ASU Wrestling: No. 4 Sun Devils advance five past opening day of Cliff Keen Invitational

(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)

Arizona State’s early matches set the tone for what would be an overall successful day for head coach Zeke Jones and his wrestlers, scoring 64 points to place sixth out of the 33 teams competing at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.

Five wrestlers will be competing Saturday, including three in the winner’s bracket.

Redshirt freshman 125-pounder Richard Figueroa, No. 5 133-pound senior Michael McGee, No. 20 141-pound sophomore Jesse Vasquez, No. 4 149-pound sophomore Kyle Parco and No. 1 heavyweight sophomore Cohlton Schultz each pinned their opponents.

And four finished the job in the opening period.

McGee pinned Ohio freshman Paul Woo 47 seconds into their match, Schultz pinned California Baptist sophomore Chris Island 41 seconds into their match, and Figueroa took down Pennsylvania senior Blair Orr twice before pinning him 13 seconds into the second period.

After his quick pin in the opening round, Schultz achieved the same result in his round-of-16 matchup against Nebraska senior Cale Davidson within two minutes of the first period.

Trailing 3-0 in the quarterfinal, Schultz added two points before South Dakota State senior AJ Nevills’ late third-period takedown secured a 5-2 upset victory.

Schultz responded in the consolation bracket, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the second period before securing an 11-1 victory over Nebraska-Kearney senior Lee Herrington.

Figueroa converted a reversal and takedown in his 6-2 quarterfinal tiebreaker win versus Cornell freshman Brett Ungar. Figueroa led 1-0 before being taken down in the last second of the third period. His riding time extended the match, which then led to the victory. Figueroa accumulated three wins Friday, including a 3-1 round-of-16 upset over Michigan junior Kurt McHenry facilitated by a sudden-victory takedown.

Figueroa will compete in the semifinals Saturday.

Parco defeated Michigan redshirt freshman Chance Lamer 4-2 in the quarterfinal, also advancing to a semifinal match of his own against Appalachian State senior Jon Jon Millner IV, who he has faced three times in his career, including in the NCAA Championships a season ago.

McGee advanced to the semifinal after his 18-4 major decision against North Carolina State sophomore Kai Orine.

He had a 7-2 lead early in the third before dominating the rest of the match. McGee secured three victories Friday, including an 8-0 major decision victory over Bucknell junior Kurtis Phipps in the round of 16, executing a reversal and four-point near fall in the victory.

ASU’s No. 17 197-pounder, senior Kordell Norfleet, cruised to major decision victories in his first two matches of the event, converting three first-period takedowns to win his first match 15-3 before two takedowns and a near fall enabled him to defeat Cornell sophomore Ethan Hatcher 11-1 in the round of 16.

Norfleet then fell to Oregon State senior Tanner Harvey 5-2 in the quarterfinal, which dropped him to the consolation bracket, where he held off Hofstra senior Trey Rogers in an 8-7 decision that concluded a match in which he jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first period.

Norfleet is set for the consolation semifinals Saturday.

With the score tied at two in sudden victory, No. 21 184-pound junior Anthony Montalvo converted a takedown to win his second-round matchup against Clarion senior William Feldkamp before suffering a 4-1 loss to No. 1 Northern Iowa sophomore Parker Keckeisen in a quarterfinal.

In the consolation bracket, Montalvo was defeated by South Dakota State senior Cade King.

No. 18 165-pound junior Tony Negron fell to Northern Iowa senior Austin Yant by a score of 9-2 in the quarterfinal, largely due to Yant’s four-point near fall. Negron dominated his first two opponents with a combined 18-5 margin of victory before the loss.

Negron was defeated by Nebraska sophomore Bubba Wilson in a 3-1 decision powered by a late Wilson takedown in the third period.

After getting pinned in the round of 16, Vasquez won his consolation matchup in a 3-1 decision fueled by a late third-period takedown that advanced him further in the consolation bracket following a forfeit by Air Force junior Garrett Kuchan. Vasquez lost 7-5 to Virginia Tech freshman Tom Crook in that match.

McGee, Figueroa and Parco went undefeated Friday and will compete in the semifinals of the winner’s bracket. Both Norfleet and Schultz qualified for the consolation semifinals.