Oct. 29, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State University wrestling team held its annual wrestle-off Saturday afternoon at the Riches Wrestling Complex in Tempe with the Gold team handing their Maroon counterparts a 33-10 defeat. The Gold team, coached by Rick Renzi, won the first five bouts of the day over the Patrick Pitsch coached Maroon squad before claiming victory in eight of the 11 bouts contested.
The day opened at 197 pounds with Quinton Pruett taking a 7-5 decision against Thor Moen, needing to hold off Moen in the final seconds to claim the win. From there, the lone 125-pound bout was held with freshman Anthony Robles taking an early lead with a takedown before John Espinoza came back and turned Robles to his back for a fall at 3:14.
The Gold team added three more team points in each of the next two bouts, both of which coming at 133 pounds. In the first bout, Jake Hannaford broke open a close score late in the second as he scored a takedown and three near fall points before claiming an 8-1 decision. The second bout saw a flurry of scrambles and scoring as Todd Schavrien, who lost a 3-2 lead in the first period, came back from an 8-3 deficit before forcing overtime and winning on a takedown 20 seconds into the extra session, 12-10, over Chris Drouin.
Pat Payne, the starter at 149 last year, moved down a weight class this season and picked up a 7-0 decision over Robert Galvan to give the Gold team three more points and an 18-0 lead before the Maroon squad struck back with Jason Robbins scoring a 15-0 technical fall over Cameron Smith at 149 pounds. Robbins, the team's starter at 141 one year ago, has moved up to 149 this year.
With the team score 18-5, the Maroon team looked to cut into the deficit more and did so in the second 149 bout as Lucas Mariacher picked up a 7-2 decision over Sean Jackson to bring the team score to 18-8 for the Gold side. The Gold team earned four more points as returning NCAA runner-up Brian Stith took on two foes at 157 before earning a 22-6 major decision. Stith built a 4-1 lead in the first period against James Fisher before increasing his lead to 10-3 at the end of the second period, scoring six points on three takedowns against Jalonn Wilkins. The third period saw Fisher back on the mat with Stith scoring 10 points to bring the final to 20-6.
Although the dual went back to a more tradition style of match, the result was not normal as Kevin Gaughan (gold) and David Green (maroon) tied, 2-2, following two overtime periods at 174. Both men scored on escapes in regulation before each earned escapes in the tie-breaker session of overtime. Since no riding time was used during any of the bouts on the day and neither man scored in the second overtime, the bout was called a draw with both teams earning two points, bringing the score to 22-8 Gold.
The 184 bout saw Greg Gifford (gold) compete in a Sun Devil singlet for the first time since transferring in from Fresno State after the Bulldogs saw their program cut by the school. After a scoreless first period against Jake Cranford, Gifford scored on an escape before scoring two takedowns in the second to open a large lead. He would win the bout in a 7-2 decision. The final bout of the day saw Moen return to the mat, this time in a heavyweight contest against Kenny Lester. After no scoring in the first, Moen chose down, but was turned and pinned with Lester earning the fall at 4:15 and giving the Gold team a 33-10 victory.
The Sun Devils open their 2006-07 campaign in two weeks as they play host to three duals inside Wells Fargo Arena on November 12. Portland State and Embry-Riddle will open the duals at 5 p.m. followed by a Pac-10 showdown as the Sun Devils face the PSU Vikings at 6:30 p.m. The final dual of the day will be a Grand Canyon State showdown as the Sun Devils take on the ERAU Eagles at 8 p.m.
2006 Maroon & Gold Wrestle-Off
Riches Wrestling Complex
197 - Quinton Pruett (G) dec. Thor Moen (M), 7-5
125 - John Espinoza (G) pinned Anthony Robles, 3:14
133 - Jake Hannaford (G) dec. Tyler Bowles (M), 8-1
133 - Todd Schavrien (G) dec. Chris Drouin (M), 12-10 1ot
141 - Pat Payne (G) dec. Robert Galvan (M), 7-0
149 - Jason Robbins (M) tech fall Cameron Smith (G), 15-0
149 - Lucas Mariacher (M) dec. Sean Jackson (G), 7-2
157 - Brian Stith (G) major James Fisher & Jalonn Wilkins (M), 20-6
174 - David Green (M) tied Kevin Gaughan (G), 2-2 2ot
184 - Greg Gifford (G) dec. Jake Cranford (M), 7-2
285 - Kenny Lester (G) pinned Thor Moen (M), 4:15
Gold (coach Rick Renzi) def. Maroon (coach Patrick Pitsch), 33-10