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No. 4 Sun Devil Wrestling on the Road in Bakersfield
Grapplers take on Cal-State Bakersfield on last road trip
Feb. 10, 1998
On Tap: The Arizona State wrestling team, ranked fourth in the nation, is back on the road in a Pac-10 matchup against the Cal-State Bakersfield Roadrunners. The Devils take on the Roadrunners on Saturday at 8 p.m.(MST). This is the last regular-season road trip for the Devils this season.
Last Week: The Devils split their two matches, losing to second-ranked Iowa 24-13, and defeating the University of Wyoming last night 39-3. On Sunday the Devils lost six matches and won four, receiving victories by senior Shawn Ford, freshman Steve Blackford, senior Aaron Simpson and senior Matt Suter in the loss to the Hawkeyes. Last night ASU won nine of ten matches in the rout of the Cowboys, and recorded three major decisions by Blackford, Strand and Simpson.
About the Roadrunners: Cal-State Bakersfield is ranked 22nd in the most recent poll with an overall record of 8-2. The Roadrunners come into this weekend's match with a 4-1 record in the Pac-10. Bakersfield is led by heavyweight Stephen Neal, who is ranked number one in the nation with an unblemished 28-0 record this season. Junior Mike Mendoza (134) is also ranked 17th in the latest poll for Bakersfield and has a record this season of 24-6. At 167, the Roadrunners have sophomore Lionel Halsey, ranked 20th, with a 22-11 record in 1997-98.
Tentative Roadrunner Lineup:
118: Moses Deflin (18-13) 158: Ian Nelms (7-18)
126: Larry Vasquez (18-12) OR 167: #20 Lionel Halsey (22-11)
Brad Hull (3-6) 177: Raphael Davis (18-15)
134: #17 Mike Mendoza (24-6) 190: Tito Ortiz (16-10)
142: Jonathon Archuleta (15-16) HWT: #1 Stephen Neal (28-0)
150: Nathan Vasquez (17-17) OR
Kirk Metz (6-6)
Up Next: ASU hosts its final home match of the seaosn on February 22nd at 3 p.m. in the University Activity Center against Fresno State University. The Devils next head to Fullerton, California on the campus of Cal-State Fullerton for the Pac-10 Championships where the Devils look to repeat as Pac-10 champions in 1998. The championships will run from February 28th to March 1st, and will go all day.
Arizona State Lineup
118 Michael Kawamura, So. 19-13, 9-9 dual 126 Shawn Ford, Sr. 7-3, 7-2 dual 134 Quinn Foster, Fr. 17-8, 9-8 dual 142 Tracy Brown, Sr. 21-10, 13-5 dual 150 Steve Blackford, Fr. 24-3, 17-1 dual 158 Matt Suter, Sr. 22-6, 9-3 dual 167 Casey Strand, Jr. 21-7, 13-5 dual 177 Aaron Simpson, Sr. 26-2, 18-0 dual 190 Jake Harman, Sr. 12-15, 6-12 dual Hwt Joe Micela, Sr. 14-13, 8-9 dual* ASU wrestling returns three All-Americans to this year's squad.
* Matt Suter (158)
* Casey Strand (167)
* Aaron Simpson (177)
* Senior Aaron Simpson (177) has a perfect dual record this season at 18-0. Simpson also has recorded a team-high eight pins on the season. His quickest fall came at 0:25.
* Junior Casey Strand (167) has posted a team-best seven major decisions this season.
* ASU has finished in the top 10 nationally in 11 of the previous 13 seasons.
ASU 1997-98 Schedule
Date Opponent Result/Time
Nov. 29 Oklahoma State L, 22-9
Dec. 4 Oregon State W, 34-8
Dec. 5-6 Las Vegas Invite Second
Dec. 29-30 Midlands Invite Fourth
Jan. 4 Reno Duals
vs. Boise State W, 35-3
vs. Michigan L, 18-19
vs. Rider W, 19-12
Jan. 9 New Mexico W 53-6
Iowa State W 19-16
Jan. 11 Oklahoma L 21-17
Jan. 17-18 National Team Duals All Day
Jan. 23 Cal Poly-SLO 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 Oregon 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 Brigham Young 2 p.m.
Feb. 8 Iowa 3 p.m.
Feb. 9 Wyoming 7 p.m.
Feb. 14 Cal-St. Bakersfield 7 p.m.
Feb. 22 Fresno State 3 p.m.
Fe. 28- Pac-10 Championships All Day
Mar-1
Mar. 19-21 NCAA Championships All Day
All home matches are bolded and held at the University Activity Center.