Nothing ever goes completely as planned, but a night for wrestling in Wells Fargo Arena was still a success.

Apparently, the weather didn’t want an indoor sport competing on Friday, either.

Nebraska wasn’t able to make it to the Valley due to the bad weather, leaving a blank for the No. 24 ASU wrestling team on alumni night.

But a call from ASU coach Shawn Charles to Embry-Riddle coach Ken Ramsey filled the void.

“We really wanted to get [Nebraska] in this gym and beat them,” Charles said. “I think we have the squad that could’ve done that, but safety is first. I’m just really happy we could get Embry-Riddle to come out here under such short notice to give us a dual for our fans.”

ASU (8-4) was scheduled to compete against Embry-Riddle (4-11) on Sunday, and the Eagles were already in the Valley for the Grand Canyon Duals on Saturday.

With several special events planned for Friday, including the return of four former ASU wrestlers who are now UFC fighters, Charles knew he had to scramble to get an opponent for the dual.

“I just really appreciate [Ramsey] working it out were they could come out to us [Friday] and give us a dual like they did,” Charles said. “I don’t know very many other guys that would’ve done that.”

Even with all the accommodations and line-up changes, a wrestling dual did begin on time as scheduled.

The Sun Devils started off fast with three straight victories.

ASU junior Ben Ashmore (141) led off the night by pinning Embry-Riddle junior Ryan Luu, followed by victories from ASU senior Jake Hannaford (149) and ASU sophomore Vicente Varela (157).

Varela quickly took control of his match early in a major decision over No. 10 Embry-Riddle junior Trace Billet (13-4).

“I felt like I could take him down whenever I wanted to,” Varela said. “You can impose your will a little bit and take the match wherever you want it.”

Varela’s match was followed by the only victory for the Eagles.

No. 3 Embry-Riddle junior Tyler Chang took control of ASU sophomore Te Edwards in the second and third rounds to record a major decision (17-5).

From that point on, the Sun Devils began to roll to a 41-4 victory.

“As a team, we wrestled well,” Charles said. “I told the guys to wrestle these guys no differently if they were wrestling the University of Nebraska.”

ASU sophomore Kyle DeBerry (174) scored a major decision over Embry-Riddle sophomore Matthew Hamilton, sophomore Eric Starks (184) pinned Embry-Riddle freshman Matthew Skinner, No. 13 senior Erik Nye pinned Embry-Riddle freshman Johnny Perez and No. 3 junior Anthony Robles pinned Embry-Riddle freshman John Garza.

The crowd of 1,267, which included UFC’s Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson, was a welcome sight for coach Charles.

“It’s awesome, that’s what we need,” Charles said. “That’s what we really want to get this university back to.”

For Bader, what he saw on the mat Friday resembled the work ethic that was present during his days as part of the ASU wrestling team.

“They are some of the hardest working people out there,” he said. “I’ve had the hardest workouts and the hardest time here at ASU.”

Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu