HAMPTON, Va. – The No. 10 Sun Devils nearly pulled off a shutout and put together back-to-back wins en route to a place in Saturday's gold bracket at the 38th annual Virginia Duals.
Arizona State (5-2) earned a commanding 35-3 victory over Virginia (2-5) in their first match of the day, taking a shutout into the final bout, before handing Iowa State (2-5) a 25-13 loss, earning the Sun Devils a place in the championship bracket.
"Overall, the effort was good and I think we learned riding time wins and pinning reigns the day," said head coach Zeke Jones. "In the last two weeks, we found that you have to do it the hard way, like Josh Shields did, scoring a takedown the hard way on the edge of the mat instead of just going out of bounds to get a new start and no points. He also got a major decision by scoring three takedowns in the last 30 seconds of the third period. If that's not the hard way, I don't know what is."
Notably, in the win over Virginia, No. 23 Ali Naser earned an upset victory, 10-7, over No. 3 Jack Mueller at 133 lbs. The Sun Devils also won both 125 lbs. matches behind Josh Kramer and No. 17 Ryan Millhof while Nikko Villarreal (141) and Jason Tsirtsis (149) also won vs. UVA.
The Sun Devils earned four straight wins in both duals starting with No. 4 Josh Shields (157) and followed by No. 15 Anthony Valencia (165), No. 1 Zahid Valencia (174), and Kordell Norfleet (184). No. 4 Tanner Hall (HWT) also capped the Iowa State win with a victory.
"I also liked Anthony Valencia getting tough when toughness was needed and winning a match with his conditioning - explosive early and big lungs in the fifth and sixth minute. I was also happy with Kordell, a true freshman, going 2-0 on the day. He's starting to figure it out."
Iowa State finished second in the James River Pool behind ASU, earning a 21-18 victory over Virginia in the earlier match, with Virginia finishing third.
"I told them to not pat themselves on their backs yet, you're just in the semis. UNI is a hard fighting team. They came to wrestle. Time to find out if we did."
ASU faces No. 11 Northern Iowa in the gold bracket on Saturday at 2 pm ET/12 noon MT with the winner advancing to the championship (8:30 pm ET/6:30 pm MT) to face the winner of No. 9 Virginia Tech/Oklahoma. The Sooners knocked the Devils out in this round last season before ASU finished third with a win over North Dakota State.
Results: #10 Arizona State (35), Virginia (3)
125: Josh Kramer DEC #13 Louie Hayes, 8-5
133: #23 Ali Naser DEC #3 Jack Mueller, 10-7
141: Nikko Villarreal DEC Sam Martino, 6-2
149: Jason Tsirtsis FALL Jake Keating, 4:11
157: #4 Josh Shields MD Michael Murphy, 11-3
165: #15 Anthony Valencia DEC Andrew Atkinson, 6-2
174: #1 Zahid Valencia FALL Will Schany, 5:10
184: Kordell Norfleet MD Jack Walsh, 16-3
197: Cade Belshay DEC Jay Aiello, 9-5
HWT: Tyler Love DEC Austyn Harris, 6-3
Results: #10 Arizona State (25), Iowa State (13)
125: #17 Ryan Millhof TF Sinjia Briggs, 16-1 (5:10)
133: #22 Ian Parker DEC #23 Ali Naser, 4-0
141: #11 Kanen Storr DEC Nikko Villarreal, 9-4
149: #22 Jarrett Degen MD #12 Josh Maruca, 16-8
157: #4 Josh Shields MD Chase Straw, 10-2
165: #15 Anthony Valencia MD Logan Breitenbach, 15-7
174: #1 Zahid Valencia FALL Daniel Bush, 2:26
184: Kordell Norfleet DEC Dane Pestano, 3-2
197: Joe Teager DEC Conner Small, 5-1
HWT: #4 Tanner Hall DEC Marcus Harrington, 3-1
Arizona State (5-2) earned a commanding 35-3 victory over Virginia (2-5) in their first match of the day, taking a shutout into the final bout, before handing Iowa State (2-5) a 25-13 loss, earning the Sun Devils a place in the championship bracket.
"Overall, the effort was good and I think we learned riding time wins and pinning reigns the day," said head coach Zeke Jones. "In the last two weeks, we found that you have to do it the hard way, like Josh Shields did, scoring a takedown the hard way on the edge of the mat instead of just going out of bounds to get a new start and no points. He also got a major decision by scoring three takedowns in the last 30 seconds of the third period. If that's not the hard way, I don't know what is."
Notably, in the win over Virginia, No. 23 Ali Naser earned an upset victory, 10-7, over No. 3 Jack Mueller at 133 lbs. The Sun Devils also won both 125 lbs. matches behind Josh Kramer and No. 17 Ryan Millhof while Nikko Villarreal (141) and Jason Tsirtsis (149) also won vs. UVA.
The Sun Devils earned four straight wins in both duals starting with No. 4 Josh Shields (157) and followed by No. 15 Anthony Valencia (165), No. 1 Zahid Valencia (174), and Kordell Norfleet (184). No. 4 Tanner Hall (HWT) also capped the Iowa State win with a victory.
"I also liked Anthony Valencia getting tough when toughness was needed and winning a match with his conditioning - explosive early and big lungs in the fifth and sixth minute. I was also happy with Kordell, a true freshman, going 2-0 on the day. He's starting to figure it out."
Iowa State finished second in the James River Pool behind ASU, earning a 21-18 victory over Virginia in the earlier match, with Virginia finishing third.
"I told them to not pat themselves on their backs yet, you're just in the semis. UNI is a hard fighting team. They came to wrestle. Time to find out if we did."
ASU faces No. 11 Northern Iowa in the gold bracket on Saturday at 2 pm ET/12 noon MT with the winner advancing to the championship (8:30 pm ET/6:30 pm MT) to face the winner of No. 9 Virginia Tech/Oklahoma. The Sooners knocked the Devils out in this round last season before ASU finished third with a win over North Dakota State.
Results: #10 Arizona State (35), Virginia (3)
125: Josh Kramer DEC #13 Louie Hayes, 8-5
133: #23 Ali Naser DEC #3 Jack Mueller, 10-7
141: Nikko Villarreal DEC Sam Martino, 6-2
149: Jason Tsirtsis FALL Jake Keating, 4:11
157: #4 Josh Shields MD Michael Murphy, 11-3
165: #15 Anthony Valencia DEC Andrew Atkinson, 6-2
174: #1 Zahid Valencia FALL Will Schany, 5:10
184: Kordell Norfleet MD Jack Walsh, 16-3
197: Cade Belshay DEC Jay Aiello, 9-5
HWT: Tyler Love DEC Austyn Harris, 6-3
Results: #10 Arizona State (25), Iowa State (13)
125: #17 Ryan Millhof TF Sinjia Briggs, 16-1 (5:10)
133: #22 Ian Parker DEC #23 Ali Naser, 4-0
141: #11 Kanen Storr DEC Nikko Villarreal, 9-4
149: #22 Jarrett Degen MD #12 Josh Maruca, 16-8
157: #4 Josh Shields MD Chase Straw, 10-2
165: #15 Anthony Valencia MD Logan Breitenbach, 15-7
174: #1 Zahid Valencia FALL Daniel Bush, 2:26
184: Kordell Norfleet DEC Dane Pestano, 3-2
197: Joe Teager DEC Conner Small, 5-1
HWT: #4 Tanner Hall DEC Marcus Harrington, 3-1