TEMPE, Ariz.—The Sun Devils welcome top-five Ohio State to Tempe in one of the most anticipated matchups early this season. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to get their seats and to grab a pitchfork drawstring bag (first 150 fans through the door). The Saturday, Nov. 19 match starts at 1 p.m. MT at Wells Fargo Arena.
WATCH LIVE
For those who can't travel to Wells Fargo Arena, the match will be streamed live at www.pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
BUY TICKETS
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the ASU ticket office at (480) 965-5333 while matside seating can be purchased through the sales hotline at (480) 965-5812.
CURLEY CULP TO BE HONORED
Curley Culp, one of the best two-sport athletes Arizona State has ever seen, was an offensive and defensive lineman in football as well as 1967 NCAA heavyweight champion.
The five-time pro-bowler and 1975 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Culp was enshrined in the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame as well as the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Chiefs during their Super Bowl championship in Super Bowl IV.
Culp will have his singlet honored and raised to the Wells Fargo Arena rafters at halftime Saturday as part of the day's festivities.
PROBABLE MATCHUPS
125: Josh Kramer vs. Jose Rodriguez
133: #17 Ali Naser vs. Brendan Fitzgerald
141: Tyler Sage vs. #12 Ke-Shawn Hayes
149: #20 Josh Maruca vs. #7 Micah Jordan
157: Josh Shields vs. #9 Jake Ryan
165: #9 Anthony Valencia vs. Cody Burcher
174: #7 Zahid Valencia vs. #1 Bo Jordan
184: Conner Small vs. #2 Myles Martin
197: Austyn Harris vs #12 Kollin Moore
HWT: #4 Tanner Hall vs #1 Kyle Snyder
KEY MATCHUPS
HWT | Tanner Hall vs. Kyle Snyder | Kyle Snyder (20) became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in US wrestling history in Rio in August 2016. Since Sept. 2015, Snyder has won a World championship, Big Ten championship, NCAA title, and Olympic gold medal.
But Tanner Hall will not back down from the challenge as he currently has a 2-1 record over the Olympic champion prior to their collegiate careers. Hall is ranked No. 4 among the nation's heavyweights by TrackWrestling, Intermat, NWCA and The Open Mat and competed at last season's NCAA Nationals at Madison Square Garden as part of the Sun Devils' No. 1 recruiting class.
174 | Zahid Valencia vs. Bo Jordan | The Open Mat ranks this matchup the most anticipated match of the month of November out of likely over 7000 Division I collegiate matchups throughout the month.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils have Thanksgiving week off from competition before heading to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite (Dec. 2-3). They return home Jan. 8 in their Pac-12 opener vs. Cal Poly.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Eight of Ohio State's starting lineup for this week are ranked by FloWrestling, Intermat, Amateur Wrestling News, and TheOpenMat.com and six of those are top-10 wrestlers. Ohio State ranks No. 4 in this week's USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and Micah Jordan leads the team with eight wins thus far this season, beating two ranked opponents to start the 2016-17 season. Last weekend, Ohio State went unbeaten at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic and at Eastern Michigan two weeks ago, the Buckeyes had four individual champions.
Ohio State has been ranked in the NWCA/Coaches Poll for 72 consecutive weeks (dates back to 2011-12), with 58 of those in the top 10. In 2016, Kyle Snyder and Myles Martin won the program's 20th and 21st NCAA individual titles and two seasons ago, Ohio State won the NCAA championship as a team.
IN THE RANKINGS
As a team, TrackWrestling and FloWrestling rank the Sun Devils No. 17 while WIN Magazine ranks ASU No. 15. The NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll ranks ASU No. 19 this week. The following are individual rankings for Sun Devils from several media outlets based on each athlete's perceived weight class:
The Open Mat - Ali Naser (No. 17, 133), Anthony Valencia (No. 14, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 7, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, HWT)
Intermat - Christian Pagdilao (No. 10, 149), Anthony Valencia (No. 9, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 8, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, HWT)
WIN Magazine - Robbie Mathers (No. 15, 141), Christian Pagdilao (No. 12, 149), Anthony Valencia (No. 14, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 7, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, HWT)
TrackWrestling - Ali Naser (No. 24, 133), Josh Maruca (No. 20, 149), Anthony Valencia (No. 9, 165), Zahid Valencia (No. 7, 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4, HWT)