TEMPE – As Arizona State heavyweight graduate student No. 19 David Szuba exited the tunnel, the crowd was not as riled up, but more anxious and eager to see what he could do as his entrance music, ‘End of Beginning’, played over the loudspeakers of Desert Financial Arena.
His opponent was none other than senior heavyweight wrestler No. 1 Yonger Bastida. Szuba started strong, ending the first period tied at zero, and even managed to lead early into the second period with an escape.
The hope for Sun Devils fans and teammates alike quickly died down, as Bastida went on an 18-5 run to close it out and seal the fate for ASU wrestling Tuesday night.
The Sun Devils fell to Iowa State 29-14 at Desert Financial Arena Tuesday night in a duel that was much closer than the final score indicated. ASU rolled out a few newer faces tonight in hopes of igniting a flame in front of the home Tempe crowd. For the Sun Devils, they stay winless and move to 0-6 on the year and 0-1 in Big 12 play.
“It is crazy,” head coach Zeke Jones said. “I do not go zero for anything in my life. It is a new experience.”
The most haunting point for the Sun Devils has been the inability to see out matches. ASU has consistently gotten production from a select three or four players, but has struggled to secure the fifth or sixth win necessary to see it out.
“We have got to get two wins somewhere else,” Jones said. “That is what we are trying to do. We got a lot of lineup changes, and we are trying to find out who can step up and get that fifth and sixth win … We have some really good kids coming in next year. That would fix that, but it is not going to do it this year.”
The Sun Devils debuted three wrestlers against the Cyclones Tuesday night in the 141, 149 and 197 weight classes.
In 141, senior Benji Alanis made his debut for ASU after transferring in from Northern Colorado last season. Alanis started hot, securing the first takedown of his match before No. 4 senior Anthony Echemendina closed the door on a potential upset.
“I would say Benji is like anybody that is wrestling their first match in January and everyone else has 15 matches,” Jones said. “It is his first time out there. The jitters, the feels so Benji is just starting here, and I think he will start to (improve) once he gets five to eight or nine matches and then he will not feel like that.”
Along with Alanis, making their season debuts were sophomore Daniel Miranda in the 149 class and graduate Colton Hawks in the 197 class.
For guys coming back from injury, such as senior Azizbek Fayzullaev, Jones said he expects them to all be ready after five matches, and says the biggest thing is just getting some of them who have been hurt, like Fayzullaev, back into wrestling shape.
“He wrestled a full match against a top-15 opponent,” ASU assistant coach Frank Molinaro said. “I was proud of him. He was right in the match to win.”
ASU backed Iowa State on its heels early in the 133 class as freshman No. 5 Kyler Larkin pinned freshman Adrian Meza with a cradle to advance to 12-1 on the season and give the Sun Devils an early 6-0 lead.
“Kyler Larkin’s cradle was a highlight for me,” Molinaro said. “The cradle was phenomenal. Against a guy that he has wrestled his whole life, to still be able to get that move was really impressive.”
After two straight technical fall wins for Iowa State in the 141 and 149 weight classes, ASU once again had its heavy hitters step up to the plate.
First, making his debut at the 157 weight class was sophomore Kaleb Larkin, who usually is one class down, where he ranks anywhere from two or three in the 149 class. Larkin went toe-to-toe with senior No. 3 Vinny Zerban to keep his undefeated season alive.
“Obviously, Kaleb is world-class,” Jones said. “We all know it, and the rest of the country and world are learning it. I fully expected that to happen. I must say this, he is getting off to slow starts. He has to wrestle faster, and he is letting people get in on his legs too much.”
Second was sophomore No. 13 Nicco Ruiz in the 165 class, who defeated junior No. 18 Connor Euton. Ruiz dominated the match right from the start, generating the first takedown within twenty seconds of the duel beginning, and at the end of two rounds led 16-3 before getting another takedown in period three to win by technical fall to regain the lead for the Sun Devils 14-10.
“Kaleb and Nico were a pretty deadly back-to-back combo,” coach Molinaro said. “Two really tough wrestlers.”
Despite the team's struggles this season in meets, coach Jones praised the effort in practice and their overall energy, saying it was not like this last year.
The strength of schedule for ASU has been a key component in its struggles this season. The Sun Devils have faced four top-20 teams as of Jan. 6, and in the eyes of Jones, that will only help them going forward.
“We are battle-tested, and we are going to get exposed so we can make the corrections now,” Jones said. “Every week, we are finding out where we are at, so I think it is great. I do not like the losing part, but I think we are getting ready for the NCAA tournament, and at the end of the day, that is what everybody will look at … That is why we are a constant top-10 team.”
Although Sun Devil wrestling may have lost Tuesday night, Mulinaro got to see one of his own win a wrestling match when one of his young kids picked up the win during a slight intermission between matches.
“I am really proud of Frankie,” Molinaro said. “I never think he is ready before the matches, and I feel like that with all my kids, but I respect the fact that he is a gamer. When it is on the line, he loves that, so it was really cool for me to see that he embraced the pressure of the moment.”
The Sun Devils will look to get their first meet win of the year when they battle the West Virginia Mountaineers Friday, Jan 9, at Desert Financial Arena at 6:30 p.m.
“(We) just got to keep working and keep getting better,” Jones said. “We are going to be ok, it just sucks going through what we are going through.”