Feb. 13, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - With the season winding down this weekend for the No. 18 Arizona State wrestling team, the Sun Devils looked to finish the year on top and got off on the right foot Friday evening as seven of the team's wrestlers scored wins to help the hosts to a 32-12 defeat of Fresno State Friday inside Wells Fargo Arena. The win pushed the Sun Devils record 11-7 on the season (6-1 Pac-10) while dropping the Bulldogs to 6-11.
No. 11 Christian Staylor (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) got the dual off to a flying start as he took his opponent, Christian Bowerman, to the mat and eventually scored the fall at the 2:50 mark of the opening bout. No. 10 Mike Simpson (Jr., Anaheim, Calif.) followed at 133 with a 9-4 decision to push the Sun Devil advantage to 9-0. Jeremy Mendoza (So., Temecula, Calif.) increased the lead to 15-0 with his first fall of the season as he put Shanon Slack on his back at 141 pounds.
The wins kept coming for the Sun Devils as No. 11 Patrick Williams (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) won the only battle of two nationally ranked foes as he handed down a 5-2 decision to No. 19 Casey Olson. With the ASU advantage at 18-0 following four wins in a row, Brian Stith (Fr., Hampton, Va.) added to the lead with his close 3-2 decision victory at 157, putting the home team on top, 21-0.
FSU broke into the scoring column at 165 pounds as Sean Sheets captured a 3-0 decision over Jamie Robbins (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.). The Bulldogs then took the momentum a little over two minutes later as Anthony Rubalcava pinned Ron Renzi (Sr., Burke, Va.) at 2:09. Both men locked up each other and attempted to throw his opponent with Rubalcava taking Renzi to his back before scoring the fall.
With the lead trimmed to 21-9, No. 9 Nick Frost (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) brought the crowd to its feet as he took down his opponent, Jatinder Singh, and eventually rolled him to his back to score the fall at 2:32. With the lead pushed back to a 18 point cushion, No. 2 Ryan Bader (So., Verdi, Nev.) went to the mats and registered a 20-5 technical fall at 6:29 in the match. The dual closed with No. 8 Clint Wallbeck taking a 5-0 decision from Clifford Starks (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) to put the final at 32-12.
The Sun Devils now lead the series, 18-5, and snapped the Bulldogs' two-dual winning streak. The 20-point margin is the largest since the Sun Devils won, 28-8, in Tempe during the 1997-98 campaign while the 32 points scored are the most since a 34-12 ASU victory in Tempe during the 1991-92 season.
Arizona State closes out its regular season slate Sunday at 2 p.m. when it plays host to No. 19 Northern Iowa. The dual will mark the final individual home dual for a pair of Sun Devil seniors, Frost and Renzi. The Sun Devils and their seniors will compete in the Pac-10 Championships, Feb. 29-March 1, in Tempe in two weeks.