(Photo By: Sun Devil Athletics)
Tempe– Sun Devil wrestling fans anticipated a top-five individual dual, but they were instead greeted with a disappointing defeat.
Northern Colorado’s star redshirt junior Stevo Poulin, who ranks No. 3 in the 125-pound class, was reported as injured the evening prior to Sunday’s duel. As a result, ASU and No. 1 ranked Richard Figueroa were given a victory by forfeit.
“It’s always a bummer when you don’t get to wrestle your national champ [Figueroa],” ASU head coach Zeke Jones said. “Especially when he’s wrestling a top-three kid in the country. Richie was really looking forward to it.”
Figueroa’s victory by forfeit improves his record to 7-1, and his 12 takedown of a wrestler in WrestleStat’s top-33. Six team points were awarded for this forfeit victory, a lead the Sun Devils wouldn’t hold for long.
Back-to-back close duel defeats by redshirt senior 133-pounder Julian Chlrboue, and junior 141-pounder Emilio Ysaguirre evened the score at six. The pair of Sun Devils fell at the hands of No. 17 junior Dominick Serrano (13-2 record) and No. 2 grad Andrew Alirez (8-0).
ASU’s first individual victory would come from the reliable senior 149-pounder Jesse Vasquez (13-6), who narrowed out a 5-4 regular decision over UNC’s redshirt junior Benji Alanis (6-11) after recovering from a takedown. All of the duel’s nine points were scored in the third period.
At the intermission, ASU trailed 10-9. That deficit expanded to 18-9, capped by an ugly technical fall against junior 165-pounder Austin Scott.
Any possibility of a comeback looks insurmountable. That was until junior 184-pounder Shay Addison stepped onto the mat and delivered a 5-2 victory over freshman AJ Heeg.
“When I’m close and winning by a score, it’s good defense and looking for opportunities,” Addison said. “When you are winning, you cannot push the pace.”
Addison led his duel from the start through a takedown and controlled momentum till the very end. “I didn’t want to overwrestle,” Addison said.
Needing consecutive victories to force a tie, the Sun Devils turned to sophomore 197-pounder Max Acciardi. Any victory would put the duel’s fate in the hands of redshirt senior heavy-weight Cohlton Schultz, who entered today’s duel with an impressive 14-3 record.
After nearly pinning UNC junior Andrew Donahue, Acciardi was quickly taken down and defeated by a score of 5-3. This decision handed Northern Colorado the overall duel victory and ended an ASU comeback.
The team duel would end with Schultz winning by technical fall against junior Remington Peterson, but moral victories mean little to an ASU team currently sitting at 1-3 in Big-12 play.
“It seems to be that year,” Jones said of his team’s struggles. “We’ve had a lot of great years; odds are it was bound to happen.”
Coach Jones said he recognizes this season’s disappointment but emphasizes the team’s ability to fight adversity.
“We are in this place, we get the opportunity to do something very cool at ASU…and we’ll bounce back,” Jones said.
Looking ahead to Friday, the Sun Devils head to Ames, Iowa, looking to improve upon its 1-3 road record. The Cyclones enter next Friday at 8-4, 3-1 in the Big 12, and on the tail of a 27-12 defeat against Oklahoma State.
