TEMPE, Ariz. — A pair of recent top-10 wins for the Sun Devils' 125-pounder Richard Figueroa has earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors, the conference announced on Thursday afternoon.
The defending national champion at 125, Figueroa capped off his regular season by cruising past No. 10 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) and No. 7 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) to improve to 12-1 on the season. Figueroa beat Seymour in Bethlehem, 7-3, on February 21 before handing out an 11-2 major decision loss to Strickenberger on February 23 in Morgantown. Strickenberger entered the bout having defeated the last five ranked opponents he's faced, but had no answer for Figueroa's consistent attack and stingy defense.
Figueroa's looked the part of a champion all season long, defeating a handful of ranked opponents since the team's move to the Big 12. If not for an early-season injury in which he medically forfeited the match and was tagged with a loss, the Sanger, Calif., native has won the past 20 matches he's competed in and finished dating back to last season. That streak excludes both the medical forfeit loss and the two forfeit victories he's received this year in which he didn't wrestle. It's been more than a full year since his last true loss, falling to Stanford's Nico Provo, 13-8, on Feb. 17, 2024 in Tempe.
He's discarded an impressive list of WrestleStat's top-33 wrestlers dating back to February 2024 after downing both Seymour and Strickenberger last weekend.
Figueroa's wins against top-33 wrestlers since Feb. 2024
#2 Drake Ayala (Iowa/NCAA Championships)
#3 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven/NCAA Championships)
#6 Luke Stanich (Lehigh/dual at ASU)
#6 Jett Strickenberger (WVU/dual at WVU)
#7 Braeden Davis (Penn State/NCAA Championships)
#11 Caleb Smith (Nebraska/dual at ASU)
#15 Nico Provo (Stanford/Pac-12 Championships)
#16 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa/dual at ASU)
#17 Patrick McGee (Minnesota/NCAA Championships)
#18 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh/dual at Lehigh)
#24 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State/Pac-12 Championships)
#28 Gage Walker (Missouri/dual at Mizzou)
#33 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point/NCAA Championships)
As the team readies for its first shot at the Big 12 Championships, Figueroa will enter having won the first eight postseason matches of his career, sweeping his way through both the 2024 NCAA Championships (5-0) and the 2024 Pac-12 Championships (3-0). At the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, he'll look to become just the fourth Sun Devil in team history to repeat as a national champion, joining Dan St. John, Markus Mollica and Zahid Valencia.
Sun Devil Wrestling Individual National Champions (13 titles won by 10 individuals)
Richard Figueroa, 125 (2024)
Zahid Valencia, 174 (2019)
Zahid Valencia, 174 (2018)
Anthony Robles, 125 (2011)
Bubba Jenkins, 157 (2011)
Eric Larkin, 149 (2003)
Markus Mollica, 167 (1995)
Markus Mollica, 158 (1993)
Ray Miller, 167 (1993)
Dan St. John, 167 (1990)
Dan St. John, 158 (1989)
Eddie Urbano, 150 (1985)
Curley Culp, HWT (1967)
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Don't miss any of the action throughout the season! Follow the team on X (formerly Twitter) @ASUWrestling and on Instagram @sundevilwrestling1962.
The defending national champion at 125, Figueroa capped off his regular season by cruising past No. 10 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) and No. 7 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) to improve to 12-1 on the season. Figueroa beat Seymour in Bethlehem, 7-3, on February 21 before handing out an 11-2 major decision loss to Strickenberger on February 23 in Morgantown. Strickenberger entered the bout having defeated the last five ranked opponents he's faced, but had no answer for Figueroa's consistent attack and stingy defense.
Figueroa's looked the part of a champion all season long, defeating a handful of ranked opponents since the team's move to the Big 12. If not for an early-season injury in which he medically forfeited the match and was tagged with a loss, the Sanger, Calif., native has won the past 20 matches he's competed in and finished dating back to last season. That streak excludes both the medical forfeit loss and the two forfeit victories he's received this year in which he didn't wrestle. It's been more than a full year since his last true loss, falling to Stanford's Nico Provo, 13-8, on Feb. 17, 2024 in Tempe.
He's discarded an impressive list of WrestleStat's top-33 wrestlers dating back to February 2024 after downing both Seymour and Strickenberger last weekend.
Figueroa's wins against top-33 wrestlers since Feb. 2024
#2 Drake Ayala (Iowa/NCAA Championships)
#3 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven/NCAA Championships)
#6 Luke Stanich (Lehigh/dual at ASU)
#6 Jett Strickenberger (WVU/dual at WVU)
#7 Braeden Davis (Penn State/NCAA Championships)
#11 Caleb Smith (Nebraska/dual at ASU)
#15 Nico Provo (Stanford/Pac-12 Championships)
#16 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa/dual at ASU)
#17 Patrick McGee (Minnesota/NCAA Championships)
#18 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh/dual at Lehigh)
#24 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State/Pac-12 Championships)
#28 Gage Walker (Missouri/dual at Mizzou)
#33 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point/NCAA Championships)
As the team readies for its first shot at the Big 12 Championships, Figueroa will enter having won the first eight postseason matches of his career, sweeping his way through both the 2024 NCAA Championships (5-0) and the 2024 Pac-12 Championships (3-0). At the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, he'll look to become just the fourth Sun Devil in team history to repeat as a national champion, joining Dan St. John, Markus Mollica and Zahid Valencia.
Sun Devil Wrestling Individual National Champions (13 titles won by 10 individuals)
Richard Figueroa, 125 (2024)
Zahid Valencia, 174 (2019)
Zahid Valencia, 174 (2018)
Anthony Robles, 125 (2011)
Bubba Jenkins, 157 (2011)
Eric Larkin, 149 (2003)
Markus Mollica, 167 (1995)
Markus Mollica, 158 (1993)
Ray Miller, 167 (1993)
Dan St. John, 167 (1990)
Dan St. John, 158 (1989)
Eddie Urbano, 150 (1985)
Curley Culp, HWT (1967)
Follow Along
Don't miss any of the action throughout the season! Follow the team on X (formerly Twitter) @ASUWrestling and on Instagram @sundevilwrestling1962.