(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
Looking to build upon momentum that reset after a Sunday win at Stanford snapped its four-match skid, No. 17 Arizona State (3-4, 1-1) will take to the east for a 7 p.m. (AZT) Saturday meeting with No. 21 Lehigh (6-7, 3-2) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The Sun Devils’ four lightweight classes are 11-1 across their last three meets, which included a clean sweep — three of which were bonus-point victories — of the Cardinal’s 149-, 141-, 133- and 125-pound wrestlers. Also important to the Stanford win was ASU No. 5 sophomore heavyweight Cohlton Schultz, who made a triumphant return to the mat by pinning junior Peter Ming in merely 56 seconds after stepping away from the program to participate in Greco-Roman training with team USA. In his absence, sophomore David Palosika lost two matches in the Princeton and Cal Poly duals.
Schultz’s next challenger expects to be sophomore Nathan Taylor, whose 9-8 record has marked quite a drop-off from his 27-10 freshman campaign.
A top-25 matchup at 141 pounds will commence between Sun Devils No. 14 sophomore Jesse Vasquez and No. 22 senior Malyke Hines. Vasquez is 14-6 this season with two bonus-point wins and has won four straight matches, seemingly cementing himself as one of head coach Zeke Jones’ keys to a deep NCAA Tournament run. Hines recently took down sophomore Josh Koderhandt — a former NCAA qualifier in the 133-pound division — in the Mountain Hawks’ last win at Navy.
Elsewhere, a high-profile 133-pound battle between ASU No. 4 senior Michael McGee and No. 6 senior Connor McGonagle will take place. With a 13-2 record, McGee has dominated the field this season and won four matches in a row: His last loss came against Cornell No. 3 junior Vito Arujau on Jan. 4. Seeing similar success, McGonagle is 8-1 — though absences have been a notable issue lately. In Lehigh’s road dual versus Penn on Jan. 20, it forfeited the 133-pound division due to McGonagle and potential replacements being unavailable.
For another top-20 matchup, Sun Devils No. 20 184-pound junior Anthony Montalvo may face No. 18 senior Tate Samuelson — though Montalvo hasn’t appeared in a match since his 3-2 loss to Princeton junior Nate Dugan on Jan. 15. In his absence, both freshman Canyon Mansfield and sophomore Josh Nummer have struggled: They fell in bonus-point defeats in their team’s last two meets. Samuelson is 12-7 with one bonus-point victory.
Though the competition for the 125-pound starting spot still appears to be open, ASU sophomore Richard Figueroa is 14-0: It doesn’t get much better than that. By contrast, No. 7 senior Brandon Courtney has seen few starts this season.
Either of them will oppose sophomore Carter Bailey, who is 6-5 this season. Participating in both the 125- and 133-pound weight classes a season ago, Bailey went 14-8 as a freshman.
A big test awaits Sun Devils redshirt freshman Max Wilner, who will take a four-match losing streak into his match with No. 4 senior Josh Humphreys in the 157-pound class. Humphreys, who made it to the round of 12 in last season’s NCAA Tournament, has yet to lose in nine matches.
