ASU redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira grapples with Cal Poly sophomore J.T. Goodwin during the 197-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. DaSilveira would earn the victory and the Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)
With the 2014-15 ASU wrestling season in the books, and another Sun Devil All-American back in Tempe, it’s time to look forward to the next season for Sun Devils — the expectations will be as high as ever.
In his first season as head coach of the wrestling team, Sun Devil alumnus Zeke Jones carved out a foundation of success that could bring the program back to national prominence.
At the Pac-12 Championships, the team finished in second place behind the Oregon State Beavers, the highest finish the team has had since ASU won the conference tournament back in 2006. The Sun Devils also sent home two conference champions home from the event, the first time since 2011.
Jones then sent six of his wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, up from just the lone Sun Devil competing in the event the year before. The Sun Devils struggled for the most part in St. Louis, but junior Blake Stauffer did become the school’s first All-American wrestler since 2011.
Stauffer himself had a phenomenal season for the Sun Devils including a 25-win streak from November all the way until the NCAA tournament in March. He notched eight major decisions wins, three technical falls and three pins during the season.
Stauffer has improved in each year he has been in Tempe and if there weren’t already enough national title expectations for him going into this season, there will be plenty more of that on him going into next year.
There’s going to be a lot less room at the Riches Wrestling Complex next year as well. There is a decent chance that every single wrestler on the team from this season will be back if redshirt senior Chace Eskam is granted another year of eligibility after having to miss a season for medical reasons.
As Jones says, that is a great foundation to start with next year.
“Now you sprinkle in the new kids coming in and that’s when things start to happen,” he said. “Because you’ve got some kids in here that have some experience at the national tournament, you’ve got some good kids coming out of high school.”
Jones said that having the best talent in the room means the best wrestlers will have the best training partners and then everyone gets better.
Two of those kids coming out of high school are Anthony and Zahid Valencia, the No. 1- and No. 5-ranked recruits on Intermat’s rankings, from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. The brothers are the gems of the Sun Devils' top-ranked recruiting class joining the team next year that also includes No. 11 Josh Shields of Franklin Regional High School in Pennsylvania, No. 12 Lance Benick of Totino-Grace High School in Minnesota and No. 29 Josh Maruca also from Franklin Regional.
“I think it’s a good first step for where we’re at and where we want to get to,” Jones said.
The first year under Zeke Jones was the best in a few years for the ASU wrestling program, and it’s clear that he has the program heading in the right direction. The next step will be to live up to the expectations he has created for himself and his team next season.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow @bill_slane on Twitter.
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