TEMPE – Sun Devil Wrestling and head coach Zeke Jones announced the first dual of the 2026-27 season, welcoming Big 12 Champions, Oklahoma State to Desert Financial Arena on Friday, November 20 at 6 p.m. MST, one day before Sun Devil Football hosts the Cowboys at Mountain America Stadium.
The full 2026-27 schedule will be announced at a later date. Arizona State will compete at National Duals for the second straight year, held in Tulsa, Okla. for the second straight season on Dec. 12-13.
“We are excited to host Oklahoma State here at home again. The history and the tradition with 34 national championships tells you something that it is important there.” said head coach Zeke Jones. It is a bullet point on our schedule and that’s something that we focus on to get ready for. They are good, top-to-bottom in every weight class and have a rich history and tradition in wrestling.” Jones added.
Last year, when the pair of teams faced off against one another in front of 4,049 fans, it was the second largest attended meet for the Sun Devils since 2012. According to FloWrestling, The Cowboys have a preseason team ranking of No. 2 in the nation, only behind reigning NCAA Champion Penn State and won the Big 12 Conference for the second straight year, for the 21st time in program history.
“The last time we hosted a team like this we had Penn State who was No. 1 in the country and almost 9,000 people here. I think Oklahoma State who is a top-2 team in the country will draw a similar crowd. I think it is a great opportunity to host a really good team early in the year, find out where we are at and do it in Sun Devil land.” Jones exclaimed.
Big 12 Champion, Kaleb Larkin at 157-lbs earned a tech fall win in last year’s dual against the Cowboys when he wrestled at 149 lbs. Kaleb finished last year with a 26-4 record with 15 bonus point wins.
Returning All-American Nicco Ruiz defeated OSU’s Kody Routledge with a 10-9 decision last November in a dual between the teams. Ruiz, won the Big 12 individual title at 165-lbs last March and earned six wins at the NCAA Championships, finishing fourth nationally at 165.
Sophomore Kyler Larkin went 19-4 in his freshman season, including a 10-5 decision against former Sun Devil national champion Richard Figueroa II at 133 lbs. Larkin was runner-up in the Big 12 Championships at 133-lbs and made it to the round of 12 at NCAAs last March.
It will be the third season in the Big 12 for head coach Zeke Jones. Last March, ASU finished third in the conference for its 10th top-three finish in a conference championship in Jones’ 12-year tenure.
The Sun Devils finished 13th at NCAAs, up five spots from the 2024-25 season. Along with Ruiz earning All-American honors, heavyweight David Szuba finished seventh to earn All-American accolades, making it the seventh straight season ASU has had a heavyweight earn All-American honors.
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.