Arizona State was in grind-it-out form, defeating the Utah Valley Wolverines 24-16 in Orem, Utah.
The Sun Devils started the match very strong, rolling their way to a 12-0 advantage over the Wolverines. The big guys shouldered the effort in the first three matches, with 184-pound redshirt senior Blake Stauffer, 197-pound redshirt senior Josh DaSilveira and heavyweight (285 lbs) true freshman Tanner Hall earning the first three wins of the night.
Once it got down to 125-pound redshirt freshman Mikel Perales, things got a little dicey. Perales faced No. 12 ranked senior Chasen Tolbert and was pinned in the first round to cut ASU’s lead in half, 12-6.
The matchup of the night in the 141-pound weight class between sophomore Robbie Mathers and former Sun Devil junior Trevor Willson did not disappoint. Willson took a hit to the face and had a bloody nose throughout the match, stopping several times to stop the bleeding by shoving gauze up his nose. The match was all locked up at five entering the final round. At the end, Mathers proved to have more endurance, as he simply out-muscled Willson, getting a couple of take-downs and earning a 10-8 win, giving ASU a 15-10 lead.
For the next two matches, 149-pound red shirt sophomore Christian Pagdilao defeated sophomore Matthew Ontiveros 9-6, and 157-pound red shirt sophomore Oliver Pierce lost to redshirt freshman Raider Lofthouse 6-2. Pagdilao gave the audience a thrilling match as well, and at the same time giving senior Matt Kraus a much-needed day off.
ASU got a key performance from 165-pound Jacen Petersen. Petersen faced stiff competition, as he got pinned by a top-ranked wrestler in the nation last week against Iowa State. Petersen however bounced back tonight and got a pin of his own against redshirt sophomore Brayden Humpherys, essentially icing the win for ASU.
The Sun Devils will look to keep their streak going this Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena, as they face West Virginia (5-4, 0-2 Big 12) at 11 a.m. and Pac-12 foe Stanford (7-2, 2-0 Pac-12) at 3 p.m.
Reach the reporter at benjamin.a.flores@asu.edu or follow @benflores21 on Twitter.
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