Oct. 26, 2012
By: Jourdan Rodrigue
The Maroon & Gold Wrestle-offs took place on Friday night at the Riches Wrestling Complex in Tempe. The annual intrasquad dual readies both the wrestlers' roster and their minds for the upcoming season.
Both Maroon and Gold teams had notable alumni serve as honorary captains for the match. This year, two-time All-American, Dave Douglas, and all-time great NCAA Champion and four-time All-American, Eric Larkin, led each team respectively.
Gold came out strong as redshirt sophomore Dalton Miller defeated freshman Ares Carpio in a 13-1 major decision. Carpio cramped up with a minute left in the third period and couldn't make a comeback.
There was a fierce battle for the 141-pound spot as RS freshman Alex Schmersahl was defeated by a 10-3 decision by freshman Matt Kraus.
A bloody mouth and redshirt sophomore Joel Smith's multiple cautions gave redshirt freshman Preston McCalmon the chance to edge him out 5-4 in the final seconds of the 149-pound matchup and gave Maroon the lead 6-4.
Gold quickly regained the lead at the 157-pound spot as freshman Codey Combs came out strong and racked up ten points in the first period alone. Sophomore Rush Hall couldn't answer the onslaught and Combs won by major decision 12-0.
The battle for the 165-pound spot was evenly matched as freshman Parker Madl barely edged out freshman Ray Waters 1-0 in the third period. Despite his coach's urging, Waters was unable to fully execute a takedown to steal the victory with eight seconds left.
A takedown in the first period against freshman Christiaan Allen put Blake Stauffer ahead 6-1 in the 174 division. The redshirt freshman won by decision 9-2. The win began the Maroon comeback and the team took the lead 12-11 with a 2-1 upset by redshirt sophomore Kevin Radford by an advantage of riding time.
Gold was not to be defeated, however, as heavyweight RS senior Levi Cooper soundly beat true freshman Luke Bean by major decision, 8-0.
The season is set to officially begin on Nov. 9 in Chapel Hill, N.C., as the Sun Devils will take on North Carolina to open an eventful couple of days that will see ASU take on Bloomsburg and Campbell on Nov. 10 before wrapping things up against The Citadel on Nov. 11.
Final Score: Gold 15, Maroon 12
125-Miller (Gold) maj. Carpio (Maroon), 13-1 (Gold leads, 4-0)
141-Kraus (Maroon) dec. Schmersahl (Gold), 10-3 (Gold leads, 4-3)
149-McCalman (Maroon) dec. Smith (Gold), 5-4 (Maroon leads, 6-4)
157-Combs (Gold) maj. Hall (Maroon), 12-0 (Gold leads 8-6)
165-Madl (Gold) dec. Waters (Maroon), 1-0 (Gold leads, 11-6)
174-Stauffer (Maroon) dec. Allen (Gold), 9-2 (Gold leads, 11-9)
184-Radford (Maroon) dec. Meredith (Gold) , 2-1 (Maroon leads, 12-11)
HWT-Cooper (Gold) maj. Bean (Maroon), 8-0 (Gold wins, 15-12)