TEMPE, Ariz.—The Sun Devils travel cross country this week to Hampton, Va. for the Virginia Duals (Jan. 13-14).
VIRGINIA DUALS
The Virginia Duals will take place Friday, Jan. 13 and Saturday, Jan. 14 at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. (1000 Coliseum Dr. Hampton, VA 23666).
Tickets can be purchased at the door or on Ticketmaster.com for the following prices:
2-day pass: $44 (adults), $34 (students), $29 (military)
Friday single session pass: $24 (adults), $19 (students), $16.50 (military)
Saturday 2-session pass: $29 (adults), $22 (students), $19 (military)
Saturday second session pass: $20 (adults), $16 (students), $14 (military)
The Sun Devils are part of the three-team Poquoson River Pool alongside Campbell and Bucknell. Also in the mix are the following teams:
Hampton River Pool: Kent State, Lock Haven, Virginia Tech
James River Pool: Old Dominion, Chattanooga, Oklahoma
York River Pool: The Citadel, North Dakota State, Virginia
ASU is first set to face Bucknell on Friday at 11 am ET/9 am MT before facing Campbell at 1 pm ET/11 am MT in pool play. The best performer from each three-team pool move to the gold bracket, second best to silver bracket, and third best to bronze bracket.
For all the information on the tournament, visit www.virginiaduals.org.
Probable Lineup
125: Josh Kramer (10-10)/Michael Nguyen (1-3)
133: Ted Rico (1-3)
141: Nikko Villarreal (4-3)
149: #20 Josh Maruca (13-6)/Christian Pagdilao (0-2)
157: #7 Josh Shields (22-5)
165: #7 Anthony Valencia (20-4)/Jacen Petersen (6-5)
174: #1 Zahid Valencia (21-0)
184: Conner Small (2-9)
197: Austyn Harris (2-5)/Sullivan Cauley (0-1)
HWT: #4 Tanner Hall (19-4)
The 37th Annual Virginia Duals Wrestling returns to @HamptonColiseum for an intense competition on Jan. 13-15! https://t.co/PwWqEiVJ5g pic.twitter.com/xe9dqFyrHn
— Hampton Coliseum (@HamptonColiseum) December 28, 2016
BUY TICKETS FOR HOME MATCHES
Single game tickets can be purchased by calling the ASU ticket office at (480) 965-5333 or at the WFA box office starting 60 minutes prior to each match while matside seating can be purchased through the sales hotline at (480) 965-5812.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's Virginia Duals, the Sun Devils return home to host North Carolina on Friday, Jan. 20, the team's second match on the Pac-12 Network this season. ASU rounds out the weekend at Pac-12 foe Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 22 in Palo Alto, Calif.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
The Sun Devils earned their first win in Ames since 1989 (2/10/89) on Friday, Jan. 6 and their second straight win over Iowa State. The last time ASU won in Ames, Zeke Jones donned a Sun Devil singlet, defeating Sean Watt, 12-4 (118 lbs.).
SUCCESS AT MIDLANDS
The Sun Devils continued their comeback into national prominence with a third place finish at the 54th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, their best finish as a team since winning the tournament in 1989.
Zahid Valencia (174), who is still undefeated on his career, and Tanner Hall (HWT) won individual weight class titles, marking the first time since 1996 the Devils have had multiple champions, just the fourth time in program history. Hall and Valencia became the 13th and 14th all-time individual winners for ASU, and the first since Eric Larkin in 2001.
Additionally, Anthony Valencia and Josh Shields each finished third, the first time since 1997 ASU has had four or more podium finishes at the tournament.
IN THE RECENT RANKINGS
As a team, Intermat ranks the Sun Devils No. 13, TrackWrestling No. 14, FloWrestling No. 14, WIN Magazine ranks ASU No. 13, The Open Mat No. 13 and NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll ranks ASU No. 19. The following are individual rankings for Sun Devils from several media outlets based on each athlete's weight class:
The Open Mat - Josh Maruca (No. 19/149), Josh Shields (No. 14/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 11/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 1/174), Tanner Hall (No. 5/HWT)
Intermat - Josh Shields (No. 13/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 9/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 3/ 174), Tanner Hall (No. 4/HWT)
WIN Magazine - Josh Shields (No. 9/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 7/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 3/174), Tanner Hall (No. 5/HWT)
TrackWrestling - Ali Naser (No. 25/133), Josh Maruca (No. 20/149), Josh Shields (No. 7/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 9/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 3/174), Tanner Hall (No. 8/HWT)
Flowrestling - Josh Shields (No. 9/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 9/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 3/174), Tanner Hall (No. 4/HWT)
Pac-12 - Michael Nguyen (No. 2/125), Ali Naser (No. 2/133), Nikko Villarreal (No. 6/141), Josh Maruca (No. 2/149), Josh Shields (No. 1/157), Anthony Valencia (No. 1/165), Zahid Valencia (No. 1/174), Conner Small (No. 3/184), Austyn Harris (No. 6/197), Tanner Hall (No. 1/HWT)