While two of the five Sun Devils that made their debuts picked up wins on the day, the team victory gave head coach Thom Ortiz the 75th victory of his coaching career while also improving ASU to 4-0 all-time against the Aggies. The Sun Devils' win also brought their all-time record to 33-14-0 in their first dual of the season while increasing their all-time record in their Pac-10 opener to 25-4-1.
The dual opened at 149 pounds with redshirt freshman Vicente Varela dropping a 10-4 decision to Barrett Abel in his first collegiate bout. The Sun Devils slipped into a 6-0 deficit after the 157 bout as Michael Swigart fell in his debut as the redshirt freshman suffered a 5-1 setback to Joey Wilson. ASU got on the team board at 165 pounds as another redshirt freshman, Kyle DeBerry, scored a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Dustin Noack, a former Pac-10 finalist, to cut the Aggie lead to 6-3.
With the momentum swinging away from the visitors, the Sun Devils took control for good as true freshman Eric Starks used a barrage of takedowns on Joe Mount to score a 17-9 major decision at 174 pounds, putting the Sun Devils ahead 7-6. The lead grew to 10-6 after the 184 bout with Jake Cranford battling to a 6-5 decision over Jon Clark. Thor Moen (197) won by forfeit to extend ASU's lead to 16-6.
At heavyweight, Erik Nye lost his debut in a 2-1 deicison to Ricky Alcala, bringing the visitors to within seven points (16-9). But that is when the hometown and MHS product Anthony Robles took to the mat in a battle of Top 10-ranked foes at 125 pounds, bringing the fans to their feet with a win by fall at 4:05. Robles, ranked No. 8 nationally, held a 2-0 lead heading into the second period before working on No. 11 Marcos Orozco from the neutral position where he shot in and stacked his Aggie foe for the fall.
Leading 22-9, the Sun Devils looked to add to the advantage with two bouts remaining, but Orlando Jimenez was handed a 7-3 loss at 133 pounds by Brandon Low, putting the team score at 22-12. With the team win in hand, the last bout of the day saw No. 7 Chris Drouin score a 12-3 major decision over Nexi Delgado to bring the team score to its 26-12 final.
Next Friday, the Sun Devils will play host to another Pac-10 foe as Portland State visits the Valley of the Sun as both teams will meet at 7 p.m. at Maryvale High School in Phoenix. Admission for the dual is fee.
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