CLEVELAND – Twice as nice.
Sun Devil Wrestling saw two different student-athletes earn All-American honors as redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz (165 pounds) and graduate student David Szuba (heavyweight) etched their names into the history books as the duo will forever carry All-American honors with them after impressive performances on Friday night at Rocket Arena.
After dropping his quarterfinal matchup, Ruiz rallied in the round of 12 to knock off Lehigh’s No. 7, Max Brignola, 8-2, in what was their third matchup of the season, to officially become an All-American in the 165-lb. division.
Sun Devil All-Americans: 165 pounds
Nicco Ruiz, 2026
Anthony Valencia, 2021
Josh Shields, 2019, 2020 (NWCA first team)
Steve Blackford, 1999, 2000, 2001
Ruiz continued his evening by taking out No. 9 Bryce Hepner (North Carolina) with a 2-0 decision to advance into Saturday morning’s consolation semifinals, where he can place as high as third.
As for Szuba, All-American status didn’t come easy.
The Sun Devil heavyweight put together three-straight wins in the consolation bracket to achieve AA status in his final collegiate season. Additionally, he becomes the seventh consecutive ASU heavyweight to be an All-American dating back to 2020.
Sun Devil All-Americans: Heavyweight
David Szuba, 2026
Cohlton Schultz, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Tanner Hall, 2017, 2020 (NWCA first team)
Cain Velasquez, 2005, 2006
Levi Cooper, 2011
Kellan Fluckiger, 2003
Mike Anderson, 1991, 1992
Rod Severen, 1985, 1987, 1988
Rocco Liace, 1986
Dan Severn, 1981
Curley Culp, 1967
Szuba then lined up against No. 8 Ben Kueter (Iowa), but fell short in a 7-0 decision as he is now slated to compete in the heavyweight seventh-place match in session five.
Graduate student Colton Hawks (197 pounds) had his historic run come to a close after falling in his quarterfinal matchup to No. 5 Joey Novak (Wyoming), 15-3. Hawks then dropped his round of 12 match in tiebreakers to Branson John (Maryland), 5-1, to officially end a tournament for the ages.
Freshman Kyler Larkin and redshirt freshman Kaleb Larkin both had their first full seasons come to an end after each went 0-2 on Friday.
The Sun Devils will close out the 2025-26 season as Ruiz and Szuba will compete for their respective podium placements in session five of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, beginning at 8:00 a.m. MST on ESPNU and ESPN+
Sun Devils' round-by-round results
133 | No. 5 seed Kyler Larkin (2-2, eliminated)
R32: MD 13-0 over No. 28 seed Garrett Grice (Iowa State)
R16: F 4-3 (6:32) over No. 12 seed Evan Mougalian (Penn)
QF: No. 4 seed Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech) TF (16-1 / 4:56) over Larkin
Cons. R4: No. 15 seed Tyler Knox (Stanford) 5-4 dec. over Larkin
141 | No. 28 seed Pierson Manville (0-2, eliminated)
R32: No. 5 seed Luke Stanich (Lehigh) TF (21-6 / 7:00) over Manville
Cons. R1: No. 12 Luke Simcox (North Carolina) 5-4 dec. over Manville
157 | No. 4 seed Kaleb Larkin (2-2, eliminated)
R32: MD 14-5 over No. 29 seed Bryce Lowery (Indiana)
R16: F (2:42) over No. 20 Jimmy Harrington (Harvard)
QF: No. 5 seed Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) 9-6 dec SV over Larkin
Cons. R4: No. 15 seed Cam Catrabone (Michigan) 7-3 dec. over Ruiz
165 | No. 4 seed Nicco Ruiz (4-1)
R32: MD 17-5 over No. 29 seed Ryan Burgos (Edinboro)
R16: 2-1 TB over No. 13 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota)
QF: No. 12 seed Cesar Alvan (Columbia) 4-2 dec. over Ruiz
Cons. R4: Ruiz 8-2 dec. over No. 7 seed Max Brignola (Lehigh)
Cons. R5: Ruiz 2-0 dec. over No. 9 seed Bryce Hepner (North Carolina)
174 | No. 31 seed Cael Valencia (0-2, eliminated)
R32: No. 2 seed Simon Ruiz (Cornell) TF (17-2 / 7:00) over Valencia
Cons. R1: No. 18 seed Colin Kelly (Illinois) MD 22-10 over Valencia
197 | No. 29 seed Colton Hawks (2-2, eliminated)
R32: 12-8 dec. over No. 4 seed Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech)
R16: 5-1 dec. over No. 13 seed Bennett Berge (South Dakota State)
QF: No. 5 seed Joey Novak (Wyoming) MD 17-5 over Hawks
Cons. R4: No. 16 seed Branson John (Maryland) 5-1 Dec. TB-1 over Hawks
HWT | No. 10 seed David Szuba (1-1)
R32: 11-1 MD over No. 23 seed Stephen Monchery (Appalachian State)
R16: No. 7 seed Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) 4-1 dec. over Szuba
Cons. R2: Szuba TF (19-4 / 7:00) over No. 24 Connor Barket (Duke)
Cons. R3: Szuba 7-2 dec. over No. 15 Brady Colbert (Army)
Cons. R4: Szuba 4-2 dec. over No. 21 Juan Mora (Oklahoma)
Follow along
Follow Sun Devil Wrestling at sundevils.com, on @ASUWrestling on X, SunDevilWrestling1962 on Instagram and Sun Devil Wrestling on Facebook for all the latest coverage and content throughout the season.