ASU junior Ray Waters and CSU Bakersfield junior Bryce Hammond grapple for control on the mat on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils went on to win against the Roadrunners 31 – 6. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)
In the first of its final two duals of the season, the ASU wrestling team will travel to Iowa to face No. 8 Iowa State on Friday night.
After a solid performance at the Edinboro Open that produced three champions for the Sun Devils, the team will look to continue that momentum against one of the best teams in the nation.
In last year’s meeting with the Cyclones in Tempe, the Sun Devils were defeated 21-12. ASU got wins from junior Ares Carpio, junior Matt Kraus, redshirt senior Joel Smith and redshirt junior Blake Stauffer but was not able to secure any bonus points in those wins.
Winning bonus points has been a major point of emphasis in coach Zeke Jones’ first year at ASU so the team’s top wrestlers will surely be looking to be as dominant as possible in their bouts on Friday.
Stauffer is currently slated to match up with Iowa State’s Lelund Weatherspoon, the 16th ranked wrestler at 184 pounds. In a season where Stauffer, ranked sixth at 184 pounds, has been mostly dominant in every bout he has been in, matching up with another top-20 level wrestler on one of the top teams in the nation is a great opportunity.
With the Pac-12 Championships less then a month away and the NCAA Championships not far behind them, being able to wrestle the best talent in the nation works well for Stauffer in his goal to be a national champion. Stauffer defeated Weatherspoon by decision last year.
One of the more intriguing bouts in the dual will be at 197 pounds where ASU’s Josh DaSilveira, coming off of solid performance at the Edinboro Open and on somewhat of a hot streak in duals, faces off with No. 2 Kyven Gadson of Iowa State. DaSilveira goes in as an underdog but has the momentum in dual meets that could make him a dark horse for an upset victory for ASU.
Redshirt junior Ray Waters, titlist at the Edinboro Open, has been rock-solid for the Sun Devils and has won his last two dual bouts by decision. He is scheduled to run into Iowa State’s Tanner Weatherman at 174 pounds on Friday in what is the hardest bout to call in the dual.
Weatherman is ranked No. 12 at 174 pounds and is coming off a major decision victory in the Cyclones’ dual with West Virginia but Waters has not lost a bout since Jan. 9 at the Virginia Duals. Waters can be called an underdog in the bout but a win would not be shocking.
As a team in their last five duals, Iowa State is 4-1. The Sun Devils as 3-2 during the same time. A win on Friday would be the first win as team on the road since defeating Boise State last month.
The dual is scheduled to begin in Ames, Iowa, at 6 p.m. Arizona time and will be streamed from Cyclones.com.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or on Twitter @bill_slane.
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