Feb. 5, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the second weekend in a row, the No. 20 Arizona State University wrestling team set out on the road with a pair of conference duals ahead of it and returned home with a clean sweep. Following a 27-12 defeat of Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., earlier in the day, the Sun Devils (9-6-1, 6-0-0 Pac-10) headed to Davis, Calif., where they handed the UC Davis Aggies a 22-14 defeat in the first meeting between the two programs.
No. 4 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.) opened the dual at heavyweight for the Sun Devils and put the visitors ahead, 4-0, with his 21-8 major decision over Flynn Flicker. At 125, No. 9 Jeremy Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) added a major decision of his own, 9-0 over Pancho Manriquez, to push the ASU advantage to 8-0. But the tables turned in the next two bouts as No. 14 Derek Moore scored a 13-1 major decision over John Espinoza (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) at 133 before Chris Frieje (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) lost his 141 bout to Jeff Bristol by a 10-1 major decision.
Tied at 8-8, No. 14 Patrick Williams (Sr., Homestead, Fla.) pulled out a close 9-8 victory to give ASU an 11-8 lead. No. 13 Brian Stith (So., Hampton, Va.) added a major decision (13-5) over Jesse Padilla at 157 to give the Sun Devils a 15-8 lead with four bouts to go.
Once again, the Aggies fought back. At 165, No. 20 Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway, Wash.) was upset by Frank Richmond, 4-3, before Ronnie Silva handed Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) an 8-5 loss. With the team score at 15-14 in favor of ASU, wins were needed to secure the victory and that is what the team received. At 184, No. 11 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) recorded a 6-1 decision over Brandon Bear to push the advantage to 18-14. No. 7 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev.) closed the book on the dual at 197 when recorded a 9-1 major decision over Michael Clarkston to give ASU a 22-14 victory.
Two duals, both at home, remain on the Sun Devils' schedule. On Sunday, Feb. 13, ASU will play host to Portland State at 2 p.m. before closing out the dual season with a 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, dual with Cal Poly.