Preview: ASU set to begin its 2026-2027 campaign

(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

Arizona State has stood as a wrestling powerhouse for over a decade, and this year looks to be no different. With what might be their strongest group of returning wrestlers in the 2020s, paired with a top-10 recruiting class in the nation, the Sun Devils are poised to keep their winning culture going. The Sun Devils are poised to keep their winning culture going.

Our WCSN writers preview the season.

Major Storylines- Morgan Tremmel

After a strange, somewhat transitional year in 2025, in which ASU used a mix of older wrestlers along with young recruits, 2026 looks to be the year when head coach Zeke Jones fully unleashes his Pandora’s Box of young wrestlers on the NCAA.

Second-year Kyler Larkin is the golden treasure of that group, after qualifying and finishing second in the Big 12 and top 12 at the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds. The Sun Devils star moved up to 141 pounds to start this season and looks to go even farther in his sophomore season.

The 125-pound category also looks to be a young strength this year after a carousel of wrestlers all season in 2025 for ASU. To fix this, Jones brought in a second-year transfer from Iowa State, Christian Castillo, to hopefully steady the ships and bring what has recently been a weaker weight of ASU up to speed.

First-year Ben Szuba also looks to climb the rankings just as his brother David did last year, starting ranked at No. 33 in the Flowrestling rankings. The 6-foot-7 Ben Szuba has a unique frame that he used in his few matches last season to exploit unprepared opponents. If he can carry that momentum into this season, he may be another surprise for the Sun Devils at heavyweight.

Another major storyline is the three key switches happening in weight class. It is not uncommon for wrestlers to go up or down a weight class throughout their college career, but it tends to happen as a move out of the way so the stars can be most comfortable. For ASU, the stars are the ones moving, with Kyler Larkin, third-year Pierson Manville and Kaleb Larkin all moving up for this season.

Kyler Larkin makes the change from 133 pounds to 141, while Manville moved up from 141 to 149, where he sometimes wrestled last year. The biggest change is for Kaleb Larkin, leaping from 157 pounds to 174.

Larkin was extremely tall and lanky for his weight class last season. Come the NCAA Championships, it became a downfall as he didn’t seem to have the muscle mass to push him over the top. The Larkins will be looking to show that these new weight jumps were good for them as they both flamed out earlier than anticipated at the NCAA Championships.The brothers both came in as top-five seeds but were eliminated in the Round of 12, ending their All-American dreams for the season.

With the young faces in the room finally shining through, and wrestlers getting to new weights to put the best available lineups on the mat, ASU hopes to make this yet another year where it punches above expectations and reminds the NCAA why the Sun Devils have routinely been a top-10 team in the country.

Returners- Stephen Maldonado

With the final horn sounding on a rainy Saturday night last weekend, Arizona State wrestling looks to the future as the Michigan State Open nears. Saturday will likely be a nice test for many returning wrestlers as they continue to prepare for the season.

One of the longest-tenured Sun Devils is the 165-pound Nicco Ruiz. This fourth-year wrestler is an under-23 freestyle national champion, NCAA All-American and Big 12 champion. This year, he is ranked top five in his weight class and will be pushing to become an NCAA National Champion while being a leader on this team.

Joining him is third-year Kaleb Larkin, who is set to be another massive piece to the Sun Devil lineup. The ex-157-pounder went 26-4 in his first full NCAA season and qualified for his first NCAA Championships. He now moves up to174 pounds and plans to build on his accomplishments from last season.

Kyler Larkin, a 141-pounder, is the younger brother of Kaleb and is a wrestler to keep an eye on. The second-year wrestler garnered a 19-4 record during his first year in college while beating top-ranked opponents like Tyler Knox and Richard Figueroa. The former 133-pound wrestler moved up a weight class this year and aims to give ASU another top wrestler at 141.

Another wrestler looking to make noise in a different division from last year is the 149-pound Pierson Manville. Manville is a third-year athlete who wrestled at 141 pounds last year, becoming a double All-American at the U.S. Open while finishing the season with a 15-6 record. He projects as a very strong starter with relentless pressure that ASU will be able to rely on throughout the season.

Moving up to 157, wrestlers Jabari Hinson and Gabriel Delgado both have a foot in the door as potential starters. Hinson finished his first year with a 9-7 record, while Delgado finished with a 13-7 record. Both are second-year wrestlers and continue to battle, with Delgado coming out victorious in the most recent event as he defeated Hinson 4-2.

At 197 pounds, second-year Aidan Ysaguirre looks to build off a 6-7 record in his first year. He was the 99th-ranked recruit in the 2025 class and appeared in just four events in his first year with the Sun Devils. He now looks to take over the starting job with a win against teammate Luke Issak, propelling him up the order.

Finally, second-year heavyweight Ben Szuba looks to continue a strong career at ASU as he went 14-2 in his first year.Most recently, he beat teammate Kal-El Fluckiger during the Maroon and Gold scrimmage and continues to look like a strong starter for years to come.

Newcomers- Chris Martinez

Arizona State Wrestling welcomes 10 new additions to its program this year.

There are three incoming transfers for the 2026-27 season, two of which are Arizona natives.

Second-year Christian Castillo weighs 125 pounds and was a redshirt freshman last season at Iowa State. In two meets, Castillo went 8-2, including three bonus-point wins.

Third-year Adrian Meza is also from the Valley and transferred from Iowa State, weighing in at 133 pounds. The transfer wrestled for two seasons in Ames, going 22-8 with seven major decisions.

Fourth-year Aidan Brenot became a Sun Devil after spending three seasons at North Dakota State. Brenot weighs 184 pounds and adds NCAA Championship experience as a two-time participant. Brenot also finished 4-2 in the Big 12 Championships in the same weight class. He is one of three wrestlers on the roster in that weight.

Along with the transfers, seven first-years decided to join Jones in Tempe, with MatScout and InterMat ranking ASU in the top-10 in recruiting.

Jones said on ASU All Access that they could be starting up to six freshmen this year, which bodes well for the fresh faces to make a name for themselves right out of high school. For a program with 10 wrestlers in their potential final season with five as seniors and two in their fifth year, 2026-2027 could become a look into the future of the program.

Rylan Seacrist leads the way in the recruiting class at 125 pounds. The Ohio native was the No. 2 ranked prospect in his weight class and No. 18 overall recruit. He is a Fargo National Champion, Ohio State champion, and a U.S. Open All-American. With Seacrist’s talent, he could be set to debut for the Maroon and Gold quicker than other first-years.

Kal-El Fluckiger is a Chandler native weighing in at 285 pounds. For Valiant College Prep, he wrestled at 215 pounds and compiled a 63-39 record. As the No. 33 overall recruit, he is one of the two Sun Devils who are heavyweights.

Billy Ward weighs in at 197 pounds and is the No. 43 recruit from North Dakota. Ward gained weight on his way to ASU; in High School, at 189 pounds, he won three straight state titles and went undefeated as a senior.

Travis Cardenas is another Arizona Native, weighing in at157 pounds. His high school record at Chandler was 42-4. Cardenas was the No. 66 recruit and won two state titles, one of which was in his senior year, when he went 35-3.

Antonio Rodriguez from Brentwood, Calif., is ranked as the No. 103 recruit. He weighs 133 pounds and competed against NCAA talent when he was in high school at Los Gatos High School in the Edinboro Open.

All seven freshmen will look to join the returners and help Arizona State return to its spot at the top of the college wrestling world. ASU will wrestle in the Michigan State Open on Saturday all day.