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Wrestling crowns two individual champions, takes third in team score at Big 12 Championship

Final Brackets Opens in a new window Sun Devil Wrestling Conference Individual/Team Champions Opens in a new window Sun Devil Wrestling's Postseason Finishes Opens in a new window Sun Devils in the postseason under head coach Zeke Jones Opens in a new window
Wrestling crowns two individual champions, takes third in team score at Big 12 ChampionshipWrestling crowns two individual champions, takes third in team score at Big 12 Championship
Giuliano Moller / Sun Devil Athletics
by Danny Sullivan

TULSA, Okla. — Sun Devil Wrestling opened postseason action by crowning two individual champions, finishing third in the team standings and qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships after a strong showing at the 2026 Big 12 Championships on Friday and Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Redshirt freshman No. 1 seed Kaleb Larkin won the 157 pound division to become the first-ever individual Big 12 champion since joining the conference a season ago. Larkin finished the weekend a perfect 4-0 headlined by a 4-3 win over Oklahoma State’s No. 2 seed Landon Robideau to etch his name in the history books.

Redshirt sophomore No. 3 seed Nicco Ruiz (165 pounds) made it back-to-back winners for the Sun Devils after downing No.1 seed and No. 4 nationally ranked LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State) in sudden victory by a score of 2-1. 

ASU took third in team scoring with 94 points, its best-ever finish at the Big 12 championship and highest conference tournament placement since winning the Pac-12 in 2024. The Sun Devils improved eight spots from last year’s Big 12 Championship, going from 11th in 2024-25 to now third in 2025-26. 

Team Scoring
1: Oklahoma State (172.0)
2: Iowa State (144.0)
3: Arizona State (94.0)
4: Missouri (84.5)
5: West Virginia (77.5)
6: South Dakota State (76.5)
7: Oklahoma (73.0)
8: Wyoming (67.5)
9: North Dakota State (54.5)
10: Northern Iowa (51.0)
T-11: Air Force (31.5)
T-11: Utah Valley (31.5)
13: California Baptist (21.5)
14: Northern Colorado (15)

The Sun Devils have now secured their 10th top-three finish at the conference tournament during head coach Zeke Jones’ 12-year tenure.

Sun Devils in the postseason under head coach Zeke Jones
Year | Conference | NCAAs
2025-26 | 3rd | TBD
2024-25 | 11th | T-18th
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

Freshman No. 2 seed Kyler Larkin (133 pounds) added a runner-up effort after falling short in the finals. Larkin’s strong weekend was more than enough to officially punch his ticket to the first NCAA championships of his career. Larkin was the first of seven Sun Devils to officially qualify for the NCAA championships. 

A 3-1 weekend for graduate No. 3 seed David Szuba (heavyweight) resulted in a third-place finish in his first Big 12 championship while securing an NCAA’s berth in the process. 

Fellow graduate student Colton Hawks (197 pounds) took sixth place in the 197-lb. division after stringing together a pair of upset wins over No. 7 seed Rune Lawrence (West Virginia) and Logan Thompkins (Air Force) to officially qualify for his fourth career NCAA championship. 

To round out the Sun Devil qualifiers, redshirt senior Cael Valencia took seventh place in the 174 pound bracket to steal a spot in the NCAA championship - the third of his career and second time stealing a spot. 

Sun Devil NCAA Championship qualifiers
133 | Kyler Larkin
157 | Kaleb Larkin
165 | Nicco Ruiz
174 | Cael Valencia
197 | Colton Hawks
HWT | David Szuba 

The NCAA will announce the remaining at-large bids on Tuesday, March 10 with the full bracket and seedings revealed set for Wednesday, March 11.

The Sun Devils postseason journey will continue with the NCAA championships set for March. 19-21 hosted at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The tournament will be available to watch on ESPN+, while matches will also be aired between ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, depending on the round. Streams are available on the NCAA wrestling streaming hub.

Sun Devils' round-by-round results
125 | An’ee Vigil (1-2)

  • R16: No. 2 Stevo Poulin (Iowa State) MD 14-3 over Vigil
  • Cons. R1: TF (22-6 / 4:37) over Cooper Shore (Cal Baptist)
  • Cons. R2: No. 9 seed Mack Mauger (Mizzou) 7-2 dec. over Vigil

133 | No. 2 seed Kyler Larkin (2-1) - Runner-up

  • R16: Bye
  • QF: 8-1 dec. over No. 7 seed Luke Willochell (Wyoming)
  • SF: 11-3 MD over No. 6 seed Gage Walker (Mizzou)
  • Finals: No. 1 seed Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) 15-2 MD over Larkin

141 | No. 5 seed Pierson Manville (1-3)

  • R16: Bye
  • QF: No. 4 seed Julian Tagg (SDSU) 5-1 dec. over Manville
  • Cons. R2: TF (21-2 / 3:24) over Joel Aguilar-Guerrero
  • Cons. R3: Jordan Titus (Missouri) 8-5 SV over Manville
  • 7th place match: Hayden Drury (Utah Valley) 5-4 dec. over Manville 

149 |  Benji Alanis (1-2)

  • R16: No. 3 David Evans (Utah Valley) 2-0 dec. over Alanis 
  • Cons. R1: 8-5 dec. over Bryce Shelton (Air Force)
  • Cons. R2: No. 5 seed Josh Edmond 6-1 dec. over Alanis

157 | No. 1 seed Kaleb Larkin (4-0) First place

  • R16: TF (20-3 /  5:00) over Layton Schneider (Oklahoma)
  • QF: TF (20-3 / 5:47) over Jared Hill (Wyoming)
  • SF: 9-8 dec. over No. 4 seed Ty Watters (West Virginia)
  • Finals: 4-3 dec. over No. 2 seed Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State)

165 | No. 3 seed Nicco Ruiz (4-0) - First place

  • R16: 8-3 dec. over Peyten Kellar (Oklahoma)
  • QF: 10-2 MD over Gabe Schumm (Northern Colorado)
  • SF: 6-5 dec. over No. 2 seed Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa)
  • Finals: 2-1 SV over No. 1 seed LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State)

174 | No. 8 seed Cael Valencia (2-2) - Seventh place

  • R16: Riley Davis (Wyoming) 12-9 SV over Valencia 
  • Cons. R1: Bye
  • Cons. R2: 8-6 dec. over No. 7 seed Brody Conley (West Virginia)
  • Cons. R3: No. 6 seed Moses Espinoza-Owens (SDSU) 4-1 dec. over Valencia 
  • Seventh-place match: 7-2 dec. over Hudson Rogers (Utah Valley)

184 | Shay Addison (1-2)

  • R16: No. 1 seed Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri) TF (19-4 / 2:00) over Addison
  • Cons. R1: 11-1 MD over Brian Burburija (Air Force)
  • Cons. R2: No. 2 seed Zack Ryder (Oklahoma State) 7-3 dec. over Addison 

197 | Colton Hawks (2-3) - Sixth place 

  • R16: No. 1 seed Rocky Elam (Iowa State) 5-1 dec. over Hawks
  • Cons. R1: Bye 
  • Cons. R2: 14-9 dec. over No. 7 seed Rune Lawrence (West Virginia)
  • Cons. R3: 4-2 dec. over Karsten Tompkins (Air Force)
  • Cons. SF: No. 5 seed DJ Parker (Oklahoma) SV 8-5 over Hawks 
  • Fifth-place match: No. 4 seed Bennett Berge (SDSU) 5-1 dec. over Hawks

285 | No. 4 seed David Szuba (3-1) - Third place

  • R16: Bye
  • QF: 4-1 SV-1 over No. 5 seed Juan Mora (Oklahoma)
  • SF: No. 1 seed Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) F (1:57) over Szuba 
  • Cons. SF: 7-1 dec. over No. 7 seed Jarrett Stoner (Missouri)
  • Third-place match: F (2:37) over 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.