(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
On a night that was set to honor the seniors on the Arizona State wrestling team, they simply came out and thumped the Cal Poly Mustangs 32-7 at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, Feb. 22.
With ASU winning seven of the nine contested bouts on the night, winning four of them by bonus points.
Starting the night off at 141-lbs. Cory Crooks won by an 8-4 Dec. over Wyatt Cornelison of Cal Poly.
After, No. 20 Josh Maruca picked up a forfeit at 149-lbs. Senior No. 12 Christian Pagdilao won a tightly contested bout over Brawley Lamar at 157-lb. by a 5-4 dec.
At 165-lb. No. 4 Josh Shields won an 18-6 over Joe La Rosa and returning NCAA champion 174-lb. No.3 Zahid Valencia won by fall, half-way through the first round.
“He’s [Valencia] tightened up his focus,” Jones said. “There’s no more games in his mind. It’s time to get serious, buckle down and I think he’s doing it in all aspects in his life.”
Jacen Peterson won a narrow 4-1 decision over William DeBoer at 184-lb.
Cal Poly picked up its only wins on the night at 197-lb. and at HWT.
Coming back from an injury back in December at the Midlands, Senior Ryan Millhof made his return to the lineup as he earned a Maj-Dec. over Benny Martinez 15-2.
“(Milhof) looked calm, he looked cool, collected,” Jones said. “Scoring points. I think it gave the team a boost knowing that he was back. He looked great.”
Josiah Kline finished up the dual at 133-lb. with an 11-6 decision over Yoshito Funakoshi.
ASU will now enter the post-season on a good note as they have won their last two dual meets after losing the prior four.
“It just helps us get back on track,” Kline said. “We have had a couple bumpy dual meets and matches. It’s a mental game when it comes to wrestling.”
With ASU finishing its brutal regular season schedule they now will have some time to prepare for the five-school Pac-12 tournament in a few weeks.
“Even though we are back to back champs we are projected to take third and that’s something that’s not going to happen,” said Shields. “There’s nothing better than having a log on a fire.”
Jones, a veteran when it comes to high-level wrestling, will now go to work with his ten guys who will enter the Pac-12 tournament to help them get into the NCAA Championships next month.
“We’re going to train each individual differently in terms of what they need,” Jones said. “Taper some more than others. 22 Days out.”
