The score was 2-2 with under a minute left in the third period.
ASU sophomore Jake Meredith had his man wrapped up and was attempting turn after turn after turn.
Stalling was called on the Cyclones.
The result was a 3-2 victory.
It was the vision of energy returning to the ASU wrestling team (8-7, 3-2 Pac-10) after being embarrassed at home just a week ago.
Although the dual against the nation’s No. 2 team ended with a 30-10 victory for the Iowa State Cyclones (11-2, 2-0 Big 12), the excitement was back.
“The score doesn’t reflect the effort that we put in, but you know what? We wrestled the No. 2 school in the country,” Charles said. “All they did was help us get better today.”
After competing last in most of ASU’s duals, No. 3 junior Anthony Robles (125) had to wake up faster and mount a comeback to lead off with a 12-10 victory over No. 5 Iowa State redshirt freshman Andrew Long.
Robles was down 10-3 after two periods but tallied nine points in the third to give ASU a 3-0 lead.
“I was a little panicked at first when that first period didn’t go my way,” Robles said. “I just tried to calm myself down.”
ASU junior Ben Ashmore suffered a tough loss in the second match of the day to No. 8 senior Nick Fanthorpe (12-3), but No. 18 ASU junior Chris Drouin quickly put the Sun Devils back on top.
Several two-legged take downs allowed him to defeat No. 12 sophomore Dalton Jensen (10-1) and give ASU a 7-4 lead after three matches.
After that point, the No. 2 Cyclones showed why they will contend for a national title.
A close 3-2 loss for ASU sophomore Vicente Varela (149) to No. 8 Iowa State senior Mitch Mueller, a pin from No. 17 Iowa State sophomore Andrew Sorenson (157) over ASU sophomore Michael Swigart and a technical fall by No. 3 Iowa State junior Jon Reader (165) over ASU sophomore Kyle DeBerry pushed the Cyclone lead to 18-7.
The 184-pound match paired up Meredith with No. 7 Iowa State sophomore Jerome Ward.
A close third period had Meredith looking to finish off Ward with several turn attempts.
“I was honestly looking for a turn and I though I had it at one point,” Meredith said. “I didn’t want to let him go and get back on his feet. I really didn’t want to lose this one.”
A stalling call on Ward ended in a 3-2 victory for the Sun Devils.
The win was followed by screams and cheers from the ASU bench, something Charles said will be a staple at remaining competitions this season.
“If you looked at the energy coming off the bench in this dual compared to the last time we were at home, you would see a totally different energy from the coaching staff,” Charles said. “I think the kids feed off of that.”
At one point, Charles was on his back trying to show a wrestler the next appropriate move.
ASU also competed on Friday against No. 16 Cal Poly, but was unable to finish off a comeback and lost 20-18.
While Meredith recorded the victory over Cal Poly sophomore Kelan Bragg (8-6), it wasn’t enough to put the Sun Devils over the top.
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu
