SAN FRANCISCO – Five Arizona State wrestlers earned top two rankings in the Pac-12 wrestling coaches rankings the conference announced Tuesday.
Seniors Matt Kraus, Blake Stauffer and Josh DaSilveira at 149, 184 and 197 pounds respectively, along with junior Dalton Brady at 133 pounds earned first place rankings, while sophomore Robbie Mathers at 141 pounds ranked second.
Brady received this first place ranking in his weight class after helping the Sun Devils get on the board against Oregon State with his 3-1 decision victory on Jan. 29. At the Edinboro Open on Feb. 6, Brady picked up two bonus-point victories with a 24-9 tech fall over Navy’s Josh Lemmon, and a pin over Lock Haven’s Lewis Williams in 4:59. He pursued onto the finals, defeating Ohio State’s Jose Rodriguez in sudden victory for the 10-8 win.
Kraus, who received a Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honor on Jan. 12 had his own pair of bonus-point wins in the Edinboro Open with a 21-4 tech fall over CSU’s Nick Montgomery and a 14-1 major decision win over Princeton AWS’ Chance Piperato. He too pursued to the finals and posted a 3-2 victory over CMU’s Colin Heffernan. Against Oregon State, Kraus wrestled at 157 pounds, defeating Abraham Rodriguez 11-8.
Stauffer, ranked third in the nation at 184 pounds, now has 99 career victories and is poised to become just the 24th Sun Devil in program history to amass 100 or more wins. He placed fifth at the Edinboro Open, and against Oregon State he had a 6-4 decision victory.
At 197 pounds, DaSilveira received another first place ranking after his performance at the Edinboro Open. He opened the tournament with a 21-5 tech fall over Edinboro’s Shawn Reynolds before edging out Michigan’s Jackson Striggow, 5-4 in the finals.
Mather’s 4-1 decision win against Oregon State propelled him to another second place ranking.
The institution hosting the Pac-12 Wrestling Championship completes Pac-12 coaches rankings.