Feb. 5, 2011
TEMPE - Heavyweight Levi Cooper upset the 10th-ranked wrestler in the nation and Anthony Robles, in his first week ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds, easily won again, but No. 14 Nebraska won the team dual, 35-8, Friday night inside the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. The loss drops the Sun Devils to 5-10 on the year while the Huskers improved to 12-4 overall.
The dual opened at 149 pounds with the hosts racing out to a 26-0 lead as they won the first six weights, including forfeits at 157 and 174 as ASU’s starters work to return from injury. Tai Fukumoto dropped a 7-2 decision to Ross Grande at 149 before #1 Jordan Burroughs won by technical fall at 165 over Te Edwards (21--6). ASU lost a pair of close matches at 184 and 197 as Jake Meredith fell, 5-0, to No. 10 Josh Ihnen and Luke Macchiaroli lost a 3-1 decision to No. 14 Andy Johnson, respectively.
At heavyweight, Cooper made a solid return to the mat, less than one week after having to injury default at home with an injury six seconds into the match. In this week’s meeting with No. 10 Tucker Lane, neither was able to score in the first period and Cooper chose down to start the second. He escaped bottom and Lane did the same to open the third period, sending the match into overtime. In the one-minute extra session, Cooper shot in and pulled Lane down to score the 3-1 win and give ASU three team points.
In the next match, Robles took to the mat as the top-ranked wrestler in the nation in most polls and showed why he will be a tough foe at the national level as he won his 18th technical fall and 25th match overall. Robles, who defeated Shawn Nagel, 18-0, raced out to a 14-0 lead through the first period as he scored on a takedown, three, three-point near falls and one, two-point near fall. Robles chose down and reversed Nagel to his back to open the second period for the final scoring of the match.
Trailing 26-8 in the team standings, ASU dropped its last two matches as Kalin Goodsite fell, 4-0, to Ridge Kiley at 133 and Carlos Castro was pinned by Mike Koehnlein in 6:20 of the 141 match.
The Sun Devils return to action on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT as they will face No. 15 Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.
#14 Nebraska def. Arizona State, 35-8
Friday, February 4, 2011 • NU Coliseum (Lincoln, Neb.)
149 - Ross Grande (N) dec. Tai Fukumoto, 7-2
157 - Tyler Koehn (N) won by forfeit
165 - #1 Jordan Burroughs (N) tech fall Te Edwards, 21-6
174 - Caleb Kolb (N) won by forfeit
184 - #10 Josh Ihnen (N) dec. Jake Meredith, 5-0
197 - #14 Andy Johnson (N) dec. Luke Macchiaroli, 3-1
285 - Levi Cooper (AS) dec. #10 Tucker Lane, 3-1sv
125 - #2 Anthony Robles (AS) tech fall Shawn Nagel, 18-0
133 - Ridge Kiley (N) dec. Kalin Goodsite, 4-0
141 - Mike Koehnlein (N) pinned Carlos Castro, 6:20
Attendance: 907