ASU wrestling squared off against two fellow Arizona-based schools, Embry-Riddle and Arizona Christian, on Friday at Desert Financial Arena for its home opener, and the program’s 600th dual win.
“I was amazed when I heard it,” head coach Zeke Jones said. “You know, 600 wins is something that not many programs have done and it represents excellence in its history and tradition of the University, the athletic department and wrestling here at ASU.”
The No. 25 Sun Devils only lost two matches on the night, one against each team as the Sun Devils cruised to a 43-3 victory over Arizona Christian and a 48-5 victory over Embry-Riddle.
Junior Carter Dibert and junior Emilio Ysaguirre each wrestled in both matches and came away with the win in both. The 133-pound Dibert defeated Arizona Christian freshman Sean Archuleta by fall to earn six points and Embry-Riddle sophomore Allan Hendricks 17-2 to clinch a technical fall to earn five points.
The 141-pound Ysaguirre defeated Arizona Christian sophomore Channing Porter by fall to earn six points and Embry-Riddle redshirt freshman Adam Stanley 19-4 to earn a technical fall, getting ASU another five points.
"Through all the matches, if you just look at the way we wrestled and how we wrestled and the mindset we came in, scoring points and just dominating all around, it just shows that as a team, we're starting to compete and be an actual team and looking to win a trophy," Ysaguirre said. "And not just any trophy, but take out Penn State and Iowa and those types of teams to win it all."
Other notable matches for the Sun Devils included freshman Javani Majoor collecting his first collegiate win as he took down Arizona Christian graduate student Carlo Castagnaro 10-7 to pick up three points, sophomore Damian Moreno earning his first career dual win when he got a 7-4 sudden victory over Arizona Christian freshman Abe Pablo to get three points, and junior Austin Scott getting a win in his home debut, taking down Embry-Riddle freshman Jayden Luttrell by fall to earn six points.
"Just the work we put in, trusting our coaches, and just knowing that we're doing the right stuff," Scott said. "We should beat those guys, but not take them for granted and go out there and wrestle like it's the number one kid in the country."
ASU is now 3-2, with their other victory being a 38-3 opening-day win at Long Island. The Sun Devils have also appeared in the Journeymen Wrestling's Collegiate Classic, where redshirt senior Cohlton Schultz titled in the 285A bracket, and in the Warren Williamson Daktronics Invite, where senior Jesse Vasquez titled in the 149A bracket and junior Shay Addison titled in the 184B bracket.
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Vasquez has continued his strong play throughout the early portion of the season. On Sunday, Vasquez was one of two Sun Devils to win their match against No. 3 Oklahoma State when he defeated redshirt junior Carter Young, 9-7.
"Right now there's nobody wrestling like Jesse Vasquez on the team," Jones said. "He's wrestling with a lot of intensity, fire and passion. He loves the challenge. The harder it gets, the better he gets. When the whole crowd, 10,000 people are ganging up on him and booing, really making it hard, trying to get the refs on their side, Jesse just kind of smiles, laughs and goes even harder and loves when you challenge him."
Vasquez's drive and curiosity is what has helped him sustain the success that he's seen since last season. It's a big reason why FloWrestling ranks him No. 16 in the nation in the 149-pound division.
"When we say something and say, 'Hey, we're going to work on this double leg,' everybody will go work on the double leg, but Jesse Vasquez will obsess on learning the double leg," Jones said. "He will ask 50 questions, he will stay in later, he will come in earlier."
The other Sun Devil to get a win against the Cowboys was sophomore Nicco Ruiz. FloWrestling has Ruiz ranked No. 12 in the 165-pound division and Ruiz proved his worth when he upset No. 9 redshirt senior Cameron Amine by sudden victory, 4-1.
"Nicco made a statement," Jones said. "He's hard to finish on. You get on his leg, he's hard to score on and he made it hard on that kid. He took a kid's spirit away."
The Sun Devils travel to Las Vegas on Dec. 6 and 7 to participate in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational for their last event of the fall. After this event, ASU will be off from action until the spring semester begins. The team plans to utilize its time off to break down film from the fall and learn from it so they can finish the second half of the season strong.
"Everybody's getting better," Jones said. "We all learn when we make mistakes, fail or even succeed, but it's who gets better faster, and that's one thing we've always been good at at ASU."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at jmjanes1@asu.edu and follow @JackJanes_ on X.
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Jack is a masters student studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Walter Cronkite Sports Network and The Sporting Tribune.
