(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
The No. 6 Sun Devils won two matches and lost two against the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines in Monday night’s dual meet against the Big Ten powerhouse in Austin, Texas.
At 3pm local time, four hours before the start of the meet, The Sun Devil Wrestling program put out a statement via Twitter writing, “Due to recent COVID-19 developments within the Sun Devil Wrestling program, tonight’s dual in Austin, Texas has been adjusted.”
Those in the Arizona State program who were able to wrestle, found themselves wearing masks during the matches to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The adjusted format would lead to four matchups in the 125, 133, 141 and 184lb weight classes.
The night started off with a matchup between No. 4 Brandon Courtney and Michigan’s Jack Medley in the 125lb weight class. The matchup was highly contested for three periods and wound up in favor of Courtney 5-4.
In the 133lb weight class, Michael McGee had a dominant performance to defeat Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin 10-0. McGee started with a 2-0 lead after the first period, and continued to build what he started. The Sun Devils’ redshirt junior had a dominant second period extending his lead to 7-0, and sealed the deal with a double-leg takedown in the third to shutout the Wolverines’ redshirt freshman.
The third matchup between the schools was a highly contested one in the 141lb weight class in which Michigan’s Stevan Micic narrowly defeated Arizona State’s Julian Chlebove 8-6. Chlebove found himself down four going into the third period, and started a comeback. Micic escaped multiple takedown attempts in the final minute, to take the victory over the redshirt freshman.
The night ended with the biggest blowout of all in the 184lb weight class. Olympic bronze medalist, Michigan’s Myles Amine defeated ASU’s Josh Nummer 17-2 with a technical fall in the 2nd period. The match concluded an abnormal night for the Sun Devils, and ended the meet in a draw with both schools taking home two victories.
The Sun Devils hope to be at full strength when they take on the No. 19 Iowa State Cyclones in Desert Financial Arena on Sunday Jan. 9.
