(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
The absence of freshman 141-pound Jesse Vasquez and junior 197-pound Kordell Norfleet hindered Arizona State in its match against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Friday night. ASU fell to Pitt 24-19.
After winning five of the first six bouts, ASU couldn’t hold on to its lead, losing three straight matches.
Momentum quickly shifted for the Panthers after #6 senior 165-pound Anthony Valencia defeated #13 Jake Wentzel in a hotly contested dual. After several controversial stalling calls, often the lack thereof, and missed takedown points awarded to Wentzel, Pittsburgh wanted to redeem its teammate.
“We were aggressive and really going for the kill tonight,” Pitt coach Keith Gavin said.
The Sun Devils struggled in the 174-pound through the 197-pound bouts. Pitt’s James Lledo pinned freshman 174-pound Zane Coleman in 2:31. Freshman 184-pound Josh Nummer lost by tech fall to Gregg Harvey. He got plenty of takedowns against Nummer in the first two periods to lead 14-4 through two frames. After a series of stalling calls, the referees disqualified Nummer with 16 seconds left in the match which led way to Harvey’s 19-6 win.
At 197-pounds, Kordell Norfleet was missing from the match against #9 Nino Bonaccorsi. Instead, freshman 197-pound Jake Ortiz filled in and fell to Bonaccorsi via pin 2:26 into the bout.
The pin secured victory for the Panthers, as they led by eight points with one bout left. (The most team points that can be scored in a single bout are six points via pin or tech fall).
Norfleet was perhaps the biggest absence for the Sun Devils, but Jesse Vasquez also missed the mat, which inevitably cost ASU team points and the match.
Freshman 141-pound Julian Chlebove wrestled in place of Vasquez. He wrestled #22 Cole Matthews, who defeated #4 Stevan Micic and earned ACC Wrestler of the Week accolades last week. Micic beat Chlebove by a decision on January 3, so a tight contest was highly anticipated. Despite the anticipation, Matthews pinned Chlebove in 1:20 after an unlucky turn of events played out for ASU’s 141-pounder.
Despite the absences and struggles late in the match, there were some things that went right for the Sun Devils.
Junior 125-pound Brandon Courtney blew past Gage Curry with ease. His speed and offensive tendencies were too much for Curry. Courtney won 10-4 on a decision victory. He amassed four takedowns in this bout.
Junior 133-pound Michael McGee also looked solid. He wrestled #7 Micky Phillippi, and narrowly won. A reversal and riding time made the difference for McGee to creep past Phillippi 5-3.
Freshman 141-pound Kyle Parco dominated Dan Mancini. After a speedy takedown, Parco quickly got four back points at the end of the first period. He got another takedown in the final seconds of the second period to go up 11-1. Parco won the match 16-2 by major decision.
For ASU, the lower weight classes continued to stay dominant, but the 174-pound and 184-pound weight classes remain a problem for the Sun Devils. These two weight classes have put ASU in some tough situations a few times this season, and again tonight.
ASU hopes to return Vasquez and Norfleet on Sunday in its match against Princeton to potentially combat struggles in those two weight classes.
