ASU sophomore wrestler Judson Preskitt faces off against Cal Poly sophomore wrestler Victor Trujillo in the 133-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. Preskitt would win his match and the Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)Sophomore Judson Preskitt and senior Chace Eskam both brought the crowd in Wells Fargo Arena to their feet on Monday in the ASU wrestling team’s final home dual of the season against the Cal Poly Mustangs on senior night.
In what was the most lopsided win of the season since a 31-6 win against CSU Bakersfield in January, the Sun Devils took care of business against their Pac-12 rival Mustangs 30-9 losing just two bouts.
After a 12-5 decision win from junior Ares Carpio at 125 pounds, Preskitt took the mat at 133 pounds. It has been a rough season for the transfer from Minnesota. He notched his first two wins of the season at the Edinboro Open earlier this month but went into the bout on Monday still winless in duals.
The crowd was behind Preskitt from the very beginning and they erupted as he scored a takedown in the third round of his bout to secure his first dual win of the season.
“It’s been difficult to stay positive,” Preskitt said. “But I’ve got my team behind me saying I’m alright and just keep working hard. And my coaches have been pushing me.”
This kind of momentum for Preskitt will surely help going into the Pac-12 Tournament.
“The record isn’t everything going into the Pac-12 tournament,” Preskitt said. “If you place in top the three or two you’re still going to the NCAAs.”
Head coach Zeke Jones said after the dual that he feels Preskitt is ready to start piling up some more marks in the win column after Monday’s dual.
“The road to the top of the mountain is different for everyone and his has been a little rocky,” Jones said. “I think he’s ready to start making some climbs up that mountain.”
ASU redshirt senior wrestler Chace Eskam faces off against Cal Poly sophomore Nicolas Johnson in the 285-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. The Sun Devils would roll to a 30-9 victory over the Mustangs. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)On what was senior night for the team, only two seniors were able to compete. The first, Kevin Radford who has been plagued with injuries this season, was unable to leave Wells Fargo Arena with a win and instead was pinned in the final round.
However, heavyweight Eskam put in an exciting match in his last one in Tempe as a Sun Devil.
The match went to three overtime rounds and in true heavyweight fashion Eskam was able to edge out a 2-1 victory in the end that excited the crowd in Wells Fargo Arena.
“It was nice to go out with a win here at home,” Eskam said. “It was fun, a nice close match. It was fun pulling out the win there at the end.”
Jones said it was a prototypical “Chace Eskam” type of match.
“He kind of stayed in there and in true Chace Eskam fashion said, 'all right I’m going to tight waist ankle this guy hard for 30 seconds,'” Jones said. “Because we didn’t see an effort like we did in the last 30 seconds, right? All of a sudden, where’d that guy come from?”
The only member of the team to get a bonus point on Monday was junior Josh DaSilveira as he pinned his opponent with 1:14 left in the final round. DaSilveira now has a team leading five pins on the season.
Redshirt junior Blake Stauffer extended his winning streak to 21 straight wins on Monday with a 3-0 decision win. Stauffer has not lost since facing Ohio State’s Kenny Courts in November. He lost that bout in overtime.
Stauffer said he did not even realize the streak had reached 20 until he saw a tweet about it and also that he doesn’t think about it too much and only takes it one match at a time. Jones talked after the dual how hard it is to attain a win streak like Stauffer has.
“It’s difficult,” Jones said. “You just look around the nation there aren’t too many that have just one overtime loss, in November, on their record. It’s just a culmination of a lot of good work, a lot of hard work.”
The team has some time to prepare and get healthy now before the Pac-12 Championship on March 1 in Corvallis, Oregon.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or on Twitter @bill_slane.
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