Dec. 1, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior Eric Larkin (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked third in the 149 pound weight class nationally, raised his season record to an unblemished mark of 7-0 with a decision win and junior 165-pounder Nick Frost (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked 18th nationally, scored a major decision defeat, but it was not enough as the No. 11 Arizona State wrestling team fell to the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes, 32-7, Sunday evening in Iowa City. In front of 4,672 fans, the hosts won the first three matches to stake a 12-0 lead and never looked back while building its record to 3-0 (0-0 Big Ten) and sending the visiting Sun Devils to a 1-2 overall record (0-0 Pac-10).
The dual opened at 125 pounds with No.1 Luke Eustice scoring a 20-3 (6:17) technical fall victory over ASU's Adam Chavira (Sr., Parker, Ariz.). No. 3 Cliff Moore followed with a 17-7 major decision over Mike Simpson (So., Anaheim, Calif.) to push the Hawkeye lead to 9-0. No. 18 Dana Holland (Sr., Glendale Heights, Ill.) could not keep his dual record undefeated for the Sun Devils as he sustained an 8-1 decision loss to No. 6 Luke Moffitt as UI built its lead to 12-0.
No. 3 Larkin ended the Hawkeye dominance with his seventh win in a row on the year after posting a 5-0 decision over No. 15 Ty Eustice. Larkin is 96-12 in his career at ASU and needs four more wins to join 19 former Sun Devils in the 100 win club. His win broke ASU into the win column for the first time on the night and brought the score to 12-3. The momentum was quickly broken as No. 6 Matt Anderson scored major decision over Mike Smith (Fr., Gilbert, Ariz.) at 157 to put the home team ahead 16-3.
No. 18 Frost struck back for the visitors and defeated Jason D'Agata, 15-5, for a major decision win and put the team score within reach at 19-8. That is where the team scoring ended, as did the wins for the Sun Devils, as the Hawkeyes won the final four bouts to cruise to the win. No. 9 Curtis Owen (Sr., Coeur D'Alene, Idaho) fell at 174, 12-5, to No. 4 Tyler Nixt before No. 2 Jessman Smith was awarded a forfeit win at 184. Ryan Fulsaas defeated Ryan Bader (Fr., Verdi, Nev.) at 197, 12-8, to push the score to 28-7 before No. 7 Kellan Fluckiger (Sr., Preston, Idaho) dropped a 22-6 (5:37) technical fall to No. 2 Steve Mocco to make the final count 32-7.
The home portion of the Sun Devil's 2002-03 slate opens Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. match against Pac-10 foe Portland State inside Wells Fargo Arena. ASU will then compete in the Las Vegas Invitational, Friday and Saturday.