU’s 137.5 points marks the conference’s most tournament points in a victory since Arizona State earned 138 points in the 2021 PAC 12 championships.

Arizona State looks to bring Tempe its first national champion since Zahid Valencia defeated Penn State’s Mark Hall 4-3 at 174 pounds in the 2018-2019 season. Wrestling starts in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday, March 21, with medal matches on Saturday, March 23.

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