Jan. 4, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - Following a two-week hiatus from competition over the winter and holiday breaks, the No. 18 Arizona State wrestling team took to the mats for a pair of duals as it searched to end its three-dual losing streak and capture its first win of the season Tuesday in Fresno, Calif. The Sun Devils (1-3-1, 0-0-0 Pac-10) easily downed Menlo College, 35-6, to secure its first win of the season before settling for an 18-18 tie with host Fresno State (2-3-1) in the night cap inside the North Gym on the campus of FSU.
In the opener, the Sun Devils won nine of the 10 contested bouts to easily take home its first victory of the season, 35-6. The lone loss of the dual came at 197 where ASU forfeited the bout for six points to Menlo. No. 10 Patrick Williams (Sr., Homestead, Fla.) and No. 8 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) led the way with victories by forfeit at 149 and fall at 184, respectively. Chris Frieje (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) and No. 13 Brian Stith (So., Hampton, Va.) secured major decisions at 141 and 157, respectively, while five other Sun Devils won by decision. Those victorious members of the team included Alex Contreras (Fr., Tolleson, Ariz.) at 125, Curtis Ray (So., Mesa, Ariz.) at 133, Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway, Wash.) at 165, Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) at 174 and No. 3 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.) at heavyweight.
With their first win in hand, the Sun Devils turned their attention to the host Bulldogs in the nightcap. No. 9 Jeremy Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) opened things up for ASU at 125 as he scored an 11-5 decision over Christian Bowerman to stake the Sun Devils to an early 3-0 lead. FSU would storm back, however, as Joe Mavins recorded a 4-3 decision over Ray at 133 to tie the score at three before Garrett Spooner pinned Frieje in 4:19 to give the hosts six more points and a 9-3 lead.
Williams used an 8-3 decision at 149 to cut the deficit to a 9-6 Bulldog advantage, but three wins in a row by FSU put the Sun Devils behind in an 18-6 hole. No. 14 Jim Medeiros downed Stith, 2-1, in double overtime at 157 before Pitsch and Renzi each dropped decisions, 7-6 and 6-4 in overtime, respectively, for FSU's final wins of the night. In need of individual victories and team points, Dollaway scored his second fall of the night, pinning Jatinder Singh in 2:01 to cut the host's lead to 18-12.
No. 6 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev.) took to the mat for the first time at 197 and exacted a bit of revenge as he scored a 7-3 decision over No. 7 Marcio Botelho to cut the deficit to 18-15. Heading into the final bout of the night, any type of ASU victory would prevent the Sun Devils from their fourth loss of the year, while a major decision or better would give ASU the team win. In the third battle of Top 20 foes on the night, No. 3 Velasquez recorded a 4-2 decision over No. 14 Clint Walbeck to give ASU three team points and a team tie at 18-18. In recent years, criteria was set in place for breaking ties in dual meets, but this year, only ties in team dual tournaments will be broken, thus ending the dual between ASU and FSU in a tie.
The dual with Menlo was the first in the series between the two schools while ASU and FSU met for the 24 time. The tie was the first in the series that the Sun Devils lead, 18-5-1.
ASU returns to action Monday, Jan. 10, with a trio of duals to open a stretch of five home duals in a row. The Sun Devils will face Utah Valley State at 4 p.m. before its annual intrastate battle with Embry-Riddle at 5:30 p.m. The evening concludes with a 7 p.m. Pac-10 dual with Cal State Bakersfield.
Arizona State 35, Menlo College 6
January 4 - Fresno, Calif.
125 - Alex Contreras (ASU) dec. Jeff Aguilar (MC), 14-7
133 - Curtis Ray (ASU) dec. Pablo Sanchez (MC), 12-7
141 - Chris Freije (ASU) m.d. Tony Martinez (MC), 11-3
149 - Patrick Williams (ASU) fall by forfeit
157 - Brian Stith (ASU) m.d. Artem Krylov (MC), 15-5
165 - Patrick Pitsch (ASU) dec. Kyle Bickford (MC), 4-2
174 - Rick Renzi (ASU) dec. Chris Rueckert (MC), 8-2
184 - C.B. Dollaway (ASU) fall Michael Jeffery, 2:22
197 - Mariano Sanchez (MC) fall by forfeit
HWT - Cain Velasquez (ASU) dec. Jacob Hallmark (MC) 6-1
Arizona State 18, Fresno State 18
January 4 - Fresno, Calif.
125 - #9 Jeremy Mendoza (ASU) dec. Christian Bowerman (FS), 11-5
133 - Joe Mavins (FS) dec. Curtis Ray (ASU) 4-3
141 - Garrett Spooner (FS) fall Chris Freije (ASU), 4:19
149 - #10 Patrick Williams (ASU) dec. Dan Cadwallader (FS), 8-3
157 - #14 Jim Medeiros (FS) dec. #13 Brian Stith (ASU), 2-1 [2 OT]
165 - Shane Seibert (FS) dec. Patrick Pitsch (ASU), 7-6
174 - Chris Gifford (FS) dec. Rick Renzi (ASU), 6-4 [OT]
184 - #8 C.B. Dollaway (ASU) fall Jatinder Singh (FS), 2:01
197 - #6 Ryan Bader (ASU) dec. #7 Marcio Botelho (FS), 7-3
HWT - #3 Cain Velasquez (ASU) dec. #14 Clint Walbeck (FS), 4-2