TEMPE -- After a month-long hiatus from Desert Financial Arena, seniors Kordell Norfleet and Cade Belshay led No. 8 Sun Devil Wrestling (4-0, Pac-12 2-0) to their final home victory of the season over Pac-12 foe Cal Poly, 34-6. On Senior Day, the two combined for five takedowns, four four-point near falls and two bonus points over the Mustangs.
"I was really happy for Cade when he got his victory today. It's good to see him come out and dominate as he has that ability and is finally able to put it together," said head coach Zeke Jones. "Kordell has taken on a leadership role in this program. He's setting the standard for Sun Devil Wrestling, letting everybody know that every match he is coming to wrestle and he's scoring in all three positions."
No. 3 Brandon Courtney (125) and Antonio Lorenzo began the dual by each receiving two cautions and two stall warnings. The first point was awarded to Lorenzo after he escaped, but Courtney pounced back, scoring six straight points including a near fall.
The Sun Devil started on the bottom for the second period, earning a quick escape followed by a takedown. Lorenzo was held scoreless for the remaining time and would only earn two escape points during the rest of the bout giving Courtney a 14-6 major decision victory.
Michael McGee (133) followed Courtney's momentum with a quick takedown out of the gate against Benny Martinez. In the second No. 9 McGee collected two near falls, resulting in an 8-1 lead over Martinez before claiming his second takedown in the third. The Sun Devil's major decision victory would be sealed by his riding time point.
Graduate transfer No. 17 Peter Lipari (141) defeated No. 33 Lawrence by a 2-1 decision after the two were scoreless for the first period. Lipari's swift reversal at the beginning of the third put him on the path to victory.
At 149 Arizona native Cory Crooks battled the entire match against No. 25 Legend Lamer. The two tied at four points as they headed into the final period, but Crooks ultimately fell short to Lamer 5-4 when the riding time point was awarded to the Mustang.
Following Crooks' match, Jacori Teemer faced Lamer's brother Brawley Lamer at the 157 weight class. Teemer slammed two takedowns and a near fall in the first three minutes of the bout, but each time Lamer would respond with points. Instead of receiving any points in the second, both wrestlers received cautions with Teemer also being tacked with a stall warning.
Teemer mustered two takedowns while Lamer tallied three escape points, but that wouldn't be enough to dent Teemer's lead as he would claim a 10-7 decision victory which extended the ASU team score to 14-3.
Pushing past intermission, redshirt senior Anthony Valencia continued with the Sun Devils' success on the mat. Seconds into the bout Valencia tallied a takedown, but Adam Kemp followed with an escape cutting the lead to 2-1. A second takedown would extend Valencia's score and after two stall warnings were given to Kemp, Valencia secured his final point for a 6-2 decision.
Redshirt freshman Trey Munoz came out strong, earning a takedown against No. 22 Bernie Truax to put himself up 2-0 at 174. Munoz kept the bout tight, but with the riding time point awarded to Truax at regulation time, the two ended up in overtime with Cal Poly ending with a win.
Cade Belshay jogged onto the mat to face one win wrestler, Dylan Miracle. The whistle blew to begin the dual and Belshay gained six points in the blink of an eye. With 22 seconds remaining in the first, the senior received the signal from the referee that he had pinned Miracle for a speedy victory.
Ready to begin his match against Josh Harkey at 197, No. 3 Norfleet earned a caution for starting too early. His false start didn't hinder his success on the mat, as the Chicago native claimed back-to-back takedowns followed by a four point nearfall. Harkey was hit with a stall warning before earning a quick escape from Norfleet.
Leading 10-2 to start the third, Norfleet earned an escape, takedown and four point near fall along with a riding time point to hold his opponent off for a 18-2 tech fall victory.
The final six team points were awarded when Schultz's opponent forfeited, leaving the Sun Devils victorious.
"We leave tomorrow for negative four, negative 40 windchill. So, the first thing we're concentrating on are winter jackets, hats, and gloves," said Jones. "And then after that, we'll get there and pretty much the work is done since we trained hard at the beginning of the week. We didn't stop so we'll let them recover and I think this match against Cal Poly will set us up for a good finish on Sunday."
Results:
125: #3 Brandon Courtney (ASU)(7-0) defeats Antonio Lorenzo (CP)(2-2) MD 14-6, 4-0
133: #6 Michael McGee (ASU)(5-0) defeats Benny Martinez (CP)(1-6) MD 11-2, 8-0
141: #17 Peter Lipari (ASU)(2-2) defeats #33 Lawrence Saenz (CP)(3-2) Dec 2-1, 11-0
149: #25 Legend Lamer (CP)(9-0) defeats Cory Crooks (ASU)(4-2) Dec 5-4, 11-3
157: #12 Jacori Teemer (ASU)(3-1) defeats Brawley Lamer (CP)(1-3) Dec 10-7, 14-3
165: #4 Anthony Valencia (ASU)(6-0) defeats Adam Kemp (CP)(2-3) Dec 6-3, 17-3
174: #22 Bernie Truax (CP)(7-1) defeats Trey Munoz (ASU)(1-1) SV-1 4-2, 17-6
184: Cade Belshay (ASU)(3-2) defeats Dylan Miracle (CP)(1-2) Fall 2:38, 23-6
197: #3 Kordell Norfleet (ASU)(5-0) defeats Josh Harkey (CP)(0-4) TF 18-2 3:48, 28-6
HWT: #7 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)(8-0) wins by forfeit, 34-6
Results Individual Matches:
141: Wyatt Cornelison (CP) defeats Cleveland Belton (ASU)(0-1) Dec 7-6
141: Julian Chlebove (ASU)(3-3) defeats Wyatt Cornelison (CP) MD 18-5
149: Logan Gioffre (CP) defeats Jesse Vasquez (ASU)(2-1) Dec 7-6
149: Logan Gioffre (CP) defeats Ethan Pickren (ASU)(0-1) Dec 5-2
157: Max Anderson (CP) defeats Hunter Balk (ASU)(0-1) MD 13-2
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils are headed back to Ames, Iowa for their rescheduled matches against No. 18 Iowa State and Northern Iowa on Sunday, February 14. The match against Northern Iowa begins at 10 a.m. MST and be live streamed via Iowa State YouTube. ASU will wrestle back-to-back with their match against Iowa State on ESPN+ at 12:30 p.m.
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