Feb. 13, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz.- The 13th-ranked Arizona State wrestling team fell to No. 3 Iowa State 31-9 Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena in the team's final dual-meet action of the season. The Sun Devils finish the regular season with a 10-8 overall record, while the Cyclones improved to 18-2 on the year.
Senior 125-pounder Michael Kawamura (Rosemead, Calif.) put Arizona State on the board 3-0 in the first match of the afternoon. The eighth-ranked Kawamura decisioned former teammate and 11th-ranked Matt Azevedo 4-1. Azevedo wrestled for the Sun Devils last year but transferred to Iowa State in the offseason.
Iowa State won the next three matches to take a 16-3 lead midway through the meet, including a pair of upsets at 141 and 149 pounds. The Cyclones' 13th-ranked Sonny Marchette earned a 6-4 sudden-death overtime decision over ASU's 11th-ranked sophomore David Douglas (Harvey, Ill.) at 141 pounds, while No. 11 Billy Maldonado reversed ASU's eighth-ranked junior Quinn Foster (Landover, Md.) midway through the first period and pinned him in 1:56.
The 165-pound match pitted Iowa State's No. 1 Joe Heskett against ASU's No. 2 Steve Blackford (Des Moines, Iowa). In a match that was scoreless after the first two periods, the Sun Devil junior struck first with a reversal 13 seconds into the third period to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Heskett then escaped and went on the offensive, scoring on a two-point takedown and a three-point near fall with one second left in the match to earn the 6-3 victory and put Iowa State ahead 19-3.
Junior R.D. Pursell (Phoenix, Ariz.) turned in the only other Sun Devil win of the afternoon, pinning 19th-ranked Perry Parks of Iowa State in 5:20.
Arizona State returns to action Feb. 26-27 at the Pac-10 Conference Championships in Davis, Calif. The Sun Devil squad, which has won two of the last three Pac-10 titles, is ranked No. 1 in the conference heading into the tournament and turned in a perfect 4-0 record in Pac-10 action this year.