The ASU wrestling team opens its season Saturday with a pair of duals against intrastate schools.
The Sun Devils will face off with Grand Canyon inside Antelope Gymnasium in Phoenix at 1 p.m. before heading north to Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus for a 7 p.m. dual against the NAIA No. 10 Eagles at the Activity Center Gymnasium.
“This is a great way to build some confidence and for the coaching staff to identify some areas of strengths and weaknesses,” ASU coach Shawn Charles said. “People wrestle differently [under the lights] than they do practice-wise. There’s a lot of things we can watch and see right now.”
ASU enters the meet ranked No. 16 nationally, and, with an abundance of new faces set to compete on the mat, Sun Devil fans could see as many as six newcomers in the starting lineups on Saturday.
“It’s a great learning experience for the coaches, and for them,” Charles said. “They’re going to learn a lot about themselves, and it’s also an opportunity to go out there and try some stuff against people you haven’t wrestled before, and see how good your technique is and where you’re at competition-wise.”
Probable first-time starters include Josh Sandoval (transfer from Chattanooga) at 125 pounds, Kalin Goodsite (coming off a redshirt season) at 141, Luke Ashmore (transfer from Oklahoma State) at 149, Bubba Jenkins (transfer from Penn State) at 157, Luke Macchiaroli (transfer from Penn State) at 197, and Levi Cooper (transfer from CS Bakersfield) at 285.
Despite all of the new faces, ASU is “looking really good,” redshirt senior Anthony Robles said.
“We’re confident, and we’re going to go in there and take care of business,” Robles said. ASU, who is making its first visit to ERAU for dual action, holds an all-time record of 62-9-0 against schools from Arizona, and is heavily favored against both the Antelopes and the Eagles.
“We’re trying to smash this team, and shut them out if possible,” junior Te Edwards said.
The Sun Devils do not plan on taking their competition lightly, as they will approach Saturday’s meets with the same attitude as any other match.
“We treat everybody the same,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to get bonus points and attack and pin people. No matter if they’re number one in the country or not ranked at all, we’re trying to beat people by a lot.”
ASU has won 42 straight matches against Arizona schools, and will look to earn its sixth season-opening win in a row. However, Charles said the Sun Devils have been training intensely in practice as of late and have no intention of overlooking Saturday’s meets.
“I don’t want us to look past [GCU and ERAU],” Charles said. “I want us to show them enough respect that we’re going to come here [to practice] this week and train hard for the competition that we have coming up this weekend. And when we get done with this weekend, we’ll show respect for the next program coming in.”
After this weekend, the Sun Devils will begin preparation for their home opener against No. 8 Oklahoma on Thursday, inside Wells Fargo Arena.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
