The No. 16 Arizona State wrestling team split a pair of dual meets at Wells Fargo Arena over the weekend, as they hosted No. 4 Nebraska and Pac-10 rival Oregon.
On Friday, the Sun Devils (8-6, 4-0 Pac-10) sought revenge for a 37-(-1) thumping that Nebraska handed them at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10. Although still battered with injuries, ASU opened the meet dropping the 149-pound match by decision, but 157-pound redshirt freshman Brian Stith brought the Sun Devils back with a 6-1 decision of his own.
Unfortunately for ASU, the Sun Devils would be playing catch-up the remainder of the meet, as they suffered a 26-9 setback.
Redshirt freshman Jamie Robbins lost his 165-pound match by major decision, giving the Cornhuskers a 7-3 advantage. The best bet for ASU to get back into the dual rested in the meat of the lineup --the heavier weight classes.
Senior 174-pounder Ron Renzi -- who shares the team lead in wins by fall with three -- wrestled the most exciting match of the night. After a scoreless first period, NU sophomore James Pummel chose to begin the second period down, and escaped after only three seconds.
With less than a minute remaining in the third period, and Renzi trailing Pummel 2-3, the crowd of 657 rose to their feet at Wells Fargo Arena. Sensing the emotion from the crowd, Renzi shoved Pummel towards the NU bench, as Pummel was trying to run down the clock.
"I heard the crowd and it just gave me an adrenaline rush," Renzi said.
With the clock at eight seconds, Renzi shot at Pummel's right leg, lifted and turned the Husker before scoring a match-winning takedown.
"Mentally [the crowd] was such a big edge for me," he said. "I was down by a point, and it really got me going. I didn't want to just dive in -- I just waited for my opportunity."
Ryan Bader, ASU's fourth-ranked 197-pound sophomore who has been the Sun Devils most consistent wrestler this season, came onto the mat against No. 3 B.J. Padden. During the pair's last meeting, Padden handily beat Bader 8-2.
This time, however, it was Bader who controlled the match from beginning to end. In the first minute, the two were locked, before Bader gained the edge and bounced Padden's head off the mat several times before sweeping over him for the takedown.
The period ended with a three-point near-fall for Bader. After the dust settled, Bader had scored over three minutes of riding time en route to a 10-3 decision.
"I went out there with a plan this time and felt good," Bader said. "Having the hometown crowd behind me really felt good out there."
Bader said he is using the team's remaining matches to prepare for the conference Championships.
"Pac-10's are just a couple of weeks away, so we're peaking for that," he explained.
Bader's win would be the last in the dual for ASU. Freshman 125-pounder Christian Staylor missed the upset of his career by one point over top-ranked senior Jason Powell, 4-3.
There was a scary scene in the third period of junior 133-pounder Mike Simpson's match. Simpson -- who has missed much of the season due to shoulder surgery -- was being ridden before ASU head coach Thom Ortiz called the match. Nebraska's Matt Keller had Simpson's left arm locked, and it appeared that something gave with Simpson's shoulder.
ASU went on to defeat the Ducks 24-11 on Sunday. Bader won with a technical fall, 15-0, while Staylor scored a major decision, 11-0.
Reach the reporter at damien.tippet@asu.edu.
