OPENING WHISTLE
• ASU is currently ranked No. 18 (NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll)
• The program recently signed six prep standouts to join the team next fall
• Robles (125) and Jenkins (157) are both ranked in the national Top 5
• Robles and Jenkins both will compete at the NWCA All-Star Classic (11/21)
• ASU moved to 64-9-0 all-time vs. Arizona schools with its 44th win in a row
• 5 Sun Devils made their debuts at GCU with all five posting victories
• Sun Devils went 16-4 individually with 10 combined wins by major/fall/forfeit
• ASU is now 35-14-0 in its first dual of the year after 29-8 win at Grand Canyon
• ASU is 32-16-0 all-time in home openers (won four in a row), but 0-2 vs. Okla.
• ASU is 14-25-1 against Oklahoma all-time (9-9-0 in Tempe)
WEB CASTING
FS Arizona will be on hand inside Wells Fargo Arena for all five of the Sun Devils' home duals this season, starting with Thursday's dual with No. 8 Oklahoma. Scott Powell will be on the call this week as Arizona State looks to knock-off the visiting Sooners. To watch the free web cast, visit the Sun Devil page on FoxSportsArizona.com (a link will be placed on that page on Thursday).
YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE:
• High school teams can gain free admission into the dual by filling out and sending in the appropriate form by Wednesday. The form, labeled Team Unofficial Visit Form, can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on thesundevils.com.
• Thursday's dual is the team's annual Gold Game, so all fans are encouraged to wear their gold to show their support of the Sun Devil Wrestling program.
IN THE RANKINGS - TEAM
The Sun Devils entered the 2010-11 season ranked among the Top 25 in three different ranking services, including No. 18 in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll that was released Tuesday (November 16). In the other rankings, InterMat has Arizona State at No. 10 and W.I.N. Magazine has the Sun Devils at No. 18.
STRONG SCHEDULE
Looking at the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, six of Arizona State's opponents are currently ranked in the Top 25 while the Sun Devils are one of four Pac-10 Conference teams in the rankings. Overall, ASU's schedule includes duals with No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 14 Nebraska, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 19 Iowa State and No. 25 Cal Poly. Along with ASU, OSU and CPU, the remaining nationally ranked Pac-10 team is Boise State, who is No. 3 this week.
IN THE RANKINGS - INDIVIDUAL
According to Amateur Wrestling News, four Sun Devils enter the season ranked in the national Top 15, including a pair of wrestlers in the Top 3 of their weight classes. Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins both head into their senior seasons ranked third nationally at 125 and 157, respectively, while senior Ben Ashmore (133) and junior Te Edwards (165) are both ranked No. 15 at their weights.
ALL-STAR SELECTIONS
The 45th NWCA All-Star Classic presented by The Marines will be held on Sunday, November 21, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, Calif., and will feature a pair of Sun Devils as some of the best individuals in the nation get together for the annual exhibition competition. This year, Anthony Robles will face Zach Sanders (Minnesota) at 125 pounds while Bubba Jenkins will take on Adam Hall (Boise State) at 165, marking the 21st and 22nd times, respectively, a Sun Devil has been in the event. The last time a Sun Devil competed in the event came in 2007 when current assistant coach Brian Stith dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Trent Paulson (Iowa State).
NEW ADDITIONS
Last week began the early signing period around collegiate athletics and the Sun Devil wrestling program has added six individuals that will continue their academic and athletic careers at Arizona State beginning next fall. Those individuals include: Codey Combs, Kory DeBerry, Preston McCalmon, Lucio Murillo, Issah Meade and Blake Stone. DeBerry's older brother, Kyle, is currently a member of the Sun Devils. Look for more information to be released later on the newest Sun Devil wrestlers.
QUICK RECAP: OPENING WEEKEND
The Sun Devils opened their 2010-11 season on the road last Saturday as the visitors took wins of 29-8 at Grand Canyon and 41-6 at Embry-Riddle on the same day at two different locations. Overall, the Sun Devils went 8-2 individually in both duals and posted bonus points in 10 of those 16 combined wins, including four by major decision, five by pin and one by forfeit. ASU wrestled two road duals on the same day for the sixth time in program history and improved to 10-2 all-time on those days with four sweeps.
COPPER STATE COMPETITIONS
With the two wins on Saturday, the Sun Devils improved to 64-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona and extended their winning streak to 44 in a row in the process. The last time Arizona State lost to a fellow Copper State school came on February 13, 1973, when visiting Arizona won, 18-17. The Sun Devils also improved to 28-6-0 all-time in road duals inside the state after winning their 19th and 20th in a row.
LIFTING THE LID
With their 29-8 victory at Grand Canyon Saturday morning, the Sun Devils improved to 35-14-0 all-time in their first dual of the season. Following a 2-0 record on the road, the Sun Devils now turn their attention to their first home dual of the year with No. 8 Oklahoma in town. The Sun Devils are 32-16-0 all-time in their first home dual of the season and have won four in a row. The dual with the Sooners will mark the third time Arizona State has faced OU in its home opener with the Sooners winning the previous two instances, 32-7 (December 3, 1964) and 23-21 (December 4, 1985).
DEBUTS
Five individuals competed for Arizona State for the first time last weekend and all five won their debuts with the Sun Devils at Grand Canyon. The victorious newcomers included Kalin Goodsite at 141 (16-5 major decision); Luke Ashmore at 149 (12-5 decision); Bubba Jenkins at 157 (11-8 decision); Luke Macchiaroli at 197 (6-3 decision) and Levi Cooper at heavyweight (3-1 decision).
STRONG STARTS
Of the 10 Sun Devils that competed last weekend, six swept both of their duals on Saturday. Included in that list are Anthony Robles at 125 (two pins); Kalin Goodsite at 141 (two majors); Te Edwards at 165 (one decision, one major); Jake Meredith at 184 (one major, one fall); Luke Macchiaroli at 197 (one decision, one fall); and Levi Cooper (one decision, one forfeit).
QUICK WORK
Four different Sun Devils won by fall last Saturday, including Anthony Robles, who pinned both of his opponents. In all five pins, the Sun Devil picked up the victory in the first period each time. Against Grand Canyon, Robles had the lone pin at 125 pounds, winning in 1:49. He followed that later in the day at Embry-Riddle with a fall in 1:25. Also at ERAU, Eric Starks pinned his foe in 2:40 to get his first win of the year at 174 to start a stretch of three falls in a row that saw the team's fastest pin honor change hands twice. First, Jake Meredith stuck his foe in 1:19 of the 184 match to take the fastest pin from Robles (1:25), but, one match later at 197, Luke Macchiaroli stuck his opponent in 1:16 to take the fastest title early in the season.
COUNTDOWN TO 100
Heading into his senior campaign, Anthony Robles holds a career record of 88-23 and needs 12 wins to become the 23rd different Sun Devil to break the century mark. Currently ranked 29th all-time in career wins at Arizona State, Robles will need 15 wins (103 total) to break into the Top 20 as he will tie with three others for 19th place, including current head coach Shawn Charles. With his 88 wins, Robles is currently tied for 27th all-time on the ASU wins list with current UFC World Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez.
RETURN TO FORM
At the end of the 2008 season, Bubba Jenkins walked off the mat at the NCAA Championships as the national runner-up at 157 pounds for Penn State. He followed that season with a perfect regular season before an injury saw him go 0-2 at the Big Ten and NCAA events. After sitting out last season and transferring to Arizona State, Jenkins is entering his final season ranked among the Top 5 nationally as he sets out to win a national title and collect his second All-America honor. He is currently 1-1 on the young season.
PAC-3
One of the Sun Devils' newcomers at heavyweight this season is Levi Cooper, a native of Hubbard, Ore. The redshirt sophomore is not only entering his first season with Arizona State, he also is entering the third “first season†of his career. Coming out of high school, Cooper enrolled at Portland State, a member of the Pac-10, and competed for one year. At the end of that season, the program was discontinued, forcing Cooper to look elsewhere to compete collegiately. He got that chance last year at Cal State Bakersfield (also a Pac-10 member in wrestling) where he redshirted. After one year at CSUB, Cooper departed and is now in the mix for the starting nod at heavyweight this year for the Sun Devils.
SCOUTING: #8 OKLAHOMA
The Sooners are led by Jack Spates and come to Tempe with a 2-0 dual record following a 39-0 home victory over Central Oklahoma and a 28-7 road win at Buffalo. Recently, the Sooners won the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic for the 12th year in a row with five individuals winning titles. Four Oklahoma wrestlers are currently ranked among the national Top 20 (according to Amateur Wrestling News), including: No. 8 Jarrod Petterson (125), No. 1 Zack Bailey (141), No. 18 Erich Schmidtke (184) and No. 12 Nathan Fernandez (285).
IN THE SERIES: SUN DEVILS vs. SOONERS
Oklahoma holds a 25-14-1 advantage in the series and has won the last seven duals in a row and 13 of the last 14 meetings. The last time Arizona State won came on January 8, 2003, in Tempe in a 21-21 score (ties were broken that year based on criteria, which ASU won). The series is tied, 9-9-0, when the two teams meet in Tempe with the Sooner winning the last three meetings inside Wells Fargo Arena, including a 36-7 decision two years ago. Last year, OU won, 24-11, in Norman.
MARQUEE MATCH
While each team has four individuals ranked nationally heading into the dual, only one match will feature a meeting between two ranked foes as No. 3 Anthony Robles takes on No. 8 Jarrod Patterson at 125 pounds. The two met last year in the quarterfinals of the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational where then-No. 3 Robles scored a 17-2 technical fall over then-unranked Patterson.
SCOUTING: FULLERTON OPEN
The Fullerton Open on Saturday will have a distinct Pac-10 flavor to it as five of the Conference's teams will be in action, including ASU, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, host CS Fullerton and Stanford. Also set to compete are Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon and Embry-Riddle, along with several junior colleges. The tournament will feature 10 weight classes with team scoring used to crown a champion.
SENIOR SEASONS
Five individuals are entering their final collegiate seasons, including local standout Anthony Robles, who has earned a pair of All-American honors after a solid career at nearby Mesa High School. The remaining seniors include Ben Ashmore, Bubba Jenkins, Orlando Jimenez and Lucas Mariacher. All five will be honored before the team's dual with Cal Poly on January 30 (2:00 p.m.)
ALL IN THE FAMILY
In the history of the program, 28 different families have supplied the Sun Devils with multiple wrestlers, including a pair of brothers this year and a second-generation Sun Devil. Brothers Ben and Luke Ashmore are the 26th set of brothers to be members of the Arizona State program while Luke Macchiaroli is the second member of his family to join the Sun Devils as his father, Tom, was with the program in the late 1970s.
ASKREN ON STAFF
Several weeks ago, head coach Shawn Charles rounded out his coaching staff with the addition of Ben Askren as an assistant coach. The 2008 Olympian and two-time NCAA finalist (at Missouri), who served as the program's Director of Operations last year, will assist with day-to-day operations once again while also working with technique on the mat with the Sun Devils. He joins Brian Stith (fourth year) as the program's assistant coaches this season.
EARLY ACTION
Last weekend, 17 members of the program entered the Embry-Riddle Collegiate Championships in Prescott as unattached competitors with 12 returning the Valley of the Sun with Top 5 finishes. Three Sun Devils reached the final and placed second, including Josh Sandoval (125), Kevin Radford (184) and Levi Cooper (285). Kalin Goodsite (141) placed third while David Prado (133), Joel Smith (149), Kevin Maelfeyt (157), Wesley Moore (184) and Michael Hawkins (285) all finished fourth. Dalton Miller (125), Derek Felton (165) and Bobby Bowman (174) also finished fifth.
HE'S THE CHAMP
On October 23, a new UFC World Heavyweight Champion was crowned and that champion is former Sun Devil All-American Cain Velasquez. The first fighting champion of Mexican heritage, Velasquez dispatched of former champion Brock Lesnar with a first round TKO to take the belt at UFC 121 in Anaheim, Calif. Velasquez is now the is the fourth different Sun Devil wrestler to hold a belt in the UFC.
ALUMNI UPDATE
• Aaron Simpson (7-1) will be fighting at UFC 123 as he takes on fellow wrestler Mark Munoz (8-2) in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Saturday, November 20, live on Spike TV. If the name Munoz sounds familiar, it is the same Munoz that wrestled for Oklahoma State.
• Also in the UFC, Ryan Bader (12-0) will meet Jon ‘Bones' Jones (11-1) in a light heavyweight bout in Las Vegas at UFC 126 on February 5.
NEXT TIME OUT
Compared to this week, next week will be very quite for the Sun Devils as only one dual is on the schedule. Arizona State will open its Pac-10 slate at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 27, inside Wells Fargo Arena as the Titans of CS Fullerton come to town. The event will be ASU's final dual of 2010 (two tournaments in December) and the last dual until No. 2 Oklahoma State comes to town for a 6 p.m. contest on January 2.
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