TEMPE - It's time for some #MarchMatness! Sun Devil Wrestling will be in Stanford, California this weekend for the 2023 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships. Competition runs all day Sunday, March 5 at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on the Stanford University campus. The Maroon and Gold enter the weekend with returning champions Brandon Courtney (125), Michael McGee (133), Kyle Parco (149), and Cohlton Schultz (HWT) all vying for more hardware. The aforementioned are also all No. 1 seeds in the tournament.
Session 1 will begin at 10 a.m. PT and will include the preliminary rounds. Session 2 will begin at 4:45 p.m. PT with the 5th-place matches, followed by the championship matches at 6 p.m., live on Pac-12 Networks. Live coverage will take place on Pac-12 Networks, with additional coverage of the event across Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app. Onsite fans: Parking is free in the Maples lot (and every lot on campus) all day on the weekends.
Pac-12 Championships full info
Pac-12 Championships bracket & seeds
Purchase Pac-12 Championship Tickets
NCAA Championships Qualifying Allocations
ASU Pac-12 Championship notes
Sun Devil Seedings and Opening Opponents
No. 1 Brandon Courtney, first round bye
No. 1 Michael McGee, first round bye
No. 3 Emilio Ysaguirre vs Jaylen Carson (6), Little Rock
No. 1 Kyle Parco, first round bye
No. 5 Max Wilner vs Matt Bianchi (4), Little Rock
No. 5 Tony Negron vs Tyer Brennan (4), Little Rock
No. 3 Cael Valencia vs Triston Wills (6), Little Rock
No. 2 Anthony Montalvo, first round bye
No. 5 Josh Nummer vs Mateo Morales (4) CSU Bakersfield
No. 1 Cohlton Schultz, first round bye
Pac-12 Championships Broadcast Schedules
Session 1 - 10:00 a.m. PT
Session 2 - 4:45 p.m. PT (5th place matches); 6:00 p.m. PT (finals & 3rd place matches)
Streaming links (everything except the finals + third-place matches):
Channel 1: http://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university
Channel 2: https://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university-2
Finals will stream exclusively on the Pac-12 Network
Sun Devils in the Postseason
Facts and figures:
ASU's lineup in the postseason:
125 Brandon Courtney - 3x Pac-12 Champion, 3x All-American
133 Michael McGee - 3x conference champion (only one with ASU/Pac-12), 2x All-American
149 Kyle Parco - 1x Pac-12 Champion, 2x All-American, 2022 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year
HWT Cohlton Schultz - 2x Pac-12 Champion, 2x All-American, '22 Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year
The Sun Devils' lineup for Pac-12s may surprise some. ASU was bitten by the injury bug this year and lost 141 Jesse Vasquez, 157 Jacori Teemer and 197 Kordell Norfleet. None of the replacements have shined as much as true freshman Emilio Ysaguirre, a 2022 Fargo quarterfinalist and one of the hottest wrestlers in the 2022 recruiting class. The Eloy, Arizona, native came in late to replace Vasquez and wasted no time, picking up a major decision in his first match against CSU Bakersfield before upsetting Nebraska's No. 4 Brock Hardy.
Emilio Ysaguirre on the opportunity to compete:
"You know, it was a big decision to pull my redshirt, but you know, I felt more ready than ever coming off good wins.I felt prepared. I feel like I can win a national title and I feel ready to go. I have trust in my coaches. They believe in me, but the biggest thing is I believe in myself, and you know that decision was on me and I'm ready to go."
Ysaguirre on his upset over Hardy:
"I felt great. Those last two duals with Cal State and Nebraska were probably some of the best wrestling matches I've had in a very long time and I felt great offensively and defensively. I just feel super prepared and super ready. I feel unstoppable. I feel like I can't be beat at this moment and I believe that, my coaches believe that. People just believe in me and I believe in myself. We're ready to rock."
Brandon Courtney on his mindset going into the postseason:
"My mindset is the same as it's been these last four years: I want to go get that title in this conference for our team, and individually go out and do it in a nice fashion. I feel like this season I really haven't tapped into my full potential and I know I kept saying that I'm right around the corner, but I fixed it and I worked on all the areas that needed work. I'm going in there with a strong mindset and I'm ready to work. I'm excited to show what I have."
"I'm taking things one day at a time. When you tend to look too far forward into those [postseason matchups] situations, you start to freak yourself out, get too psyched up, or get too proud about it. I don't want to get weird about it so I just take it one day at a time."
"We've been training hard and we've been training smart. The fans are going to see a whole different team at Pac-12s and Nationals and I think we're ready to go out there and put on a show."
Michael McGee on his mindset for the postseason and what fans should expect:
"I want to fight for every point, wrestle hard and don't think too much into it. Just go out there and have fun, everything else will take care of itself."
"I'm focusing on really just staying present every practice and trying to just continue to learn. It's not over yet. There's still a lot of time to kind of learn from my mistakes and just get better tactically and technically. I'm just focusing on the little things but mainly just staying present and trying to continue to improve."
"We're not a good team to count out. I think we got the firepower, we got some guys that we know could do some damage and we're well coached. We've trained hard. Don't be quick to count us out."
McGee on looking past the Pac-12s to the NCAA Championships
"You can never really look too far ahead on anything - I've learned that from just being in past tournaments. I would definitely say I'm not looking too deep into the NCAA matchups, that I'm really just more focused on being the best me and peaking at the right time. I think that the best version of me, I'm kind of going to bet on that guy any day."
Session 1 will begin at 10 a.m. PT and will include the preliminary rounds. Session 2 will begin at 4:45 p.m. PT with the 5th-place matches, followed by the championship matches at 6 p.m., live on Pac-12 Networks. Live coverage will take place on Pac-12 Networks, with additional coverage of the event across Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app. Onsite fans: Parking is free in the Maples lot (and every lot on campus) all day on the weekends.
Pac-12 Championships full info
Pac-12 Championships bracket & seeds
Purchase Pac-12 Championship Tickets
NCAA Championships Qualifying Allocations
ASU Pac-12 Championship notes
Sun Devil Seedings and Opening Opponents
No. 1 Brandon Courtney, first round bye
No. 1 Michael McGee, first round bye
No. 3 Emilio Ysaguirre vs Jaylen Carson (6), Little Rock
No. 1 Kyle Parco, first round bye
No. 5 Max Wilner vs Matt Bianchi (4), Little Rock
No. 5 Tony Negron vs Tyer Brennan (4), Little Rock
No. 3 Cael Valencia vs Triston Wills (6), Little Rock
No. 2 Anthony Montalvo, first round bye
No. 5 Josh Nummer vs Mateo Morales (4) CSU Bakersfield
No. 1 Cohlton Schultz, first round bye
On Sunday we go for conference title number 2??4?? ??
— Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling) February 27, 2023
Pac-12 Championships run all-day at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.
Tickets ?? & info ??https://t.co/8KLNw6RuHJ pic.twitter.com/VGMwUwws9H
It is March. #MarchMatness pic.twitter.com/GBgogrNwrv
— Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling) March 1, 2023
Pac-12 Championships Broadcast Schedules
Session 1 - 10:00 a.m. PT
Session 2 - 4:45 p.m. PT (5th place matches); 6:00 p.m. PT (finals & 3rd place matches)
Streaming links (everything except the finals + third-place matches):
Channel 1: http://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university
Channel 2: https://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university-2
Finals will stream exclusively on the Pac-12 Network
Sun Devils in the Postseason
Facts and figures:
- ASU is going for its 24th conference title in program history (22nd in Pac-10/12 era)
- ASU Pac-12 titles in recent history: 2022, '21, '20, '18, '17 - all under Zeke Jones
- Zeke Jones - 3x Pac-12 Coach of the Year, 32 individual Pac-12 titles since his hiring
- ASU had six Pac-12 Champions last season and five All-Americans
ASU's lineup in the postseason:
125 Brandon Courtney - 3x Pac-12 Champion, 3x All-American
133 Michael McGee - 3x conference champion (only one with ASU/Pac-12), 2x All-American
149 Kyle Parco - 1x Pac-12 Champion, 2x All-American, 2022 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year
HWT Cohlton Schultz - 2x Pac-12 Champion, 2x All-American, '22 Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year
The Sun Devils' lineup for Pac-12s may surprise some. ASU was bitten by the injury bug this year and lost 141 Jesse Vasquez, 157 Jacori Teemer and 197 Kordell Norfleet. None of the replacements have shined as much as true freshman Emilio Ysaguirre, a 2022 Fargo quarterfinalist and one of the hottest wrestlers in the 2022 recruiting class. The Eloy, Arizona, native came in late to replace Vasquez and wasted no time, picking up a major decision in his first match against CSU Bakersfield before upsetting Nebraska's No. 4 Brock Hardy.
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Emilio Ysaguirre on the opportunity to compete:
"You know, it was a big decision to pull my redshirt, but you know, I felt more ready than ever coming off good wins.I felt prepared. I feel like I can win a national title and I feel ready to go. I have trust in my coaches. They believe in me, but the biggest thing is I believe in myself, and you know that decision was on me and I'm ready to go."
Ysaguirre on his upset over Hardy:
"I felt great. Those last two duals with Cal State and Nebraska were probably some of the best wrestling matches I've had in a very long time and I felt great offensively and defensively. I just feel super prepared and super ready. I feel unstoppable. I feel like I can't be beat at this moment and I believe that, my coaches believe that. People just believe in me and I believe in myself. We're ready to rock."
Brandon Courtney on his mindset going into the postseason:
"My mindset is the same as it's been these last four years: I want to go get that title in this conference for our team, and individually go out and do it in a nice fashion. I feel like this season I really haven't tapped into my full potential and I know I kept saying that I'm right around the corner, but I fixed it and I worked on all the areas that needed work. I'm going in there with a strong mindset and I'm ready to work. I'm excited to show what I have."
"I'm taking things one day at a time. When you tend to look too far forward into those [postseason matchups] situations, you start to freak yourself out, get too psyched up, or get too proud about it. I don't want to get weird about it so I just take it one day at a time."
"We've been training hard and we've been training smart. The fans are going to see a whole different team at Pac-12s and Nationals and I think we're ready to go out there and put on a show."
Michael McGee on his mindset for the postseason and what fans should expect:
"I want to fight for every point, wrestle hard and don't think too much into it. Just go out there and have fun, everything else will take care of itself."
"I'm focusing on really just staying present every practice and trying to just continue to learn. It's not over yet. There's still a lot of time to kind of learn from my mistakes and just get better tactically and technically. I'm just focusing on the little things but mainly just staying present and trying to continue to improve."
"We're not a good team to count out. I think we got the firepower, we got some guys that we know could do some damage and we're well coached. We've trained hard. Don't be quick to count us out."
McGee on looking past the Pac-12s to the NCAA Championships
"You can never really look too far ahead on anything - I've learned that from just being in past tournaments. I would definitely say I'm not looking too deep into the NCAA matchups, that I'm really just more focused on being the best me and peaking at the right time. I think that the best version of me, I'm kind of going to bet on that guy any day."