Nov. 27, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 22 Arizona State University wrestling team opened its 2004-05 dual schedule with a trip to Iowa City, Iowa, and fell to host Iowa, 29-10, inside Carver Hawkeye Arena Saturday. Two Sun Devils recorded victories in the dual as they slipped to 0-1 (0-0 Pac-10) on the year while the Hawkeyes moved to 1-0 (0-0 Big Ten). Overall, Iowa holds a 20-1-1 all-time record in the series with ASU while winning 14 duals in a row.
The dual, which had 3,834 fans in attendance, opened at 174 pounds with Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz./Marcos de Niza HS) taking to the mat in his first career dual. After a fast start, Renzi eventually would fall to Luke Lofthouse, 8-5, as the Hawkeyes grabbed an early 3-0 team lead. From there, No. 18 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio/Colby CC) took to the mat for his first Division I dual and nearly upset No. 2 Paul Bradley, taking the highly-regarded Hawkeye to overtime before falling, 9-7, in sudden victory.
Trailing 6-0, the Sun Devils quickly tied the score as No. 4 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev./McQueen HS) pinned Dan Pape in 2:23 and earn six team points. The hosts answered back at heavyweight where Matt Fields upset No. 8 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz./Iowa Central CC), 4-3, to put Iowa back on top, 9-6. But once again, the lead changed hands with Jeremy Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley HS) earning four team points as he scored a 14-0 major decision over Lucas Magnani.
Although the Sun Devils held a lead of 10-9, they would not score again as Iowa swept the remaining five bouts. Adam Hickey (Fr., Mayfield, Ohio/Mayfield HS) made his collegiate dual debut at 133, but was pinned by Mario Galanakis in 1:29. A pair of true freshmen met at 141 with Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis scoring a 10-2 major decision over ASU's Chris Frieje (Fr., Mesa, Ariz./Mesa HS). In the first of two duals featuring two nationally ranked foes, No. 7 Ty Eustice scored a 6-3 decision over No. 9 Patrick Williams (Sr., Homestead, Fla./Neosho CC) at 149 before No. 11 Joe Johnston downed No. 16 Brian Stith (So., Hampton, Va./Frank W. Cox HS), 8-5. The dual concluded with Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway, Wash./Spanaway Lake HS) falling to No. 10 Mark Perry in a 14-3 major decision.
Overall, the Sun Devils slipped to 30-13 all-time in season-opening duals and have fallen in their previous three lid-lifters. In the past two seasons, ASU has opened the season with a showdown against Iowa, losing 24-17, a year ago in a dual in Tempe.
ASU remains on the road Sunday afternoon as its heads to Ames, Iowa, for a 2 p.m. CST showdown No. 5 Iowa State. The dual, which pits teacher and former Sun Devil head coach Bobby Douglas against pupil and current ASU head man Thom Ortiz, will take place inside Hilton Coliseum.