TEMPE, Ariz.— After a month of tournament competition, the Sun Devils head to the East Coast for the first of two weekends, facing North Carolina in a dual in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 pm MT/4 pm ET.
ASU is 4-0-1 all-time vs. North Carolina, including 1-0-0 in Chapel Hill. The Sun Devils' last visit to UNC was the season opener on Nov. 9, 2012, a 21-16 win.
Last season, ASU recorded their first-ever victory vs. North Carolina in Tempe (31-9) behind Jacen Petersen's first pin of the season, a pin by Anthony Valencia, decisions from Tanner Hall, Zahid Valencia, Josh Shields, Josh Kramer, and Ted Rico, and Josh Maruca's first career major decision.
UP NEXT
After a month of tournaments, the Sun Devils return to dual action at North Carolina on Jan. 6 before the Virginia Duals Jan. 12-13. ASU returns home for back-to-back Pac-12 duals on Jan. 19 (8 pm) and Jan. 20 (1:30 pm), both broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
SPECIAL TICKET PACKAGE FOR JAN. 19/20
With Pac-12 opponents in Stanford and Oregon State coming to town as well as the return of MMA Night and a 1988 NCAA championship reunion, fans are invited to buy a special ticket package for $15 for admission to both matches. This package can be purchased HERE.
1988 CHAMPIONSHIP REUNION JAN. 20
The 1988 NCAA championship returns to Tempe Jan. 20 and a special reception will take place at Tempe Mission Palms at 4 pm following the 1:30 pm match. The reception will feature appetizers, raffles, a cash bar, and tributes to the storied Sun Devil team.
To register, click HERE.
SUN DEVILS HAVE FIVE PLACERS AT MIDLANDS
Zahid Valencia continued his undefeated sophomore campaign with his second consecutive title at Midland's 55th annual Championships. Five placewinners for the team – Z. Valencia (1st), Josh Shields (2nd), Tanner Hall (2nd), Anthony Valencia (4th), Jason Tsirtsis (5th) – was the most for the Sun Devils since 1997 when they had six and third-most all-time. Tsirtsis capped his Midlands career as a six-time placewinner. Z. Valencia earned the third most points for his team amongst the field (28 pts) while Oliver Pierce had the second most pins in the least time (3/7:34). Valencia became the 15th individual title winner at Midlands for ASU and just the third to win multiple titles.
ASU Individual Champions (Midlands)
1987 – Dan St. John (158)
1988 – Thom Ortiz (150)
1988 – Dan St. John (158)
1989 – Zeke Jones (118)
1989 – Andrew McNaughton (134)
1989 – Thom Ortiz (142)
1989 – Ray Miller (158)
1989 – Dan St. John (167)
1995 – Markus Mollica (167)
1996 – Casey Strand (167)
1996 – Aaron Simpson (177)
2001 – Eric Larkin (141)
2016 – Zahid Valencia (174)
2016 – Tanner Hall (HWT)
2017 – Zahid Valencia (174)
As a team, Arizona State had the second most pins in the least time (9/25:39) and the second most pins/tech falls combined in the least time (11/35:00). ASU's fourth-place finish marks their second top-10 finish since 2001 (also in 2016) and eighth all-time top-five finish (also: 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1996, 1997, 2016) as well as the fourth time in history the Sun Devils have had back-to-back top-5 finishes.
ZAHID VALENCIA WINS SECOND STRAIGHT CKLV
Zahid Valencia was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 1-2) for going 6-0 to win the 174 lbs title for the second consecutive year. Last season, he became the second Sun Devil freshman to win a CKLV title after Eric Larkin. As a team, ASU finished third (113.5 pts) behind Ohio State and Michigan, their best finish in over 17 years and first top-five finish since finishing fifth in 2005. The Sun Devils have had title winners at CKLV in three of the last four seasons, with Blake Stauffer also winning (184) in 2014. Tanner Hall (2nd), Josh Shields (3rd), Josh Maruca (5th), and Anthony Valencia (7th) also placed for ASU.
TSIRTSIS WINS RENO TOC
With a 5-0 streak, Jason Tsirtsis moved down a weight class (149) to win the Reno Tournament of Champions title (Dec. 17). The tournament, founded in 1994, now includes junior, high school, and college portions and the college version has grown from a four-way dual to a 16-team invitational. Tsirtsis defeated Stanford's Jake Berry, Wyoming's Jaron Jensen, North Dakota State's Kyle Gliva, Oklahoma State's Boo Lewallen, and NC State's Beau Donahue.