Jan. 16, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 18 Arizona State wrestling team won seven of 10 bouts to record a 31-14 decision over visiting Cal State Fullerton Sunday evening in Pac-10 Conference action inside Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils (5-4-1, 2-0-0 Pac-10) used three falls and one technical fall to down the Titans (8-3-0, 2-1-0 Pac-10) for the 14th time in a row and remaining perfect in the all-time series between the two schools at 14-0-0.
The action opened at 184 where No. 8 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) needed 3:17 in order to stake the Sun Devils to an early lead as he pinned Jesse Taylor. With ASU ahead, 6-0, a clash of Top 10 wrestlers took center stage with No. 6 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev.) and No. 9 Landon Seefeldt locking horns at 197. With each wrestler earning an escape, the bout went into sudden victory tied at one. After neither wrestler scored in the one minute extra session, Bader chose down in the first tiebreaker and escaped in four seconds to take a 2-1 lead. In the second session, Seefeldt chose down, but could not escape, giving Bader the 2-1 victory.
Leading 9-0, No. 3 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.) needed 5:40 to add five team points to the scoreboard as he recorded a 19-4 technical fall over Chris Chambers at heavyweight to put the hosts ahead 14-0. The last bout of the night featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers saw No. 9 Jeremy Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) square off with defending Pac-10 Champion Jesse Miramontes at 125. With Mendoza leading 2-1 at the start of the second period, Miramontes chose down. Mendoza positioned himself just right as he scored a fall at 4:01 to push the Sun Devil advantage to 20-0. John Espinoza (So., Phoenix) added to the overall lead with his 13-4 major decision over Paul Tice at 133.
With ASU ahead 24-0, the Titans broke onto the scoreboard with a pair of victories to cut the deficit to 24-10. Juan Mora put the visitors on the board with a pin of Chris Frieje (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) at 6:23 before Jeff Silva recorded a 13-4 major decision over Ross Cromartie (Fr., Dallas, Texas) at 149.
A pair of Sun Devil victories put the dual out of reach for CSUF as No. 13 Brian Stith (So., Hampton, Va.) and Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway, Wash.), at 157 and 165, respectively, each won their bouts. Stith recorded his third major decision victory in a row, this time downing Angelo Lago, 13-1. Pitsch then added another three team points with his 11-4 decision over Risto Marttinen, bringing the score to 31-10. The final bout of the dual saw Leonel Sanchez record a 16-8 major decision over Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) for the final score of 31-14.
ASU returns to action Saturday and Sunday when it travels to Cleveland, Ohio, for the 2005 NWCA National Duals at the Cleveland Convocation Center. The Sun Devils will find out their first round opponent when the brackets are drawn Tuesday evening.