A trip to Oklahoma for the ASU wrestling team resulted in two tough losses to the No. 4- and No. 12-ranked teams in the country.
The Sun Devils (2-2, 2-0 Pac-10) lost 24-11 on Sunday to Oklahoma (2-0) and 21-9 on Friday to Oklahoma State (1-0).
ASU built an 11-point lead to start the match against the Sooners but failed to gain another point.
Sun Devil junior Anthony Robles (125) started strong by recording four near falls and two takedowns to defeat Oklahoma redshirt freshman Justin Forrest 16-0 and give ASU a 5-0 lead.
ASU junior Ben Ashmore (133) and ASU junior Chris Drouin (141) added to the lead with victories over freshman Alex Ekstrom and junior Zack Bailey, respectively, but Oklahoma finished with seven straight match victories for the win.
Charles said the team believed they could have had some victories after the 141-pound match.
“Our guys are doing a great job of competing,” he said. “Now we have to translate that into victories.”
Friday’s duel against Oklahoma State produced ten tough matches but only Robles, Drouin and sophomore Eric Starks (174) were able to pull off a victory.
Starks’ victory over Oklahoma State sophomore Chris McNeil in the second match of the day tied the team score at 3-3, but the Cowboys took control with three consecutive victories.
“We are going to close the gap on them,” Charles said.
The return to Stillwater for ASU junior Ben Ashmore, who competed for the Cowboys before transferring to ASU, was a tough one as he fell in overtime to Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Jordan Oliver 4-2. The loss marked Ashmore’s first defeat of the season.
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu.
