Redshirt sophomore Blake Stauffer wrestles ISU redshirt freshman Lelund Weatherspoon at a home meet on Feb. 1, 2014. (Photo by Alexis Macklin)A late rally for the Sun Devils fell short in Corvallis, Oregon as the Beavers used a 51-43 advantage in total match points to break a 15-15 tie and win the meet and hand ASU its second loss of the season.
Shades of Friday night in Tempe, it was a slow start for the Sun Devils as the smaller weight classes for ASU struggled to do much against Oregon State. Junior Ares Carpio, junior Cord Coronado and sophomore Mech Spraggins were all handed decision losses for ASU in the first three bouts.
While senior Joel Smith (who did not compete in Corvallis) was the one to get things started for ASU on Friday, this night it was junior Matt Kraus who looked as sharp as any other Sun Devil as he scored a 6-0 decision win to put his team on the board.
However, unlike Smith’s win against Utah Valley, Kraus’ wasn’t the same kind of momentum starter as sophomore Oliver Pierce and freshman Jacen Petersen dropped the next two bouts for ASU.
The Sun Devils wouldn’t lose another match afterwards, but it would be too little too late at that point. Junior Ray Waters next used two takedowns in the second round in his match to hold on to the win, which set up for the marquee matchup of the night.
ASU redshirt junior Blake Stauffer, ranked number 8 in the country, faced off against number six ranked Taylor Meeks of Oregon State at the 184-pound weight class in what will likely be just the first of several times the two will see each other this season. This night belonged to Stauffer, as his two takedowns and one extra point for an escape were enough to hold on to the 6-3 victory on the road.
Stauffer’s win was the one that gave ASU the momentum it desperately needed but the team still trailed 15-9 with two matches left. Redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira took care of his business at the 197-pound weight class to narrow the Beavers’ lead to 15-12 going into the final match, leaving the meet up to the heavyweights to settle.
With the margin at three, redshirt senior Chace Eskam needed more than a decision to clinch the meet for the Sun Devils, but it wasn’t to be.
Eskam was able to score a takedown, along with one that was waved off by the referee much to the dismay of coach Zeke Jones, to secure a decision win and make the score 15-15. The tiebreaker would go to total match points which Oregon State held the advantage in to give them the extra point to win 16-15.
The meet was just the first Pac-12 matchup of the season with plenty more opportunities to come, but it is disappointing for the team that they could not finish the comeback against a conference opponent.
The next event for ASU begins on December 5 when the team travels to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite.
You can reach the reporter atwslane@asu.eduor follow him on Twitter@bill_slane
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