TULSA, Okla. – Three Sun Devils are headed to the NCAA Championships, as Richard Figueroa, Nicco Ruiz and Cohlton Schultz punched their tickets during the team's first trip to the Big 12 Championships at the BOK Center.
Schultz was the top-placing Sun Devil in Tulsa, placing runner-up in the heavyweight bracket after a Sunday evening 8-5 loss to No. 1 Wyatt Hendrickson (OSU). After a first-round bye, the second-ranked Schultz made quick work of No. 7 Luke Rasmussen (SDSU) before a tight three-point victory against No. 6 Daniel Herrera (ISU) to clinch a spot in the final. He gave the top-seeded Hendrickson all he could handle, as they were locked in a 4-4 battle after the first.
Figueroa, who was upset in the opening round, showed incredible poise and resilience the rest of the way, bouncing back with four consecutive victories to place third in the 125-lb bracket. He pinned three straight opponents before beating No. 6 Antonio Lorenzo (OU), 8-3, in the third-place match on Sunday afternoon.
Ruiz, seeing his first postseason action, picked up two huge wins on Saturday to qualify for the semifinal and subsequently punch his ticket to the national tournament. He majored Logan Fowler (Air Force) and upended No. 3 Cam Amine (Oklahoma State) before dropping his semifinal bout to No. 2 Peyton Hall (WVU) on Saturday. Ruiz had a chance to compete for third place, but medically forfeited his two Sunday matches and finished at sixth.
Final team scores
1) Oklahoma State, 153.5
2) Northern Iowa, 149.5
3) South Dakota State, 110
4) Iowa State, 107.5
5) Northern Colorado, 79.5
6) West Virginia, 77.5
7) Oklahoma, 72.5
8) Missouri, 65.5
9) North Dakota State, 58.5
10) Wyoming, 58
11) Arizona State, 43
12) Utah Valley, 21.5
13) California Baptist, 15
14) Air Force, 11.5
Sun Devils' round-by-round results (8-17)
125 | No. 1 Richard Figueroa (4-1)
R16: (BYE)
QFs: Tristan Daugherty (North Dakota State) over No. 1 Richard Figueroa by Dec 4-2
Cons. R1: No. 1 Richard Figueroa over Tucker Owens (Air Force) by fall (:21)
Cons. R2: No. 1 Richard Figueroa over Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) by fall (1:00)
Cons. SFs: No. 1 Richard Figueroa over No. 2 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) by fall (3:47)
Third-place: No. 1 Richard Figueroa over No. 6 Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma) by Dec 8-3
133 | Julian Chlebove (0-2)
R16: No. 2 Dominick Serrano (Northern Colorado) over Julian Chlebove by Dec 7-3
Cons. R1: No. 1 Evan Frost (Iowa State) over Julian Chlebove by 14-3 MD
141 | Daniel Miranda (0-2)
R16: No. 3 Jacob Frost (Iowa State) over Daniel Miranda by tech fall (22-5/5:21)
Cons. R1: No. 5 Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) over Daniel Miranda by Dec 17-13
149 | Mykey Ramos (0-2)
R16: No. 5 Gavin Drexler (South Dakota State) over Mykey Ramos by MD 9-0
Cons. R1: No. 3 Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) over Mykey Ramos by Dec 5-3
157 | Michael Kilic (0-2)
R16: No. 7 James Conway (Missouri) over Michael Kilic by Dec 16-9
Cons. R1: Caleb Dowling (West Virginia) over Michael Kilic by Dec 7-2
165 | No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (2-3/6th)
R16: No. 6 Nicco Ruiz over Logan Fowler (Air Force) by 12-1 MD
QFs: No. 6 Nicco Ruiz over No. 3 Cam Amine (Oklahoma State) Dec 6-4
SFs: No. 2 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) over No. 6 Nicco Ruiz by Dec 8-2
Cons. SFs: No. 8 Aiden Riggins (Iowa State) over No. 6 Nicco Ruiz by MFF
5th-place: No. 3 Cam Amine (Oklahoma State) over No. 6 Nicco Ruiz by MFF
184 | Shay Addison (0-2)
R16: No. 3 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) over Shay Addison by MD 9-1
Cons. R1: Deanthony Parker Jr. (Oklahoma) over Shay Addison by MD 12-1
197 | Jacob Meissner (0-2)
R16: No. 6 Nathan Schon (Iowa State) over Jacob Meissner by fall (2:46)
Cons. R1: Ian Bush (West Virginia) over Jacob Meissner by tech fall (15-0/5:00)
HWT | No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (2-1)
R16: (BYE)
QFs: No. 2 Cohlton Schultz over No. 7 Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State) by tech fall (17-0/4:59)
SFs: No. 2 Cohlton Schultz over No. 6 Daniel Herrera (Iowa State) by Dec 4-1
Championship final: No. 1 Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Cohlton Schultz by Dec 8-5
NCAA Championship qualifiers
Richard Figueroa (125), Nicco Ruiz (165), Cohlton Schultz (HWT)
It marks the first time since 2014 that the Sun Devils will walk away from the conference tournament without an individual champion, also a first in the Zeke Jones era. The Sun Devils had previously never finished lower than eighth at the conference tournament, as their 15-year streak of a top-five finish at conferences also came to a close.
Sun Devils in the postseason under head coach Zeke Jones
Year | Conference | NCAAs
2024-25 | 11th | TBD
2023-24 | 1st | 6th
2022-23 | 4th | 7th
2021-22 | 1st | 4th
2020-21 | 1st | 4th
2019-20 | 1st | N/A (Ranked #4 in last poll)
2018-19 | 2nd | 12th
2017-18 | 1st | 10th
2016-17 | 1st | 14th
2015-16 | 2nd | 33rd
2014-15 | 2nd | 29th
Sun Devil Wrestling conference champions and coach
Bobby Douglas (8): 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1980
Zeke Jones (6): 2024, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017
Lee Roy Smith (5): 2001, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993
Thom Ortiz (3): 2006, 2005, 2003
Follow Along
Don't miss any of the action throughout the final two weeks of the season! Follow the team on X (formerly Twitter) @ASUWrestling and on Instagram @sundevilwrestling1962 to keep up with Figueroa, Ruiz and Schultz at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia (March 20-22).