TEMPE – Sun Devil Wrestling opens its first of six home competitions on Saturday hosting the Sun Devil Invitational, welcoming Embry-Riddle, Hope International and Arizona Christian to Desert Financial Arena Saturday at 11 a.m. MST. Coverage can be seen on ESPN+ throughout the afternoon.
The invite will host three duals taking place at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. with a tournament beginning at 11 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m.
No. 14 Arizona State will host its first dual of the year hosting the reigning Big 12 Champions, No. 2 Oklahoma State on November 20th at 6 p.m. MST at Desert Financial Arena where fans can purchase a ticket bundle to attend both the wrestling dual and the Football game at Mountain America Stadium at 8:15 p.m. MST for $40. Single match tickets are available now for all home matches this season.
Schedule of Events:
11a-5p Sun Devil Round-Robin Matches
Sun Devil Duals
11:00 am
Mat 1 ACU vs. ERU (Embry-Riddle)
Mat 2 ASU vs. HIU (Hope International)
1:00 pm
Mat 1 ACU vs. HIU
Mat 2 ASU vs. ERU
3PM
Mat 2 ASU vs. ACU (Arizona Christian)
Last time Out:
The Sun Devils won five titles in their season opener at the Michigan State Open Saturday in East Lansing. 14 Sun Devils placed third place or better with seven members of the program making finals in their respective weight classes. Christian Castillo, Kyler Larkin, Kaleb Larkin, Gabriel Delgado and Ben Szuba all earned titles in their first action of the 2026-27 season.
Devils Debut:
No one had a better debut in the Maroon and Gold than 125-pounder Christian Castillo last weekend in East Lansing, taking home the title in the 125 fresh/soph bracket with five tech-fall victories and outscoring opponents 98-21 in five matches. Castillo scored the most points among all wrestlers (98) and had the most tech-falls on the day. The Iowa State transfer is ranked 12th in the country by InterMat.
Larkin Around:
At the Michigan State Open, Sophomore Kyler Larkin defended his title, winning at 141 pounds and going 5-0 after moving up a weight class. Last year he won the title at 133 LBS. Larkin had two falls and two tech-falls en route to a title. Kyler Larkin managed to score 80 points which was second most among all athletes. His older brother Kaleb Larkin went 4-0 and had three tech-falls to secure the title at 174-lbs after moving up two weight classes over the off season.
Ranked Opponents in 2026-2027
The Sun Devils enter their third year in the Big 12, the competition continues to heat up, facing several ranked programs in duels and competing in the one of the most prestigious invitationals in college wrestling. Of the team's 11 duals, seven of the opponents appeared in FloWrestling’s preseason rankings, including two of the top three programs in the country.
vs. #2 Oklahoma State
at #3 Nebraska
at #13 Lehigh
at #10 Iowa State
vs. #18 Oklahoma
at #23 West Virginia
Vs. Wisconsin
Sun Devils in the Rankings:
125: Christian Castillo - 12th (Intermat)
133: Adrian Meza - 22nd (Intermat)
141: Kyler Larkin - 9th (FloWrestling)
149: Pierson Manville - 19th - (FloWrestling)
165: Nicco Ruiz - 3rd (FloWrestlng)
174: Kaleb Larkin - 5th (FloWrestling)
184: Aidan Brenot - 20th (Intermat)
HWT: Ben Szuba - 28th (FloWrestling)
Welcome to Tempe:
Arizona State welcomes 10 newcomers to the team and the No. 5 recruiting class ahead of the new season. Four top-70 recruits join the Sun Devils after a third-place finish in the Big 12 last March and a 12th place finish at NCAA championships. Head coach Zeke Jones is adding seven freshmen and three transfers to the program in a highly competitive Big 12 Conference.
Freshman Rylan Seacrist was the No. 2 lightweight prospect in the country coming out of high school and is an U.S. Open All-American and an Ohio state champion. He went 121-27 in high school and is the first top-20 recruit since the 2024 national champion, Richie Figueroa.
Two-time NCAA Championship participant Aidan Brenot joins the team after three seasons at North Dakota State, having a 48-37 career record. He finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships and made it to the blood round in 2025, going 3-2 at nationals and being a No. 23 seed at 184-pounds. In his collegiate career, he has 15 major decision victories and was a two-time Tennessee state champion at Clarksville.
Chandler, Ariz. native Kal-El Fluckiger is ranked No. 33 nationally and held a 21-8 record in high school. He is a top-ranked recruit in the 215 lb weight class, but will wrestle at 285 lbs. Fluckiger placed fourth at Junior National Championships last Sunday, July 12 and was recognized as a Fargo junior All-American.
Sun Devil Newcomers:
Christian Castillo
Adrian Meza
Aidan Brenot
Rylan Seacrist
Antonio Rodriguez
Travis Cardenas
Justin Wardlow
Max Wirnsberger
Billy Ward
Kal-El Fluckiger
Been around for awhile:
Arizona State head coach Zeke Jones is entering his 13th season at the helm of the wrestling program and is the longest tenured head coach in Tempe since his hiring in 2014. Jones is one of eight alumni who are head coaches at Arizona State and earned an ASU degree.
Sun Devil head coaching timeline:
Zeke Jones, Wrestling (13th year in 2026–27/hired April 9, 2014)
Missy Farr-Kaye, Women's Golf (12th year in 2026–27/hired June 26, 2015)
Jay Santos, Gymnastics (11th year in 2026-27/hired May 27, 2016)
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.
Tightly bonded:
The Sun Devils have three separate duos of brothers on the active roster: Larkins (Kaleb and Kyler), Morenos (Damian and Gael) and Ysaguirres (Aidan and Emilio).
Returning Big 12 Champs:
Zeke Jones and crew has a pair of returning Big 12 Champions to the squad this upcoming season, Nicco Ruiz secured the first conference title in Big 12 history for the program at 165-lbs and earned All-American honors with a fourth place finish at NCAA Championships was the best by a Sun Devil .Steve Blackford took third in 2000 to earn All-American honors. Ruiz went 29-7 last year which led the team in wins.. Joining him is junior Kaleb Larkin, who won a Big 12 title at 157-lbs and went 26-4 last year. Larkin, went 11-1 in duals and 8-0 in Big 12 matches last year.
2025-26 Season Recap:
The second season for the Sun Devils in the Big 12 Conference featured the debut of Kyler and Kaleb Larkin. Arizona State saw a 51-point improvement in the postseason with a third place finish at the conference championships. Ruiz and Ben Szuba earned All-American status last year as Szuba became the seventh-straight Sun Devil heavyweight to become an All-American with his seventh place finish. The team saw an improvement in duals with a 4-2 finish to end the season, highlighted by victories over No. 22 Cornell, No. 22 Oregon State, and No. 22 Lehigh.
Follow along
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