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ASU wrestling will look to end Oregon State's conference win streak on Sunday

ASU junior wrestler Ares Carpio wrestles with Cal Poly freshman Yoshito Funakoshi in the 125-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. The Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)
ASU junior wrestler Ares Carpio wrestles with Cal Poly freshman Yoshito Funakoshi in the 125-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. The Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)

ASU junior wrestler Ares Carpio wrestles with Cal Poly freshman Yoshito Funakoshi in the 125-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. The Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press) ASU junior wrestler Ares Carpio wrestles with Cal Poly freshman Yoshito Funakoshi in the 125-pound weight division match at Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 16, 2015. The Sun Devils would win in dominating fashion beating the Mustangs 30-9. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)

The ASU wrestling team is preparing to make the trip to Corvallis, Oregon, for the Pac-12 Championships this weekend as the Sun Devils look to topple the hosting Oregon State Beavers, who have won the tournament the last three years.

The Sun Devils have not won a Pac-12 title since 2006. They won their first title in 1980 and won seven straight titles from 1985-91. The reigning champion Beavers have won 21 conference titles in their history with their first one in 1965.

Oregon State will be the heavy favorite to win again this year, as the Beavers head into the tournament with a 12-1 overall record and are the only team with a perfect 6-0 conference record. They edged out the Sun Devils in Corvallis 16-15 in November.

That kind of road experience may be a huge benefit for the Sun Devils in this tournament.

“We’ve been on the road trying to face some of the better guys, so I think any time you get exposure to wrestling some of those top guys obviously you’re going to benefit from it,” redshirt junior Blake Stauffer said.

Stauffer is in the hunt not only to win the Pac-12 tournament at 184 pounds but is in contention to bring home national title at that weight class. However, winning as a team is just as important for the redshirt junior.

“As a team, as a whole, even in a loss and even in a win we’re learning as we go,” he said. “And ultimately building for that Pac-12 championship and then on to the NCAA tournament.”

At last year’s tournament, ASU placed fourth picking up 111 points while the Beavers won with 155.5 points. The Stanford Cardinal and the Boise State Broncos finished second and third last year. The team did not send home any champions but did have some runner-ups that remain on the team this season.

Redshirt senior Joel Smith came in second place at 157 pounds. Stauffer at 184 pounds, junior Matt Kraus at 149 pounds and redshirt junior Preston McCalmon at 149 pounds all finished in third. Junior Ares Carpio at 125 pounds and redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira at 197 pounds both finished in fourth place.

Stauffer will be bringing a 21-match winning streak with him to Corvallis, and if he wrestles the way his coaches have been telling him all season, there is no reason that the streak has to be broken on Sunday.

“I think that if we can go into Pac-12s and wrestle the way they’ve been teaching us all year then I think we will come out victorious,” Stauffer said.

Another name to look out for as a potential winner in his weight class is redshirt freshman Christian Pagdilao at 149 pounds who is currently ranked at no. 13. Pagdilao lost two matches in February but was previously on a 16-match winning streak. He is coming off a win in the team’s last dual against Cal Poly so he’ll be looking to bring some more of that momentum with him to Corvallis on Sunday.

The Pac-12 Champions begin on Sunday, March 1, at Oregon State with the first session starting at 11:30 a.m. Arizona time. The finals will begin at 6 p.m. Arizona time and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or on Twitter @bill_slane.

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