Feb. 16, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 10 Arizona State wrestling team rebounded from a loss earlier in the day at Fresno State to down Pac-10 foe Cal State Fullerton, 30-9, Sunday evening in Fullerton, Calif. The final dual of the year saw the Sun Devils (12-7, 5-1 Pac-10) win eight of the 10 contested matches and remain undefeated all-time against the Titans at 12-0-0.
The dual opened with a strong showing from freshman Jeremy Mendoza (Temecula, Calif.) at 125, who got things going for the maroon and gold with a 17-2 technical fall to surge the visitors to a 5-0 lead. Adam Chavira (Sr., Parker, Ariz.), who normally is the starter at 125, moved up to 133 where he suffered a 13-7 defeat.
Holding on to a 5-3 lead following two bouts, the Sun Devils ran off five wins a row, all begun by No. 6 Dana Holland (Sr., Glendale Heights, Ill.) claiming a 5-0 victory over Juan Mora. No. 1 and undefeated Eric Larkin (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) moved into the No. 10 spot on the all-time wins list at ASU with his 16-3 major decision at 149. The senior ran his record to 25-0 on the year with a 16-0 dual record, tied for No. 24 all-time.
No. 15 Rocky Smart (Sr., Pleasant Grove, Utah) upped the lead to 15-3 with his 4-2 decision victory at 157 and No. 6 Nick Frost (Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) got back to his winning ways with an 11-5 decision at 165. No. 8 Curtis Owen (Sr., Coeur D'Alene, Idaho) moved the team score to 21-3 with his 11-9 overtime decision over Chris Carlino at 174. Owen scored a takedown with time winding down in regulation with his opponent escaping at the buzzer to send the match to overtime. In the extra session, Owen scored two points on a takedown to win.
Rowdy Lundegreen pinned ASU's Ron Renzi (Jr., Burke, Va.) at 4:09 in the 184 bout to score the remaining points for the Titans before the Sun Devils won the final two matches. At 197, Ryan Bader (Fr., Verdi, Nev.) scored an 8-2 decision while No. 3 Kellan Fluckiger (Sr., Preston, Idaho) won the heavyweight bout by forfeit.
ASU's 12 wins this year is the most since the 1997-98 squad recorded 14 wins (14-6-0). That same year, the Sun Devils won the Pac-10 Championship and placed 17th at the NCAA Championships.
Next up for the Sun Devils is a trip to Boise State and the 2003 Pac-10 Championships, March 2-3. The Top 4 place-winners in each weight class, as well as two at-large selections, will qualify for the 2003 NCAA Championships, March 20-22 in Kansas City, Mo.