(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
Furthering their success from recent meets, Arizona State’s (5-4) lightweights again dominated in the team’s 31-6 Friday win against Little Rock (3-8) — its third such consecutive outcome. The Sun Devils’ season-high point total was facilitated with individual victories eight of the meet’s 10 matches.
Among No. 8 125-pound senior Brandon Courtney, No. 4 133-pound senior Michael McGee, No. 20 141-pound sophomore Jesse Vasquez and No. 5 149-pound sophomore Kyle Parco, four bonus-point victories were totaled to establish an 18-0 lead that put ASU in a controlling position that it maintained for the remainder of the evening.
“We talked about scoring a lot of points coming into tonight and not judging a team for how good they are before you wrestle them,” Sun Devils head coach Zeke Jones said. “Courtney hung 17, McGee responded with 17 and then I told Vasquez they scored 17 so he scored 19, and then when I told Parco that, he scored 20. That was just impressive with the first four guys coming out and scoring a lot of points.”
ASU wrestlers in the bottom four weight classes are now 15-1 in the team’s last four dual meets.
Amid the group’s overall reliability, the tight competition for the starting spot in the 125-pound division remains. Both Courtney and sophomore Richard Figueroa have been successful: Figueroa holds the longest undefeated streak to open an ASU career at 17-0, while Courtney — a three-time NCAA Qualifier and three-time Pac-12 champion — overmatched yet another opponent in a 17-9 major decision that served as his 100th career victory with the Sun Devils.
“It’s crazy, we got two of the top ten guys in the country at the same weight,” Courtney said. “Whatever happens, happens. I just take it day by day and let everything fall into place, but it definitely motivates me a little bit.”
Vasquez was one of five Sun Devils to achieve a bonus-point victory when he defeated redshirt freshman Jayden Gomez in a 19-6 major decision that included a match-high eight takedowns.
In the 149-pound division, Parco executed three takedowns, two near falls and a reversal to take down junior Joey Bianchi 20-2.
Adding a notable accomplishment of his own, McGee achieved his 125th victory in the maroon and gold — the sixth most in program and two places behind his coach, who collected 134 total wins as part of his ASU Hall of Fame career.
“When you can hang up 100 wins in a career, that’s really impressive,” Jones said. “If you’re getting into the 120s, you’re doing pretty damn good. Michael’s great to do something like that. It’s not easy.”
McGee finished the win in style, defeating Little Rock sophomore Josh Sarpy by a 17-1 technical fall after two periods in which his aggressiveness resulted in three takedowns, two four-point near falls and over three minutes of riding time to extend ASU’s lead to 9-0 just two matches in.
And the time-tested thresholds didn’t end there.
In his first appearance since Jan. 15, Sun Devils No. 20 184-pound junior Anthony Montalvo picked up his 50th career victory over redshirt freshman Mason Diel in a 13-3 major decision marked by two takedowns and a near fall in the first period.
According to Jones, ASU sophomore Josh Nummer, who regularly competes as a 174-pounder, stepped up two weight classes to 197 pounds as part of a late lineup change — and still won 3-2.
Nummer trailed 2-0 heading into the final frame before escaping, taking Weinart down and holding onto the lead for the final minute and a half as his teammates cheered in concert with the home crowd.
“He is a 174-pounder,” Jones said. “To bump up two weights [weight classes] and win, that’s really hard to do. We’re still trying to get 197 sorted out with [junior Jonathon] Fagen and [senior Kordell] Norfleet, so I got home last night and said, ‘Hey, looks like 197 has an open spot tomorrow night’ and he said, ‘They’re pretty big, but I’m here for you, whatever you need.’ I appreciate every week we call on Nummer, and he’s there for us.”
No. 5 sophomore heavyweight Cohlton Schultz stayed undefeated in dual matches this season by defeating sophomore Josiah Hill 4-2, which included one of his thunderous Greco-Roman style takedowns in the first period.
“This year, with the level of competition, I look at it as though it will be a better win,” Parco said. “Coach Zeke talks about it a lot. At the end of the day, I think any of those top five guys can win a national championship, so I just have to make sure that it’s me.”
McGee added: “I think it’ll be about us sticking together and buying into our coach’s plan. Our coaches have been doing this for a long time, and we have a bunch of guys that have experience at national tournaments. We’re just trusting in ourselves and our abilities and the plan that our coaches have.”
