Jan. 17, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the second night in a row, the No. 13 Arizona State wrestling team fell into an early deficit before climbing back into the race and winning a conference dual as the Sun Devils handed visiting Cal State Fullerton a 22-12 defeat Saturday evening inside Wells Fargo Arena. ASU (7-4, 3-0 Pac-10) got wins at six weights to win its 15th home Pac-10 dual in a row and made 20-consecutive matches it has not lost dating back to the 1995-96 season. CSF slipped to 3-9 on the year with a 2-4 mark in the conference.
The dual opened at 141 with Jeremy Mendoza (So., Temecula, Calif.) dropping an 8-5 decision. No. 11 Patrick Williams (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) followed with a 6-3 decision victory at 149 to tie the team standings at three apiece. From there, No. 20 Brian Stith (Fr., Hampton, Va.) fell in the second tie-breaker, 2-1, at 157 while Jamie Robbins (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) also fell in overtime, dropping an 8-6 decision, to push the Titans' advantage to 9-3.
Ron Renzi (Sr., Burke, Va.) got the Sun Devils back into the dual with his 8-5 upset of No. 19 Leonel Sanchez at 174, but Jason Trulson (Fr., Fountain Hills, Ariz.) could not hold the momentum as he fell, 8-2, at 184. Trailing 12-6, the Sun Devils sprang to life and won the next four bouts to take the team win. No. 5 Ryan Bader (So., Verdi, Nev.) and No. 19 Landon Seefeldt met at 197 in a bout of nationally ranked foes with Bader escaping in a 1-0 decision.
Clifford Starks (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.), competing in his first home match of the year, nearly pinned his opponent twice at heavyweight on his way to taking a 13-0 major decision victory to put the Sun Devils ahead for good, 13-12. Christian Staylor (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) followed at 125 with a major of his own, stopping Jesse Miramontes, 12-2. In the final bout of the evening, No. 9 Mike Simpson (Jr., Anaheim, Calif.) needed just 4:20 to score 15 points and earn a technical fall and five team points to bring the score to its final margin of 22-12.
In the history of the series, the Sun Devils and Titans have now met 13 times with ASU winning every dual. In terms of scoring difference, the Sun Devils' 10-point victory margin was the third-lowest in an ASU-CSUF matchup with the maroon and gold winning 20-16 in 1990 and 25-16 in 1992.
ASU returns to action one week from today with a 7 p.m. Jan. 24 battle in Norman, Okla., against the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners. The Sun Devils return to home action Jan. 30 when they face No. 2 Nebraska at 7:30 p.m. and Oregon at 2 p.m. on Feb. 1.