InterMat's All-Quarter Century Team: Arizona State
Our All-Quarter Century team takes us out west to focus on the Arizona State program. This is a team that has gone through a couple of head coaches, had its ups and downs, and even was on the chopping block for a brief time in 2008. Despite all of that, there has been a lot to celebrate for the Sun Devils over the last 25 years.
Arizona State has been home to some of the biggest stars in college wrestling over the last quarter-century. Eric Larkin is one of only three wrestlers from the West Coast to win the Hodge Trophy. Anthony Robles defied the odds in a Sun Devils singlet. A few matches after Robles’ NCAA championship win, Bubba Jenkins posted one of the most memorable moments in an NCAA final with his fall over a freshman (and ex-teammate) David Taylor. Zahid Valencia earned two NCAA titles, a Senior World medal, and will continue to add to his resume at the 2025 World Championships.
In constructing our first, second, and third teams for Sun Devil wrestling this quarter century, we had to get creative from 141-157 lbs. Eric Larkin earned All-American honors at three different weights and won his Hodge at 149, but 141 was the weight with the least amount of options, so that’s where he went. Technically, Bubba Jenkins never wrestled at 149 lbs for ASU, but he spent the bulk of his career at the weight. Putting Jenkins at 149 lbs allows for an NCAA finalist to be inserted at 157 (and they had two options).
There were a couple of tough decisions with ASU - namely at 125 and 149 lbs. At 125, we gave the second team nod to Brandon Courtney over Richie Figueroa. Courtney has three All-American finishes and a final appearance. Figueroa has a national title, but missed the podium last year and has transferred, so he won’t be able to put up any more numbers in an ASU singlet.
At 149 lbs, looking strictly at the numbers, it would seem like Jason Tsirtsis’ career warrants first-team honors. Since he only wrestled one year at ASU and was seventh, I felt the wrestlers above him had more of a direct impact for the Sun Devils.
As always, if you have thoughts or your version of the team, leave them in the comments or InterMat’s forums.
Wrestlers considered for the three teams had to compete from 2001 to 2025. For the wrestlers early in this timeframe, their entire collegiate body of work was considered. Only collegiate results were taken into consideration. Even if a wrestler was successful at multiple weights, they were only selected for one weight - typically, it was based on the strongest possible first team.
After the three All-Century teams, there are some fun facts about Iowa State’s results over the past 25 years.
Here are the programs we’ve already covered
Cornell
Illinois
Iowa State
Lehigh
Minnesota
Missouri
NC State
First Team
125 lbs - Anthony Robles: Mesa, Arizona - 3x AA (1,7,4), 2011 NCAA champion, 3x Pac-10 champion
133 lbs - Michael McGee: Bolingbrook, Illinois - 3x AA (3,4,6), 2x Pac-12 champion, 2x MAC champion
141 lbs - Eric Larkin: Tucson, Arizona - 4x AA (1,2,3,4), 2003 NCAA champion, 2003 Hodge winner, 4x Pac-10 champion
149 lbs - Bubba Jenkins: Virginia Beach, Virginia - 2x AA (1,2), 2011 NCAA champion, 2011 Pac-12 runner-up, 2009 Big Ten runner-up
157 lbs - Jacori Teemer: Long Beach, New York - 3x AA (2,6,4), 4x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #2 seed
165 lbs - Steve Blackford: Des Moines, Iowa - 3x AA (5,3,4), 2x Pac-10 champion, 2x NCAA #3 seed
174 lbs - Zahid Valencia: Bellflower, California: 3x AA (1,1,3), 3x Pac-12 champion, 2x NCAA #1 seed
184 lbs - Blake Stauffer: Neosho, Missouri: 1x AA (4), 2x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #3 seed
197 lbs - Ryan Bader: Reno, Nevada: 2x AA (7,4), 3x Pac-10 champion, NCAA #4 seed
285 lbs - Cohlton Schultz: Parker, Colorado: 5x AA (3,6,7,2,4), 4x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #2 seed
Second Team
125 lbs - Brandon Courtney: Goodyear, Arizona - 3x AA (3,6,2), 3x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #3 seed
133 lbs - David Douglas: Harvey, Illinois - 2x AA (5,7), 2001 Pac-10 champion, NCAA Round of 12 finisher
141 lbs - Chris Drouin: Temecula, California - 1x AA (6), 2x Pac-10 runner-up, NCAA Round of 12 finisher
149 lbs - Kyle Parco: Danville, California - 4x AA (5,4,8,6), 3x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #2 seed
157 lbs - Brian Stith: Hampton, Virginia - 2x AA (2,6), 2x Pac-10 champion, NCAA #2 seed
165 lbs - Josh Shields: Murrysville, Pennsylvania - 2x AA (6,7), NWCA 1st Team AA, 3x Pac-12 champion
174 lbs - Curtis Owen: Polson, Montana: 1x AA (4), 3x NCAA qualifier, 2003 Pac-10 champion
184 lbs - CB Dollaway: Mt. Gilead, Ohio: 1x AA (5), 2x Pac-10 runner-up
197 lbs - Kordell Norfleet: Chicago, Illinois: 4x NQ, 4x Pac-12 champion, NWCA 2nd Team AA, NCAA Round of 12 finisher
285 lbs - Cain Velasquez: Yuma, Arizona: 2x AA (4,5), 2x Pac-10 champion, NCAA #3 seed
Third Team
125 lbs - Richie Figueroa: Sanger, California* - 1x AA (1), 2024 NCAA champion, 2024 Pac-12 champion
133 lbs - Ali Naser: Woodland Hills, California - 1 NQ, 2018 Pac-12 champion
141 lbs - Dana Holland: Glendale Heights, Illinois - 2x NQ, 2x Pac-10 runner-up, NCAA Round of 12 finisher
149 lbs - Jason Tsirtsis: Crown Point, Indiana - 3x AA (7,3,1), 2014 NCAA champion, 2x Big Ten champion, 1x Pac-12 champion
157 lbs - Rocky Smart: Pleasant Grove, Utah - 3x NQ, 2x NCAA Round of 12 finisher
165 lbs - Patrick Pitsch: Tacoma, Washington - 4x NQ, 3x Pac-10 champion, 3x NCAA Round of 12 finisher
174 lbs - Anthony Valencia: Bellflower, California - 1x AA (8), 5x NQ, 4x Pac-12 champion, NCAA #2 seed
184 lbs - Nick Frost: Tucson, Arizona - 3x NQ, 2x Pac-10 champion, NCAA #6 seed
197 lbs - Jason Trulson: Fountain Hills, California - 2x NQ, 2008 Pac-10 runner-up, NCAA Round of 12 finisher
285 lbs - Tanner Hall: Meridian, Idaho: 1x AA (3), NWCA First Team All-American, 2x Pac-12 champion
Fun Facts
During the last quarter century, Arizona State has had five wrestlers combine to win six national championships. This does not include Tsirtsis who wrestled for ASU, but won a title for Northwestern
Arizona State has put wrestlers into the national finals 11 times during this time period
ASU has had three four-time NCAA All-Americans during the last 25 years (Larkin, Parco, Schultz). In addition, Brandon Courtney and Jacori Teemer earned NCAA All-American honors three times and was named an AA by the NWCA in 2020.
The Sun Devils have put wrestlers on the NCAA podium 49 times since 2001. Six others were named first or second team AA’s by the NWCA in 2020.
Arizona State finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Tournament 15 times in the last 25 years. 10 of those were in the top ten.
ASU earned NCAA team trophies in back-to-back years under Zeke Jones in 2021 and 2022. Both were fourth place finishes.
Both team trophy finishes saw ASU put five wrestlers on the NCAA podium. That is their high during this quarter century. Their 74 points at the 2021 tournament is a high during this time, as well.
Arizona State has had four head coaches during this quarter century. Lee Roy Smith for the first year, followed by Thom Ortiz, Shawn Charles, and Zeke Jones
Eric Larkin is the only ASU wrestler to have won the Hodge Trophy. He won the award in 2003.
Arizona State has won 10 Pac-10/12 titles during this span
Individually, Arizona State wrestlers have combined to win 70 Pac-10/12 championships since 2001
Four ASU wrestlers have earned the #1 seed at nationals (Larkin, Robles, Z. Valencia x2)
In 2015, Arizona State was credited with signing the #1 overall recruiting class. That group yielded three future DI All-Americans (Z. Valencia, A. Valencia, Shields)
The 2011 NCAA Tournament saw a pair of ASU wrestlers earn national titles (Robles, Jenkins). There was only one other year in school history with more than one national champion (1993 - Mollica/Miller)
Since 2001, only nine wrestlers from Arizona have earned NCAA All-American honors. Four have wrestled for ASU (Larkin, Velasquez, Robles, Courtney).
Five of Arizona State’s six NCAA championships during this span have come against wrestlers from Iowa or Penn State
