SAN FRANCISCO – As announced by the Pac-12 Conference on Thursday, Arizona State wrestling head coach Zeke Jones has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Jones becomes the first ASU wrestling head coach to win the conference award three times since Thom Ortiz did so in 2003, 2005 and 2006. The sixth-year head coach was also selected for the Pac-12 honor in 2017 and 2018 after winning the Pac-12 Championship in back-to-back seasons.
The Sun Devils made their run at the program's 21st all-time conference championship and 19th in the Pac-10/12 era in early March at Stanford. With a well-rounded team performance, ASU posted its highest conference tournament point total (141.5) since 1993, with the help of five weight classes taking home a title. ASU recorded an incredible 15-2 dual meet record this season with seven top-25 wins and four top-15 wins. It was the largest win total for an ASU wrestling team since 1989-90.
Jones led ASU to the program's first win over Penn State since 1999, snapping the Nittany Lions' 60-match win streak in front of a record-breaking crowd of 8,522. After upsetting the No. 1 team in the nation, the Sun Devils moved up to No. 4 in the NWCA Coaches poll – the highest ranking for the program since 1998.
ASU's five Pac-12 champions were Brandon Courtney (125), Jacori Teemer (157), Anthony Valencia (174), Kordell Norfleet (197) and Tanner Hall (HWT). With an impressive run at 197 lbs., Norfleet became the 14th Sun Devil all time and fourth consecutive ASU wrestler to be named Oustanding Wrestler of the Tournament, sharing the honor with Stanford's Shane Griffith. Six wrestlers qualified as top-10 seeds for the NCAA Championships making the Sun Devils just one of three teams in the nation to have six or more wrestlers seeded within the top-10 at their respective weight classes.
Jones is also in the running for the NWCA Division I Coach of the Year, which will be announced later this month. The national coaching honor is voted upon by all NWCA Division I Member Coaches with the award based on dual meet success and conference tournament placement. This year's nominees include Pat Popolizio (North Carolina State), Tom Brands (Iowa), Doug Schwab (Northern Iowa), Pat Santoro (Lehigh), Ryan Ludwig (Northern Illinois), Cary Kolat (Campbell), Chris Ayres (Princeton).
It was a monumental season for this year's squad as the Sun Devils capped a conference championship, became the first team to host a collegiate wrestling match at an MLB ballpark, took third at the Cliff Keen Invitational for the programs joint-highest finish in over 19 years and honored legendary head coach Bobby Douglas at Chase Field.