#10/14 ASU Battles #14/12 Lehigh Saturday on FloWrestling

TEMPE - There's a top-15 dual going down Saturday night in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. No. 10/14 Sun Devil Wrestling (3-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and No. 14/12 Lehigh (6-7, 3-2 EIWA) meet January 28 at 4:00 p.m. AZ in Lehigh's Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The dual will air on FloWreslting, with radio coverage provided by Lehigh Valley Fox Radio. (FloWrestling/InterMat Rankings)
 
ASU at Lehigh
Saturday, Jan. 28 | 4:00 p.m. AZ/6:00 p.m. EST
Bethlehem, Penn. | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
Watch on FloWrestling | Listen on Fox Radio
ASU match notes
Lehigh's Weekend Preview
 
The Sun Devils are back in District 11 for the third time this season after opening the 2022-23 season with a pair of Journeymen Wrestling events. ASU defeated No. 21 Rutgers (25-16) on Nov. 12 before earning seven titles at the Collegiate Classic the next day. ASU then returned for the Keystone Classic where a number of reserve wrestlers competed.

Stats to Follow

• McGee has 29 career MDs coming into Lehigh. 
• Montalvo is at 49 career wins 
• Schultz is 19-0 in duals and 9-0 in career major decisions 
• McGee and Parco looking for seventh dual victories on season, Schultz and Figs looking to stay undefeated in duals 
• Figueroa may have the longest undefeated streak to start a career here at 17-0 official results.

 
Last Time Out
ASU is coming off a 25-12 Pac-12 win over No. 23 Stanford. The Maroon and Gold swept the lightweights and picked up two crucial upperweight victories to secure the first conference win of the season. Unranked Cael Valencia garnered national attention and Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors after a 6-3 upset over No. 23 Tyler Eischens at 174. It was Valencia's fifth win of the season, and he didn;t allow Eischens to score one takedown.
 
Scouting Arizona State

• Scouting Arizona State
• ASU enters the weekend with six top-20 wrestlers on the roster: No. 7 Brandon Courtney, No.4 Michael McGee, No. 13 Jesse Vasquez, No. 5 Kyle Parco, No. 20 Anthony Montalvo, and No. 5 Cohlton Schultz.
• The 125 battle continues for ASU, with both Courtney and Richard Figueroa on the travel party. Courtney, the '21 NCAA runner-up at 125, is 5-2 on the year. Figs, the No. 1 Pound-for-Pound recruit of the 2021 class, is a perfect 14-0 on the year with five dual wins to his name.
• Cohlton Schultz took some time away from ASU recently training with USA Wrestling's Greco-Roman team. He returned to the lineup rejuvenated and picked up his sixth pin of the season and 22nd of his career, defeating Stanford's Peter Ming in just 56 seconds.
• Michael (12-2) earned his 25th career tech fall against Stanford. It was the 61st bonus-point victory of his career (123-26).
• Despite recent losses, three Sun Devils are coming into this match on four dual-win streaks highlighted by two tech falls from Michael McGee, a major decision from Jesse Vasquez, and a fall and major decision from Kyle Parco in that span. Redshirt freshman Richard Figueroa is 5-0 in duals this year, and tasted bonus points in a dual for the first time with a major decision at Stanford. Redshirt sophomore Colhton Schultz is 4-0 in duals on the season, and returned to the lineup at Stanford to record a 0:56 fall.
• At 133 lbs, this dual's highlight will see No. 4 Michael McGee face off against No. 6 Connor McGonagle. McGonagle is coming off a six-win streak but has not recorded a bonus point victory this season. McGee is 3-0 against Lehigh in his career, with two victories over No. 22 Malyke Hines, who will now be facing No. 13 Jesse Vasquez at 141 lbs. Vasquez' last loss came against No. 10 Vince Cornella, whom Hines beat in a narrow 4-2 decision two weeks ago. 
• After winning by major decision in a ranked match against All-American No. 11 Jaden Abas, No. 4 Kyle Parco will face another ranked foe in No. 24 Manzona Bryant or Max Brignola at 149 lbs. Bryant has a win over No. 17 Dom Demas but is 2-4 on the season. No. 21 Anthony Montalvo or Josh Nummer will face No. 19 Tate Samuelson at 184 lbs. Montalvo and Samuelson faced off three times while they were Big 12 rivals, with Samuelson taking their matchup in the '20 Big 12 Championships in a 3-2 decision. Jonathon Fagen will have his hands full against All-American No. 5 Michael Beard at 197 lbs, who has recorded tech falls in his last two duals. 
• No. 5 Colhton Schultz won ASU's 2021-22 season finale against Lehigh with a sudden victory over Jordan Wood and went on to beat him the same way in the '22 NCAA semifinals. Schultz will now face Lehigh's redshirt freshman HM Nathan Taylor. Taylor's season highlight was a fall versus No. 19 Josh Heindselman in November, but is coming into this dual on a three match skid.

 
Scouting Lehigh

• Eight Lehigh wrestlers appear in the first NCAA coaches' ranking, announced Jan. 19. The Mountain Hawks have three wrestlers in the top five in their respective weight classes, led by sophomore Michael Beard, who is third at 197. 
• Lehigh's roster features sophomore Michael Beard who came to Lehigh from Penn State where he earned All-America honors in 2021 with a seventh place finish at 197. Tate Samuelson comes to Lehigh as a graduate transfer after four years at Wyoming where he was a four-time NCAA qualifier. Both wrestlers are 4-0 in duals in the new year. Beard is up to 11-2 on the season while Samuelson is now 11-7.
• Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in six out of 10 weight classes in the latest rankings from InterMat, with sophomore Malyke Hines returning to the rankings at 141.
• Six Mountain Hawks are also ranked by both FloWrestling and WrestleStat, while four are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News. Senior Josh Humphreys (157) and sophomores Connor McGonagle (133) and Michael Beard (197) are all ranked in the top six by InterMat, FloWrestling and AWN. Graduate student Tate Samuelson is the fourth Mountain Hawk to appear in all four polls.

 
#10/14 Arizona State Probables
125 No. 7 Brandon Courtney, Richard Figueroa
133 No. 4 Michael McGee, Julian Chlebove
141 No. 13 Jesse Vasquez
149 No. 5 Kyle Parco
157 Max Wilner, Michael Kilic
165 Tony Negron
174 Cael Valencia, Josh Nummer
184 No. 20 Anthony Montalvo, Canyon Mansfield
197 Jonathon Fagen, Jacob Meissner
HWT No. 5 Cohlton Schultz
 
#14/12 Lehigh Probables
125 Carter Bailey
        Killian Delaney
133 No. 6 Connor McGonagle  
141 No. 28 Malyke Hines         
149 Max Brignola
       Manzona Bryant IV
157 No. 5 Josh Humphreys
       Paul Watkins
165 Luca Frinzi         
         Connor Herceg       
174 Jake Logan     
184 No. 19 Tate Samuelson
197 No. 3 Michael Beard   
285 No. 31 Nathan Taylor