ASU wrestling showed its resilience in a furious come from behind victory, toppling No. 25 CSU Bakersfield 21-18.
After a solid win the previous night, the Sun Devils did not start off the match the way they wanted to. They dropped their first two matches to fall behind 8-0.
All-American Blake Stauffer ended the skid after he earned his 101st career win in 16-0 technical fall fashion.
The two Pac-12 rivals then started to trade punches. The usually reliable senior Josh DaSilveira lost to rival Ruben Franklin 12-5, but stand-out freshman Tanner Hall got the 5-0 shutout victory to keep the Sun Devils within striking distance, trailing overall 12-8.
After Hall's win however, things started to look grim as 125-pound senior Ares Carpio got pinned by Sergio Mendez. ASU was put in an 18-8 hole with four matches remaining. In order for them to get the dual-meet win, they would have to win out.
Challenge accepted.
Stand-out junior Dalton Brady went out and did what Dalton Brady does best. He knew that his team needed him to step up and get points, so he went out and got a major victory over Carlos Herrera, 15-7 to extend his winning streak to seven matches.
ASU trailed 18-12.
Next up was 141-pound sophomore Robbie Mathers. When it looks like ASU needs a spark to get going, Mathers has been the one to be the spark-plug. It wasn’t exactly pretty — none of his matches are — but he got the win.
ASU trailed 18-15
In what looks to be a trend, senior Matt Kraus got the nod to wrestle in the 149-pound weight class over defending Pac-12 champion redshirt sophomore Christian Pagdilao. It’s really no fault of Padgdilao; Kraus has just been on fire in his senior season, and Pagdilao will be the undisputed 149-pound wrestler next season.
Kraus fought in what turned out to be a grind-it-out affair against Coleman Hammond. Kraus eventually did get the win, 3-1.
Bakersfield was all tied up at 18.
The last time ASU had a chance to win the match on in go-ahead style was win they faced then-No. 20 Iowa State. Kraus was the hero, winning to secure the upset. This time, the hero was 157-pound redshirt sophomore Oliver Pierce.
He has been flying under the radar this season with big seasons from Stauffer, Kraus and the recent emergence of Brady, but this time, the spotlight was all his.
Pierce took it to Andrew Fierro and ended up getting the walk-off win, sending ASU to victory over the Roadrunners, 21-18.
Next up for ASU is the Pac-12 championships on Feb. 27 at Wells Fargo Arena. With the way the Sun Devils are wrestling, their confidence is at an all-time high, and they are ready to bring the title to Tempe.
Reach the reporter at benjamin.a.flores@asu.edu or follow @benflores21 on Twitter.
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