This week, water polo took on four ranked opponents at the Stanford Invitational, track and field set nine PR's and four all-time entries, men's tennis lost to both its opponents, gymnastics set a season-high and ASU men's golf finished in third at the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii.
Men's golf
No. 1 ASU men's golf came away with a third-place victory at the Amer Ari Invitational at the Hapuna golf club in Kamuela, Hawaii on Feb. 3-5.
ASU took home the win in last year's tournament. Graduate student Mason Andersen led the team and finished tied for third individually at 16-under.
After taking the lead on day one with a combined 20-under, and then narrowly losing the lead by one stroke to No. 9 ranked Texas Tech on day two, ASU looked primed to finish strong on day three. However, Oklahoma State senior Eugenio Chacarra and No. 5 OSU team had something else in mind.
Chacarra ended day three with an incredible score of 62, giving him 10-under par and setting the course record. Chacarra jolted himself up the leaderboard from tied for eighth to a two-stroke victory. Through the two rounds already played, OSU was 26-under and tied for fifth. On day three, the team went 24-under to give it the win in fantastic fashion, finishing 50-under overall. Texas Tech came in second, just one stroke behind OSU while ASU ended with 42-under.
Andersen continued his run of great play at the Hapuna golf club after finishing just three strokes shy of Chacarra. He earned his second top-3 finish in his past three performances at the Amer Ari. Andersen’s recent play shows that the team can rely on him when necessary.
After claiming the individual victory at Amer Ari in 2021, junior David Puig had a tournament to forget, finishing tied for 80th and not scoring a round under-par. Puig was coming fresh off a win at the Southwestern Intercollegiate.
Freshman Preston Summerhays was fighting for the individual victory through day three, ending day two in second place. Summerhays went one-under in his final round to finish tied for eighth and secure his third consecutive top-10 finish as a Sun Devil.
Senior Cameron Sisk finished tied for tenth, as he hit four-under on his third day. The Sun Devils also had a sixth golfer compete as an individual, senior James Leow. Leow finished tied for 20th after hitting for par to end his tournament.
The men’s golf team will be heading to the Cabo Del Sol ocean course in Los Cabos, Mexico to participate in the Cabo Collegiate from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1.
Track and field
No.17 ASU track and field visited New Mexico again to participate in the UNM Collegiate Classic from Feb. 4-5. This time out, only the sprinters, jumpers, vaulters and pentathlon athlete, graduate student Katie Eidem, took part in the meet.
In Eidem's five sub-events of the pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and the 800-meter dash, she set a personal record in the 60H, shot put and 800m. Eidem took home the silver with her PR of 4,019 total points, coming in at third all-time in program history for the event.
Sophomore sprinter Justin Robinson kept his victory streak intact, winning his second consecutive 400- meter dash and his third total win in as many matches for ASU. Robinson’s time of 46.06 seconds was good enough for fourth all-time in ASU history.
Sophomore jumper Jeremy Cody earned first place for his 2.02-meter high jump. That mark is his season-low for the event. Cody has not placed lower than fifth in the high jump this year.
Freshman sprinter Adriana Tatum continued to impress as she earned second in the 200-meter dash with her time of 23.57 seconds, fourth all-time at ASU. Junior sprinter Arius Williams placed fourth in the 600-meter dash with her time of 1:33.56, which put her fifth in program history.
Sophomore sprinter Jamar Marshall Jr. placed second in the 60-meter hurdles event with a time of 7.84 seconds. Graduate student Michael Chadwick earned a second-place finish in the pole vault.
The majority of the track and field team will be competing at UNM for the fourth and final time this year for the Don Kirby Elite Invitational, while a portion of the team will head to the University of Washington again for the Husky Classic.
Wrestling
With alumni weekend in the books, No. 5 ASU wrestling took on No. 25 Oregon State in a matchup of two top Pac-12 teams.
The Sun Devils were able to come away with an impressive 20-17 victory over Oregon State thanks to key victories from Anthony Valencia, Michael McGee, Kordell Norfleet as well as an overtime victory from Jacori Teemer.
Parco took on a former Sun Devil in Cory Crooks. While this was supposed to be one of the more anticipated matchups of the night, Parco took care of business quietly. After a scoreless first two periods, Parco was able to come away with a 4-1 victory.
The most entertaining match was Teemer's overtime win against Hunter Willits. While they were circling for most of the match, they were both able to get points off an escape and tied 1-1 after regulation. In sudden-death overtime, Teemer was able to win after 30 seconds of riding time.
No. 4 Sun Devils were celebrating more than their 25-15 victory against No. 17 Stanford on Friday afternoon as their fourth consecutive win.
McGee achieved his 100th career victory in 17-1 tech fall, Teemer continues his spotless record of 14-0, and two All-Americans matched against each other in the 149 class with our very own No.9 Kyle Parco being victorious.
While McGee gave ASU a strong start, an unsportsmanlike penalty against Stanford added to ASU’s 11-3 lead.
Sun Devil Norfleet won the 8-5 decision over Nick Stemmet in the last six seconds setting a palpable ambiance for Cohlton Schultz to feed off.
Schultz didn't play defense until the third period, which didn't last long as he quickly adjusted and reacted with two takedowns to cease the Sun Devils victory over the Cardinal.
On Sunday afternoon, the Sun Devils extended their winning streak to five when they defeated Little Rock, 29-12.
It was an all-or-nothing match. Brandon Courtney, McGee, Parco, Teemer, Josh Nummer, Norfleet, and Schultz did not give the opposition any points on the scorecard.
The Sun Devils (8-3) hope to continue their blaze when they host Missouri (9-3) on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
Swim and dive
The ASU men's swim and dive team ended the season on a high note on Saturday, snatching their first win of the season against UA 195-103 while the women's team came out of Tucson unsuccessful, losing 139-155.
It was a collective team effort for the men's team as the Sun Devils won 12 out of the 14 events on the day. The win was highlighted with individual victories from senior Grant House in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 200 IM. House wasn’t the only Sun Devil to win multiple events. Freshman Léon Marchand had an excellent performance winning the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard backstroke.
While the men's team won convincingly, the women's meet was a nail biter throughout the day. Senior Emma Nordin was the most impressive Sun Devil as she not only took first place in the 500-yard freestyle but also the 100-yard freestyle. The Sun Devils were able to secure victories across the board with wins from senior Erica Laining in the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Lindsay Looney in the 200-yard butterfly and sophomore Jade Foelske in the 200 IM.
Swimming was not the problem for the women but it was the diving portion where UA took all 32 points which ultimately helped propel them to the victory.
"I am very pleased with the way our teams raced against Arizona," head coach Bob Bowman said. "The men took charge from the first event and maintained great energy and intensity all the way through. Our women battled valiantly and the meet was decided in the final relay."
The regular season may be over, but the women's team will look to make a splash when they head to Seattle for the championships from Feb. 23-26 and the men will look to do the same from Mar. 2-5.
Water Polo
ASU water polo traveled to California on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Stanford Invitational. With one game left to play against San Diego State, the Sun Devils have won one game 15-10 against No. 10 UC Davis and lost two games, 16-5 to No. 2 Stanford and 11-6 to No. 4 Cal.
Saturday started the weekend against UC Davis. The contest was tied 7-7 at the half, but it was all ASU in the next two frames, outscoring the Aggies 8-3 in the third and fourth quarters.
Star freshman Vanda Baksa had another stellar outing with eight points off of four goals and four assists, which was her sixth multi-goal game this season. Senior attacker Borbala Kekesi was all over the pool as well with one goal, one assist, and three steals against the Aggies.
Game two on Saturday against Stanford had a different tone. The Sun Devils couldn't get into an offensive rhythm, and the Cardinal went on two 6-0 runs in the second and third periods to put the game out of reach despite two saved penalty shots by junior goalie Itzahiana Baca.
Sunday began with the matchup against Cal. The Golden Bears opened the contest with four straight goals, three of which came from Canadian National team member Emma Wright, in the first quarter. Wright would tally five total goals on the day.
The Sun Devils only managed to score one goal in the first half courtesy of senior captain Amira Van Buren. Despite two more goals from Baksa and goals from Blaire McDowell and Alba Olivé Martí, it couldn't match the pace of Cal.
ASU still has one more game against SDSU on Sunday before hosting the ASU invitation next weekend.
Gymnastics
Despite scoring a season-high as a team, No. 21 ASU lost to No. 13 ranked Oregon State, 196.550-197.375.
The Gym Devils came into this matchup riding high after defeating Washington last week and it clearly showed. Starting on bars, the Gym Devils were on fire, scoring a 9.800 or better on all five scores, led by sophomore Sarah Clark who finished with a 9.875.
It only got better on vault as the Gym Devils finished with an overall score of 49.250 which is their new season-high. Standout freshman Alex Theodorou showed she belonged with a 9.850 on vault to close out the event for the Gym Devils. Star junior Hannah Scharf was also able to match her personal career-high on vault, finishing with a 9.900.
On the floor, the Gym Devils scored a respectable 49.025. Both Clark and senior Jasmine Gutierrez made their season debut on floor where they finished with a 9.775 and 9.725.
It was an uphill battle for the Gym Devils on beam after a fall in the first routine. While Clark and Gutierrez shined again both scoring a 9.850, it was not enough to propel the Gym Devils to a victory.
The Gym Devils look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 5 PM MST, where they face off against their rivals, UA.
Men's Tennis
The ASU men's tennis team finished off the ITA Kickoff Weekend last weekend on a bad note, losing to Northwestern 4-3 in a matchup at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
It was a close one for ASU following their match against No. 5 Ohio State the previous day where the team wasn’t able to gain a point.
This time, everything started off well with two doubles wins from the Sun Devils set up by junior George Stoupe and sophomore Moritz Hoffman who defeated Wildcats' Steven Forman and Felix Nordby 7-5.
Freshman Murphy Cassone and transfer Jacob Bullard then narrowly beat Wildcats Brian Berdusco and Simen Bratholm 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) to secure the doubles point in thrilling fashion for the Sun Devils.
When the team got to singles it immediately looked like the Sun Devils had it in the bag thanks to a quick Nicola Cigna finish that crushed Northwestern's Presley Thieneman in straight sets (6-2, 6-2).
However, ASU seemed to be swept off their feet when the Wildcats took the next three singles matches to seal their win on the weekend. Cassone was defeated in straight sets by Forman (7-5, 6-1), while Co-Captain Max McKennon ranked 118th in singles, lost to No.104 Bratholm in straight sets (6-4, 6-3).
Bullard was able to hold his opponent to three sets, and sophomore Spencer Brachman was barely beaten in a tiebreaker in the first set of his match, but they both couldn’t come out with a victory. Bullard was defeated by No. 92 Trice Pickens 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a hard-fought battle.
Brachman was trounced in straight sets by Norby 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 which sealed Northwestern's victory, but the last match of the day went to Stoupe who put on a show overpowering Saiprakash Goli in straight sets both with tiebreakers 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) to end the weekend on a good note.
After an objectively poor performance at the kickoff weekend, the Sun Devils have the chance to change their luck against the University of San Diego on Sunday at the Whitman Tennis Center in Tempe.
Reach the reporters at jspange1@asu.edu, vdeange1@asu.edu, rmastey@asu.edu, whsmith8@asu.edu, rgarora@asu.edu and nnath2@asu.edu and follow @Jspangenthal94, @vdeangelis2024, @MasteyRemy, @WalkerrTR, @RubyGiaArora and @NathNikash on Twitter.
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Justin Spangenthal is a reporter for The State Press, currently covering Men's Golf and Track and Field. Justin transferred to ASU last January and is planning to graduate Fall '23. He is passionate about journalism and hopes to one day launch his own media outlet.
Vincent Deangelis is a full-time reporter for the sports department at The State Press. He has previously worked for Arizona PBS and AZPreps365.com.
Walker Smith is a managing editor in the digital department of the State Press. He has previously worked as a reporter and editor on the sports desk and works for Blaze Radio and interned at Big Slate Media in broadcast productions.
