Jan. 14, 2012
HAMPTON, Va. – The Arizona State University wrestling team was eliminated from competition at the 32nd Annual Virginia Duals on Saturday morning, falling to North Dakota State, 23-19, in the first round of the consolation bracket in Hampton, Va.
The Sun Devils (5-7, 1-1 Pac-12) split the 10 matches with the Bison, but struggled again with bonus-point losses, which proved to be the difference in the match.
Like yesterday’s dual with Old Dominion, ASU fell behind early after #14 David Sparkle pinned the Sun Devils’ David Prado in 1:59 to give NDSU the 6-0 edge to kick things off.
But also fitting the form of yesterday, redshirt freshmen Shane McGough, Nathan Hoffer and Joel Smith all won their bouts at 133, 141 and 149, respectively to take the lead back, 9-6.
The Bison responded with a #10 Stephen Monk tech fall over Hans Rasmusson at 157 pounds before Tyler Johnson pinned ASU’s Victory DeJesus to open things up.
Eric Starks, returning to the mat this weekend for the first time in nearly two months, answered with a major decision over Joe Garner for his first victory since Nov. 26 – the last competition before a leg injury sidelined the senior.
With the score tight at 17-13, ASU was unable to come up with victories from redshirt freshmen Kevin Radford and Tommy Burriel at 184 and 197 pounds as both dropped close decisions and effectively eliminated the Sun Devils from contention.
Nonetheless, Levi Cooper earned his 20th win of the season in the heavyweight matchup, pinning Evan Knutson in 1:46 to get to the final dual score of 23-19.
The Virginia Duals are a double elimination tournament and thus ASU was eliminated from the competition with the loss after dropping a tough dual to Old Dominion yesterday.
ASU will continue the dual schedule in the coming week with a tough road trip that will see the team square off against top-ranked Oklahoma State on Friday in Stillwater, Okla., at 7 p.m. CST before facing #12 Oklahoma on Norman, Okla., on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.
| 125 | Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State U) over David Prado (Arizona State) Pin 1:59 | 0 | 6 |
| 133 | Shane McGough (Arizona State) over Justin Solberg (North Dakota State U) Dec 13-9 | 3 | 6 |
| 141 | Nathan Hoffer (Arizona State) over Tyler Diamond (North Dakota State U) Dec 7-1 | 6 | 6 |
| 149 | Joel Smith (Arizona State) over Mark Erickson (North Dakota State U) Dec 6-5 | 9 | 6 |
| 157 | Steven Monk (North Dakota State U) over Hans Rasmusson (Arizona State) TF 18-0 | 9 | 11 |
| 165 | Tyler Johnson (North Dakota State U) over Victor De Jesus (Arizona State) Pin 1:44 | 9 | 17 |
| 174 | Eric Starks (Arizona State) over Joe Garner (North Dakota State U) Maj 10-2 | 13 | 17 |
| 184 | Mac Stoll (North Dakota State U) over Kevin Radford (Arizona State) Dec 10-6 | 13 | 20 |
| 197 | John Gusewelle (North Dakota State U) over Tommy Burriel (Arizona State) Dec 5-4 | 13 | 23 |
| HWT | Levi Cooper (Arizona State) over Evan Knutson (North Dakota State U) Pin 1:46 | 19 | 23 |