With the anticipation of several high caliber student-athletes expected to join the starting lineup this season, Arizona State wrestling announces their 2016-17 schedule.
"We're pumped about the upcoming schedule," said head coach Zeke Jones. "Overall, it gives us the competition we need to be ready at the end of the season and will test us all year long. We have the opportunity to wrestle a couple of top 10 teams at home along with traveling to the two toughest tournaments in the country. It will be a fun schedule to wrestle."
After an exciting and eventful intrasquad weekend, with finals set for 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, Oct. 29, the Sun Devils open the regular season at Northern Colorado on Nov. 4. Two days later, ASU heads to Brookings, SD for the Daktronics Open hosted by South Dakota State.
The Sun Devils will split their time in the Empire State on Nov. 13 between the Journeyman Classic in Troy, NY and the Bearcat open in nearby Binghamton, NY.
Arizona State's opener comes on Saturday, Nov. 19 vs. Ohio State, who was ranked No. 4 overall in the Wrestling Insiders Newsletter (WIN) Preseason Tournament Power Index. Individually, five Buckeyes are ranked in the top eight of their respective weight classes.
The end of 2016 brings the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite at the beginning of December (Dec. 2-3) and Midlands hosted by Northwestern near the New Year (Dec. 29-30).
In 2017, the Sun Devils are slated to host four matches, all on the Pac-12 network, including conference matches vs. Cal Poly (Jan. 8) and Senior Day vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 9) and non-conference matches vs. North Carolina (Jan. 20) and Illinois (Jan. 29).
Notably, Illinois was also ranked in the top 10 by WIN Magazine (No. 10), with five of their starters ranked in the top-20 in their respective weight classes.
On the road, ASU makes their first trip of the new year to Iowa State (Jan. 6) before going to the Virginia Duals (Jan. 13-14). Pac-12 road matches follow at Stanford (Jan. 22), Oregon State (Feb. 5), and Boise State (Feb. 12). The Oregon State match will also be broadcast on the Pac-12 network.
Pac-12 championships cap the regular season on Feb. 26, hosted this year by Stanford, while NCAA Championships take place three weeks later in St. Louis, Mo.
Several young faces and newcomers are expected to make a splash for the Sun Devils including Zahid Valencia, Anthony Valencia, Jason Tsirtsis, and Ali Naser as well as prominent returners like Tanner Hall and Robbie Mathers.
"We're pumped about the upcoming schedule," said head coach Zeke Jones. "Overall, it gives us the competition we need to be ready at the end of the season and will test us all year long. We have the opportunity to wrestle a couple of top 10 teams at home along with traveling to the two toughest tournaments in the country. It will be a fun schedule to wrestle."
After an exciting and eventful intrasquad weekend, with finals set for 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, Oct. 29, the Sun Devils open the regular season at Northern Colorado on Nov. 4. Two days later, ASU heads to Brookings, SD for the Daktronics Open hosted by South Dakota State.
The Sun Devils will split their time in the Empire State on Nov. 13 between the Journeyman Classic in Troy, NY and the Bearcat open in nearby Binghamton, NY.
Arizona State's opener comes on Saturday, Nov. 19 vs. Ohio State, who was ranked No. 4 overall in the Wrestling Insiders Newsletter (WIN) Preseason Tournament Power Index. Individually, five Buckeyes are ranked in the top eight of their respective weight classes.
The end of 2016 brings the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite at the beginning of December (Dec. 2-3) and Midlands hosted by Northwestern near the New Year (Dec. 29-30).
In 2017, the Sun Devils are slated to host four matches, all on the Pac-12 network, including conference matches vs. Cal Poly (Jan. 8) and Senior Day vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 9) and non-conference matches vs. North Carolina (Jan. 20) and Illinois (Jan. 29).
Notably, Illinois was also ranked in the top 10 by WIN Magazine (No. 10), with five of their starters ranked in the top-20 in their respective weight classes.
On the road, ASU makes their first trip of the new year to Iowa State (Jan. 6) before going to the Virginia Duals (Jan. 13-14). Pac-12 road matches follow at Stanford (Jan. 22), Oregon State (Feb. 5), and Boise State (Feb. 12). The Oregon State match will also be broadcast on the Pac-12 network.
Pac-12 championships cap the regular season on Feb. 26, hosted this year by Stanford, while NCAA Championships take place three weeks later in St. Louis, Mo.
Several young faces and newcomers are expected to make a splash for the Sun Devils including Zahid Valencia, Anthony Valencia, Jason Tsirtsis, and Ali Naser as well as prominent returners like Tanner Hall and Robbie Mathers.