TEMPE– Sun Devil Wrestling returns home to Desert Financial Arena for the first time in 43 days, welcoming Iowa State and West Virginia for the first two home duals of a three-match homestand spanning Jan. 6-15.
Schedule
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026
No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 4 Iowa State
Desert Financial Arena | 6:30 p.m. MST
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Friday, Jan. 9, 2026
No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 18 West Virginia
Desert Financial Arena | 6:30 p.m. MST
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Where to watch
Fans can tune into both matches via ESPN+ with a subscription. Blake Niemann, alongside former Sun Devil Wrestler and UFC star Aaron Simpson, will have the call on both nights.
Last time out
South Dakota State dual (L, 14-24)
The Sun Devils are coming off a 24-14 loss to South Dakota State last weekend. The duo of brothers Kyler and Kaleb Larkin once again proved themselves as two of the best all-around wrestlers in their respective weight classes (133 lb., 149 lb.) with a pair of wins by decision. Redshirt Sophomore Nicco Ruiz (165 lb) added his 11th win of the season via sudden victory, while HWT David Szuba picked up his first technical fall win of the season to push his season total to nine wins.
The No. 12-ranked Sun Devils have wrestled against four teams in the top-20: Then-No Oklahoma State, No. 7 Lehigh, No. 10 Michigan and No. 20 Wisconsin in the first month of the season. The battle-tested ASU squad projects to roll out the following lineup in yet another top-10 tilt:
ASU probables
125: Damian Moreno (Jr., 6-7)
133: No. 5 Kyler Larkin (Fr., 11-1)
141: No. 26 Pierson Manville (R-Fr., 9-4) -OR- Daniel Miranda (So., 0-0)
149: No. 3 Kaleb Larkin (R-So., 13-1)
157: No. 15 Chance McLane (R-Sr., 10-5) -OR- Gabriel Delgado (Fr., 5-2)
165: No. 18 Nicco Ruiz (R-So., 11-3) Jr.
174: Leo Tukhlynovych (Jr., 8-3) -OR- Cael Valencia (R-Sr., 8-4)
184: No. 30 Shay Addison (R-Jr., 5-6)
197: Max Acciardi (Jr., 3-6) -OR- Aidan Ysaguirre (Fr., 3-2)
HWT: No. 20 David Szuba (R-Sr., 9-7)
Scouting the opposition
No. 4 Iowa State (4-1, 0-0 Big 12)
ASU will open the week with a match against Big 12 powerhouse, No. 4 Iowa State. The Cyclones are off to a 4-1 start in dual meets, with wins over No. 3 Iowa, No. 20 Lehigh, and Stanford. Iowa State took home first place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6, 2025, in addition to crowning eight champions at the Cyclone Invitational on Nov. 8, 2025.
The Sun Devils currently trail the all-time series, 5-13-0, with the most recent matchup dating back to Feb. 7, 2025 (L, 26-15). The Cyclones feature nine wrestlers ranked in the national polls, with the probable lineup as follows:
Iowa State probables
125: No. 15 Stevo Poulin (4-5) -OR- Ethan Perryman (6-3)
133: Adrian Meza (7-4)
141: No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (9-1)
149: No. 5 Jacob Frost (7-3)
157: No. 3 Vinny Zerban (8-1) -OR- Kane Naaktgeboren (11-3)
165: No. 18 Connor Euton (6-2)
174: No. 14 MJ Gaitan (7-2) -OR- Aiden Riggins (15-4)
184: No. 13 Isaac Dean (10-4)
197: CJ Carter (7-3)
HWT: No. 1 Yonger Bastida (12-0)
No. 8 West Virginia (5-2, 0-1 Big 12)
The Mountaineers feature the No. 1 wrestler in the country at 157-lb., Ty Watters. Watters currently stands at 10-0 with a Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title under his belt. West Virginia opened Big 12 play with a 34-3 loss at then-No. 5 Oklahoma State on Dec. 14, 2025, while its five wins came against American, Glenville State, Princeton, Appalachian State and Rider.
The Sun Devils and Mountaineers will match up against one another for the second time as conference foes, with ASU holding a 5-4-0 advantage in the all-time series.
West Virginia probables
TBD
By the numbers
2
Kyler Larkin ranks No. 2 nationally at 133 lbs. in the RPI, posting a 0.6938 rating through 12 matches.
3
Redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz has set a new single-season career high of three wins by major decision, topping his previous career high of two in 2024.
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 Ysaguirres (Aidan and Emilio).
4
Cael Valencia (174 lb) rattled off four consecutive technical fall victories en route to a 174-lb championship at the Reno TOC on Dec. 20, 2025.
4
Kyler Larkin has defeated four opponents ranked within the top-30 this season: No. 6 Tyler Knox (Stanford), No. 11 Dillon Campbell (Virginia Tech), No. 17 Richard Figueroa II (Oklahoma State), No. 30 Jarvis Little (Appalachian State).
5
Redshirt sophomore Pierson Manville leads the team with five wins by TF this season after recording his fifth against Wisconsin’s Brock Bobzien (TF, 21-5 / 4:12) on Dec. 20, 2025.
8
The Larkin brothers have combined to go a perfect 8-0 across three duals this season. They are the only Sun Devils to remain undefeated in duals this season.
7
The Sun Devils feature seven wrestlers ranked in FloWrestling’s weekly rankings:
133 | No. 5 Kyler Larkin
141 | No. 26 Pierson Manville
149 | No. 3 Kaleb Larkin
157 | No. 15 Chance McLane
165 | No. 18 Nicco Ruiz
184 | No. 30 Shay Addison
HWT | No. 19 David Szuba
9
Kaleb Larkin leads the Sun Devils with nine bonus-point victories (4 TF, 3 MD, 2 F).
29
Rider transfer David Szuba recorded the fastest fall of the season so far 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.
60
Graduate student Chance McLane earned the 60th victory of his career between Oklahoma State and ASU after a 7-3 win by decision over Wisconsin’s Luke Mechler on Dec. 20, 2025.
149
The 149-lb bout between No. 3 Kaleb Larkin and Iowa State’s No. 5 Jacob Frost marks the first match between two top-five wrestlers this season for ASU.
Additionally, Larkin and Frost have each wrestled three common opponents: Dylan Layton (Rider), Aden Valencia (Stanford), and Owen Reinsel (Lehigh). Larkin comes in at 3-0 against common opponents, where Frost is 2-2 against the bunch.
Follow along
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