Jan. 30, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 16 Arizona State University wrestling team won five bouts, two by fall, to secure its second victory in as many days to sweep its road trip through Oregon over the weekend. The Sun Devils (7-6-1, 4-0-0 Pac-10) scored a 23-15 decision over the Oregon Ducks (5-7, 2-5 Pac-10) Sunday afternoon in Eugene, Ore., to remain perfect in conference action.
The dual opened with No. 10 Jeremy Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) scoring an 8-3 decision over Joey Lucas at 125 pounds to stake the Sun Devils to an early 3-0 lead. UO tied and then claimed the lead by winning the next two bouts. Martin Mitchell downed John Espinoza (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) at 133 before Skyler Woods recorded a 9-5 decision over Curtis Ray (So., Mesa, Ariz.) at 141.
ASU reclaimed the lead one bout later as No. 10 Patrick Williams (Sr., Homestead, Fla.) picked up a 19-7 major decision over Nate Gipson, pushing the team score in the Sun Devils' favor, 7-6. No. 15 Brian Stith (So. Hampton, Va.) added six points to the team total as he pinned Stewart Bogart in 4:09 of the 157 bout.
Leading 13-6, ASU looked to add to its lead, but instead suffered a pair of close defeats. At 165, Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway, Wash.), who upset the 14th-ranked wrestler in the nation one day earlier, could not make it two in a row as he fell, 3-2, to No. 17 Joey Bracamonte. Chet McBee added to the Beaver total as he downed Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) at 174, 5-3.
Again leading by one point, the Sun Devils looked to grab wins in the final three bouts to put the team score away. ASU's three big men won two of three bouts with No. 11 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) taking the first as he pinned his foe, Tony Rolen, in 1:42. With the Sun Devils leading, 19-12, No. 7 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev.) looked to win the marquee bout of the afternoon, but was unable to as No. 5 Scott Barker took a 7-0 decision.
Leading by four points and needing any type of victory to win the team dual, No. 4 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.) scored a 10-2 major decision over Chris Dearmon to close out the dual and bring the final score to 23-15.
ASU hits the road for the final time in dual action next weekend as it heads to the Bay Area for a pair of Saturday duals against Pac-10 foes. The Sun Devils open the day with a noon dual in Palo Alto, Calif., against Stanford (5-5-1, 1-3-1 Pac-10) before closing out the day with a 7 p.m. dual in Davis, Calif., against UC Davis (4-3, 3-2 Pac-10). The bouts with the Aggies marks the first time UCD and ASU have meet in dual competition.