(Photo courtesy: Sun Devil Athletics)
After a hard-fought dual loss to No. 4 Iowa State to open the new year, Arizona State rebounded emphatically over California State Bakersfield Sunday 43-0, improving to 2-3 in dual action and kicking off its Pac-12 slate with a road victory.
ASU left the Golden State without a scratch as the Sun Devils completed a dual sweep of the Roadrunners. The team totaled three pins (Julian Chlebove, Jacori Teemer, Tony Negron), complemented by a technical fall from Cohlton Schultz en route to the program’s eleventh-straight victory over the Roadrunners.
The dual was highlighted by several commanding performances, including true freshman Kaleb Larkin, who picked up his second win of the season with a 10-1 major decision victory over CSU Bakersfield’s Brock Rogers. This comes on the heels of Larkin’s epic Sun Devil debut that resulted in a 48-second pin against Iowa State’s Zach Redding just two days earlier. Larkin looks to add midseason depth to an already stacked ASU roster.
Arizona State’s heavyweight superstar Cohlton Schultz secured a 17-2 tech fall over Jake Andrews in the third minute of the first period to earn his 25th career dual victory for the Sun Devils. The bounce back by Schultz proved crucial after the three-time All-American lost his first match of the season to Iowa State’s Younger Bastida 4-3.
Similarly, 157-pounder Jacori Teemer re-asserted himself following an upset loss to Cody Chittum of Iowa State with a lightning-quick 16-second pin of Devyn Flores-Che.
The Sun Devils dominated on all levels, as the other six matches that didn’t end in style-point victories (pins and tech falls) were won via either decision or major decisions: 125 lbs Tristan Mascarenas (Dec 5-4), 141 lbs Cody Foote (MD 12-1), 149 lbs Kaleb Larkin (MD 10-1), 165 lbs Max Wilner (Dec 3-2), 174 lbs Cael Valencia (MD 5-1), 197 lbs Jacob Meissner (Dec 8-2).
ASU will rest up after a busy weekend before the Sun Devils hit the road again to Arkansas, where they will face another Pac-12 squad in Little Rock on January 19th. The Sun Devils followed up a couple of days later with a cross-coast showdown against No. 13 Pittsburgh in the Steel City.
