(Photo By: Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State Wrestling (1-1) heads to South Dakota, on Sunday, to compete in the Daktronics Open Tournament. The Sun Devils will see stiff competition. Last year, powerhouses Iowa State – which finished 4th in at the NCAA Championships and the University of Northern Iowa – which finished 14th – were two of the six schools that sent wrestlers. Of the 10 individual champions, six qualified for the national tournament with Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State’s 125-pound wrestler, earning All-American honors.
The highly anticipated matchup between Jordan and ASU’s redshirt junior Richard Figueroa will have to wait, as Jordan is competing at the NWCA All-Star Classic the day before. Should he compete, this bracket should belong to Figueroa without much competition. He will also hope to be joined on top of the podium by his teammates and national qualifiers redshirt senior Julian Chlebove, senior Jesse Vasquez, and redshirt senior Cohlton Shultz.
There should be high expectations for the whole lineup, in fact, a placer at every weight class is not unrealistic. In order to do that, ASU needs to see improvement from its younger wrestlers. Junior Michael Killic lost both of his dual matchups last week and needs to show more to justify the coach’s decision to start him. Another wrestler looking to bounce back is Vasquez. He dropped a major decision last week No.10 Sophomore Kannon Webster of Illinois. This tournament is an opportunity for Vasquez to show the country he has All-American capabilities.
This early in the season, even higher-profile starters also have more to prove. New transfer, junior Aziz Fayzullaev has impressed in the Maroon and Gold. He has won all his matches except a close 11-7 loss to the reigning Big 10 Champion, Edmond Ruth. He should be looking to bring back his first Division 1 tournament trophy. Shultz similarly has one loss on the season but could face wrestling legend Gable Steveson in his bracket. Steveson returned to Minnesota last week after spending time in the NFL and WWE. It has not been announced if he will compete at the Daktronics Open.
ASU head coach Zeke Jones will be watching carefully the development of new starters as his team tries to win its first tournament of the year. Sunday’s tournament will be followed by three home duals to close out November.
