Nov. 26, 1997
Sun Devil Wrestling Heads To Stillwater
ASU faces pre-season No. 1 Oklahoma StateOn Tap: The Arizona State wrestling team, ranked 6th in the pre-season, opens it's dual meet season Saturday, November 29 in Stillwater, Oklahoma where they will wrestle pre-season No. 1 Oklahoma State.
A Look at ASU: ASU returns four All-Americans from a team that won the Pacific-10 conference crown last year. Senior Aaron Simpson (177) enters the season ranked 3rd in the nation in his weight class. Simpson finished 16-1 in duals last year and won his first conference championship. Senior Matt Suter (158), who won his second conference title last year, finished 8th at last year's NCAAs and is ranked fifth in the country at 158.
Junior Casey Strand (167) was the Sun Devils highest finisher at the NCAAs with his sixth place showing. Strand, who also won the Pac-10 Championship, is ranked fourth in the nation in his weight class. Danny Felix returns to the team after using his redshirt season last year. Felix won the Pac-10 title at 118 in each of his three year's at ASU. This season Felix will jump up to wrestle at 126. The rest of the Sun Devils line-up will be up for grabs.
At 118, sophomores Michael Kawamura and Matthew Azevedo will battle for time. Freshman Quinn Foster will wrestle at 134, with senior Shawn Ford potentially moving up to this weight. 142 looks to be Tracy Brown's this year, who last season earned a wild card entry into the NCAAs. Redshirt-freshman Steven Blackford and senior Adam Freidman will both see time at 150. Freshman Micah Daggy and senior Jake Harman have wrestled well at 190. Joe Micela returns to the heavyweight spot, with freshman Jed Jobe behind him.
About the Cowboys: Oklahoma State boasts the pre-season No.1 ranking, a runner-up finish in last year's NCAAs and is riding a 25-dual match winning streak. This season the Cowboys return eight starters from last year's squad. Leading the Cowboys is defending national champion at 134, Eric Guerrero. Steven Schmidt, who was the NCAA runner-up at 134, moves up to 142 this season. Also returning is pre-season No. 1 at 118, Teague Moore and Mark Smith who is ranked 3rd at 167. Smith is the younger brother of ASU head coach Lee Roy Smith.
Last Year: Oklahoma State handed the Sun Devils their worst loss in school history, 42-0 on Jan. 2 in Reno, Nevada. ASU then dropped a closer 26-10 decision to OSU on Feb. 23 in Tempe.