Jan. 18, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 10 Arizona State wrestling team dropped its second dual of the day, falling to 2-2 in the 2003 NWCA National Duals in Columbus, Ohio, after No. 3 Minnesota handed the Sun Devils a 26-12 loss in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday evening. ASU will now face No. 5 Michigan for seventh place on Sunday.
After losing the first two duals of the night, Aaron Suzuki (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) at 125 and No. 13 Mike Simpson (So., Anaheim, Calif.) at 133, by a technical fall and a decision, respectively, the Sun Devils got on the board with No. 4 Dana Holland's (Sr., Glendale Heights, Ill.) 15-8 decision at 141. With a depleted lineup, UM's big guns took down ASU's Chris Smith (Fr., Gilbert, Ariz.), a tech fall at 149, Patrick Williams (So., Homestead, Fla.), a major decision at 157, and Mike Smith (Fr., Gilbert, Ariz.), a fall at 165, to build a 23-3 lead.
No. 9 Curtis Owen (Sr., Coeur D'Alene, Idaho) and Ron Renzi (Jr., Burke, Va.) won their matches by decision at 174 and 184, respectively, to bring the team total to 23-9. After a Ryan Bader () loss by decision at 197, No. 4 Kellan Fluckiger (Sr., Preston, Idaho) shutout his opponent, 6-0, to bring the final to 26-12.
In the 13 years the Sun Devils have been apart of the National Duals, they have placed eight times, including this year. The lowest they have finished is seventh and need to defeat Michigan Sunday to keep that in tact.
The Sun Devils face No. 7 Michigan in the seventh place bout at 11 a.m. EST. ASU will return home Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Cal Poly in Pac-10 action.