TEMPE, Ariz.—After opening the regular season with their third straight season-opening win under head coach Zeke Jones and an impressive showing at the Daktronics Open, ASU splits their squad on Nov. 13 between the Journeyman Classic and the Bearcat Open, both in the state of New York.
The Sun Devils' starters head to Troy for the Journeyman Classic.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils return to Tempe for their regular season home opener vs. No. 2 Ohio State.
IN THE RANKINGS
As a team, TrackWrestling ranks the Sun Devils No. 18 overall (Nov. 7) while WIN Magazine ranks ASU No. 29 to start the season. In the first USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll of the season, the Sun Devils move up to No. 20 in the country. The following are individual rankings for Sun Devils from several media outlets based on each athlete's perceived weight class:
The Open Mat - Zahid Valencia (No. 12, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, Heavyweight), Ali Naser (No 18, 133), Anthony Valencia (No. 14, 165)
Intermat - Christian Pagdilao (No. 10, 149), Anthony Valencia (No. 9, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 9, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, Heavyweight)
WIN Magazine (Preseason) - Robbie Mathers (No. 18, 141), Anthony Valencia (No. 13, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 13, 184), Tanner Hall (No. 7, Heavyweight)
TrackWrestling - Ali Naser (No. 18, 133), Nikko Villarreal (No. 23, 141), Anthony Valencia (No. 8, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 8, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 5, Heavyweight), Josh Maruca (No. 19, 149), Josh Shields (No. 22, 157)
IMPRESSIVE TRANSFERS ADDED TO ASU ROSTER
Head coach Zeke Jones and his staff have recently added three impressive tranfers to the roster in Ali Naser, Jason Tsirtsis, and Ryan Millhof.
Naser (133), a junior from Woodland Hills, Calif., is the only collegiate wrestler to defeat not one but two Olympians (Coleman Scott, Sam Hazewinkel), as well as US World Team member Obe Blanc.
Tsirtsis (149) transferred from Northwestern where he was the 2014 NCAA Champion as well as a two-time Big Ten champion and 2015 All-American.
Millhof most recently signed with the Sun Devils, moving to Tempe from the University of Oklahoma where he earned All-American honors in 2015-16 and was one of just four true freshmen to compete in OU's starting lineup in 2014-15.
SUN DEVILS ON THE PAC-12 NETWORK
The Sun Devils will appear on the Pac-12 Network four times this season, including three at home, with home matches on the conference network vs. Cal Poly (Jan. 8), North Carolina (Jan. 20), and CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 9) as well as at Oregon State (Feb. 5).
#SUNDEVIL4LIFE MARTORI RECEIVES ALUMNI AWARD
Sun Devil wrestling alum ('65) and long-time supporter of the program Art
Martori received the 2016 Alumni Service Award at homecoming 2016 from the ASU Alumni Association.
He previously served as President of USA Wrestling (1992-94) during which the team won its first World team title in freestyle wrestling and as the U.S. Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team Leader.
Martori is a member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and was awarded the Gold Star by FILA, the international governing body of wrestling. In order to give back to up-and-coming young wrestlers, Martori started Sunkist Kids in 1976 to give opportunities, resources, and funding for U.S. Olympic hopefuls.
JONES SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION
Head coach Zeke Jones recently signed a five-year contract extension that would keep him at the helm of the Sun Devils until 2021. He was Ray Anderson's first coaching hire in a long line of highly touted coaching hires.
A former Sun Devil, Jones was a three-time All-American and national runner-up as a collegiate wrestler, as well as a member of the 1988 ASU national championship team. An Olympic silver medalist himself, Jones served as head coach of the United States Freestyle Wrestling Team, coaching U.S. Olympians in the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2016 Olympic games.
He has won four World Cup Gold medals and was selected The World's Most Technical Wrestler, one of only three Americans ever to receive the award, by United World Wrestling, the international governing body for the sport of wrestling.
Already building an impressive resume at the ASU helm, Jones' first full recruiting class, including heavyweight Tanner Hall and brothers Zahid and Anthony Valencia, was tabbed the No. 1 recruiting class by D1CollegeWrestling.Net, FloWrestling, Intermat, and WIN Magazine.
He continues to attract the nation's top student-athletes, adding for 2016-17 the likes of Ali Naser, who has defeated two Olympians, Jason Tsirtsis, the 2014 NCAA National Champion at Northwestern, and Ryan Millhof, an All-American and Big 12 champion from Oklahoma.
In just two and a half years, he has also signed five No. 1 recruits in their perspective weights and six that were ranked in the top 10 pound for pound. In addition, the Sun Devils have added eight cadet and junior world team members since Jones arrived.