Wrestling heads to groundbreaking National Duals Invitational
TEMPE – Sun Devil Wrestling will be one of 16 teams competing in the revolutionary National Duals Invitational, held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK, beginning on Saturday, Nov. 15. Arizona State is set to square off in a dual against Michigan to open the bracket-style duals at 11:00 a.m. CST / 10:00 a.m. MST. The first-of-its-kind tournament includes a total purse of $1,000,000, and the last team standing takes home a $200,000 prize.
Official bracket // Watch // Season stats // Tournament central
The 16-team field reflects both tradition and depth in college wrestling. Cornell, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech earned automatic bids by finishing in the top 12 at the 2025 NCAA Championships. ASU will be joined by Lehigh, Little Rock, Missouri and Wyoming, who were randomly selected from programs finishing between 13-24. Together, the competitors have combined for more than 60 NCAA team titles and 450 individual national champions.
In addition to world-class competition, the event will feature a record-setting $1 million prize purse — the first of its kind in collegiate wrestling. The champion will claim $200,000, with $150,000 awarded to both the runner-up and third-place teams, and prize money extending through eighth place. Every participating program will also receive a $20,000 stipend, underscoring the Invitational’s commitment to supporting the sport at the highest level.
The squad will begin with a first-round dual against Michigan to kick things off. With a win, ASU would move on to face the winner of Nebraska / Lehigh. A loss would send them into the losers' bracket, where the 5th-8th place teams are still competing for up to $50,000.
ASU projected lineup at the National Duals
125 | Damian Moreno - or - An’ee Vigil
133 | Kyler Larkin
141 | Pierson Manville - or - Daniel Miranda
149 | Kaleb Larkin
157 | Chance McLane - or - Gabriel Delgado
165 | Nicco Ruiz
174 | Cael Valencia - or - Leo Tukhlynovych
184 | Shay Addison - or - Aziz Fayzullaev
197 | Jacob Meissner- or - Max Acciardi
285 | David Szuba
Last time out: Dominance at the MSU Open
The Sun Devils started their 2025-26 campaign with a bang, as nine of 20 competing wrestlers advanced to the championship round in each of their respective brackets. Of the nine wrestlers competing in the finals, ASU had six individual winners:
133 | Kyler Larkin
141 | Pierson Manville
149 | Kaleb Larkin
157 | Chance McLane
165 | Nicco Ruiz
174 | Leo Tukhlynovych
Additionally, the Sun Devils had two ASU vs. ASU finals (Ruiz vs. Ibarra) and (Valencia vs. Tukhlynoych). The success of newcomers and returns alike was featured throughout the podium, as the Sun Devils were well represented at the podium with 14 of 20 wrestlers placing in the top-5:
1st Place: 6
2nd Place: 3
3rd Place: 1
4th Place: 1
5th Place: 3
ASU also pushed the pace when it came to overall team placement. Although team scores were not tracked, the Sun Devils pushed the pace with the tournament's best six individual winners.
Champions by school:
Arizona State 6
Michigan 3
Ohio State 2
Northwestern 2
Central Michigan 2
Edinboro 2
Northern Illinois 1
GVSU 1
By the numbers
14: The Sun Devils welcome 14 newcomers to the team, making it the largest signing class in Sun Devil Wrestling history.
6: A tournament best six Sun Devils won their respective weight class brackets at the MSU Open, as alluded to
8: Eight different Sun Devils made their ASU debuts at the Michigan State Open: Kyler Larkin, Jabari Hinson, Israel Ibarra, Aidan Ysaguirre, Leo Tukhlynovych, Ben Szuba, and David Szuba
29: Rider transfer David Szuba recorded the fastest fall of the young season in just 29 seconds over Davidson’s DJ spring. The 29-second takedown was the third-fastest of Szuba’s career between Rider and ASU
12: Nicco Ruiz comes in at 12th overall in the 165lb rankings per Flo Wrestling. Ruiz headlines all Sun Devil returners after an appearance at the NCAA championships in 2024-25
7: Seven Sun Devils are currently featured in the national rankings via FloWrestling and Intermat:
FloWrestling Rankings (11/11)
141...........Manville, 33
157...........McLane, 24
165..........Ruiz, 12
197...........Hawks, 28
285 .............D. Szuba, 33
InterMat Rankings (11/11)
133.........Ky, Larkin, 33
141...........Manville, 28
149...........Ka. Larkin, 26
165..........Ruiz, 14
197...........Hawks, 24
285 .............D. Szuba, 23
33: Cael Valencia has earned 33 career wins while wrestling at 174 lbs. After spending the majority of last season at the 184lb mark, Valencia will return to 174 with hopes of adding to the win total
3: The Sun Devils have three separate duos of brothers on the active roster: The Larkins (Kaleb and Kyler), The Szubas (Ben and David), and the Ysaguirre’s (Aidan and Emilio)
2: After Zahid Valencia took home gold at the Senior World Wrestling Championships, he now joins current head coach Zeke Jones as the only Sun Devils to win a world championship.
6: Zeke Jones has redefined success and placed the Sun Devils back into the national spotlight since his hiring in April 2014. Under his leadership, the Sun Devils have won six conference titles, as Jones trails just Bobby Douglas (8) for the most in team history. Jones sits behind just Douglas and Men’s Golf’s Randy Lein (8) for the most conference titles among any coach in Sun Devil history
Ranked opponents in 2025-26
The Sun Devils once again find themselves in a loaded pool of competition, squaring off against six ranked opponents on top of three highly competitive neutral-site, invite-only events. Of the six ranked opponents, three of which land in the top-10 via FloWrestling’s preseason polls:
vs. #4 Iowa State
vs. #5 Oklahoma State
vs. #7 Lehigh
vs. #16 West Virginia
vs. #19 Missouri
vs. #28 Oregon State
Sun Devils in the rankings
133 | No. 33 Kyler Larkin (Intermat)
141 | No. 28 Pierson Manville (Intermat)
149 | No. 25 Kaleb Larkin (Intermat)
157 | No. 24 Chance McLane (Intermat)
165 | No. 12 Nicco Ruiz (Flo Wrestling)
197 | No. 24 Colton Hawks (Intermat)
285 | No. 23 David Szuba (Intermat)
A dozen years of Zeke Jones
Zeke Jones has redefined success and cemented the Sun Devils into the national spotlight since his hiring in April 2014. Now heading into year 12, Jones has a new sense of energy around the program and the team.
“This is a big year for our program. We’re pretty excited about where we’re heading. I think that most people would consider us to’ve hit the reset button. We’re bringing in 14 new wrestlers to our roster, which caps at 30. It's a really exciting time for us, and I can’t wait to see what this team can achieve,” said Jones.
Under Jones’ leadership, the Sun Devils have won six conference titles, as Jones trails just Bobby Douglas (8) for most in team history. Jones sits behind just Douglas and Men's Golf's Randy Lein (8) for the most conference titles among any coach in Sun Devil history.
Welcome to Tempe
The Sun Devils welcome 14 newcomers to the team, making it the largest signing class in Sun Devil Wrestling history. Kyler Larkin is one of the class headliners as he joins his older brother, Kaleb Larkin, to continue the Larkin pipeline at ASU. Larkin is considered one of the top 132-pounders and recently captured the U20 Pan-American title in the 61 kg freestyle division, representing the United States.
Coming from the transfer portal is former Oklahoma standout Jude Randall. Randall put a stamp on his freshman campaign by going 9-3 last season as a freshman in Norman. He also joined Ky. Larkin at the U20 Pan-American event, as he captured his own title at 72 kg in the Greco-Roman division.
The new big man on campus, David Szuba, will slide into the 285-pound weight class for ASU. Hailing from Rider University, Szuba is ranked No. 21 on FloWrestling’s preseason list in the heavyweight division. He compiled a career 68-37 record and qualified for the NCAA Championships last season, including a victory in the first round. He secured the MAC Championship and went 12-1 as a senior last season. His younger brother, Ben Szuba, joins the team, entering his freshman year.
The Sun Devils also made a late splash, bringing in Mizzou transfer and three-time NCAA qualifier Colton Hawks to round out an almost brand new roster set to compete in 2025-26.
Newcomers by class
Freshman (8): Gabriel Delgado, Jamar Dixon, Jabari Hinson, Israel Ibarra, Kyler Larkin, Ben Szuba, Melvin Whitehead, Aidan Ysaguirre
Sophomores (2): Jude Randall, Gavin Bauder
Juniors (2): Leo Tukhlynovych, An’ee Vigil
Graduates (2): Colton Hawks, David Szuba
Champions made here
Former Sun Devil Wrestling standout Zahid Valencia etched his name into the history books by taking gold at the Senior World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.
The 28-year-old scored a perfect 49-0 across five total matches against international opponents en route to a gold medal. The dominant run was capped off by securing a 12-0 tech fall victory over Hayato Ishiguro (JPN) in the finals, his fourth tech fall victory of the championships.
Valencia now joins Zeke Jones as the only former Sun Devil wrestlers to win gold at the world championships, as Jones took gold in 1991
During his tenure at ASU, Valencia was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion (2018-19), a three-time All-American, a three-time Pac-12 champion, and a three-time Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year.
The legend of Larkin
Sun Devil Athletics hall of famer Eric Larkin is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever to don the Sun Devil singlet.
Standing sixth on the all-time wins list at ASU with 123, Larkin accomplished several feats that no other Sun Devil had, including being honored with the 2003 Dan Hodge Award and being selected as the Outstanding Wrestler of the 2003 NCAA meet following a perfect 34-0 record in his senior campaign.
Before winning the NCAA title, Larkin made an impressive improvement over the course of his career, finishing fourth (133) as a freshman, third (141) as a sophomore, and second (141) as a junior.
He now passes the torch to the next generation of Larkins, with brothers Kaleb and Kyler poised for huge seasons ahead.
Kaleb currently holds a 2-0 record in his NCAA career across limited action due to injuries. Kaleb earned his way to the US Olympic trials in the summer of 2024, going toe-to-toe with four-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis in a wire-to-wire bout.
As for Kyler, his freshman year will be one of the most anticipated in the entire country. Kyler is fresh off a dominant gold medal performance at the U20 Pan-Am Championships in the 61 kg freestyle division in Lima, Peru. He is also a 2023 Fargo champion, while winning the college division at the Reno Tournament of Champions at 133 lbs in 2023.
Ruiz the roof
Headlining the Sun Devils returning class is none other than 165-lb standout Nicco Ruiz. Ruiz is poised for another huge season, following a slew of successes in his first full season, which is expected to come in 2024-25. The early-season rankings have Ruiz penciled in at No. 12/14 by FloWrestling and Intermat.
Ruiz is the lone Sun Devil to have qualified for the NCAA Championships a season ago, as he turned in a 1-2 outing at the national meet in Philadelphia. The meet was highlighted by a take down of No. 31 Cody Goebel (Wisconsin) by a 16-3 MD for his first career win at the national meet. He also placed sixth in the 165-lb bracket at the team's first trip to the Big 12 Championships to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
Ruiz finished the season at 14-8, leading the team in tech-fall wins (4).
JUCO bandits
Among the deep transfer class, coach Jones and his staff dove into the junior college waters and reeled in three high-impact wrestlers. The trio Gavin Bauder, Leo Tukhlynovych and An’ee Vigil are primed to make the jump from junior college to division 1 after each of them spent two years in the NJCAA.
In two seasons at Clackamas CC for Vigil, he cemented himself as one of the best all-around 125 lb wrestlers in the NJCAA. Vigil claimed two individual NJCAA National Championships and was a part of the 2025 national runner-up squad. He was recognized as a 2025 NJCAA All-American and named The Open Mat’s 2024 NJCAA Freshman of the Year.
Bauder, a teammate of Vigil’s at Clackamas, secured an NJCAA national championship of his own at 133 lbs. His stellar season helped propel the team to a second-place finish nationally before he put pen to paper with the Maroon and Gold.
Tukhlynovych earned back-to-back years of All-American honors and finished third nationally at the 174 lb mark in 2024-25 after seasons at Rochester Community and Technical College, Minnesota.
Brotherly love
The Sun Devils' active roster features three different sets of brothers. Ben and David Szuba, Kaleb and Kyler Larkin, and Aidan and Emilio Ysaguirre. Notably, the Aguirre and Larkin brothers are local products born and raised in Arizona.
Back to the Bok
The Sun Devils' postseason journey will begin with the 2026 Big 12 championships back at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The second trip of the year to the BOK Center will mark the start of the Big 12 Championships. The Big 12s are slated for March 7-8, as ASU is set to make its second appearance, marking its second year in the conference.
Last season, Nicco Ruiz placed sixth in the 165-lb bracket at the team’s first trip to the Big 12 Championships, which resulted in him punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
Cleveland, this is for you
The 2025-2026 season will conclude at the NCAA championships in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted at Rocket Arena. The three-day event will take place from March 19 to 21, where the Sun Devils will hope to be well represented.
Follow along
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