Three Sun Devils placed in the Eastern Michigan Open on Saturday in what was a learning experience for the youthful ASU wrestling squad.
Returning All-American junior Levi Cooper earned a third-place finish in the heavyweight division, while redshirt freshmen Nathan Hoffer (fourth at 141) and Tommy Burriel (third at 197) also placed for the Sun Devils.
But the efforts of Cooper, Hoffer and Burriel weren’t enough to compensate for what was a disappointing tournament overall for ASU.
“The team was definitely disappointed with the outcome,” Hoffer said. “We didn’t wrestle the way we wanted to.”
That being said, ten wrestlers made their Sun Devil debut over the weekend, with nine of those grapplers earning their first win in maroon and gold.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, just because it’s the first time our team has been to this tournament,” Hoffer said of the experience. “As for as myself, stepping out on the mat was pretty nerve-wracking … It’s just part of the process, though.”
The meet served as a good opportunity for many of the inexperienced Sun Devils to get a few collegiate matches under their belt, but ASU knows that the focus and effort must be increased in order to have the type of season that both the coaches and wrestlers know they’re capable of.
“(Coach Shawn Charles) wanted to see more effort on our part,” Hoffer said. “He was disappointed that we’ve worked so hard and so long just to start off not as good as we wanted to. He wanted to see more effort and more emotion when we wrestle out there.”
Though ASU was disappointed with the overall results, the Sun Devils remain optimistic that their younger guys will continue to evolve into wrestlers that are able to impact the scoreboard.
“We had some good performances from some young kids,” Cooper said. “We had a lot of new young guys step up, and they wrestled as well as good as you could have expected them to for their first tournament ever.”
Cooper knows that there is still much work to be done in order to get the Sun Devils to where they want to be.
The heavyweight was upset in his second match of the tournament before he reeled off four straight convincing victories to win the consolation bracket and take third overall.
“I was the highest ranked guy there, so obviously I wanted to win,” Cooper said. “I dropped a match early, and I was pretty disappointed in myself. But I rallied back and wrestled pretty good, so I’m not upset. I learned something. I’m OK with it, but I’m not happy about it.”
Both Cooper and Hoffer agreed that the Sun Devils must show more desire and camaraderie in order to be competitive in dual meets this year.
“We need to support each other a little more,” Hoffer said. “We really need to go out there and figure out why we’re stepping on the mat and why we do what we do. If we pour our hearts out on the mat, then we’ll be where we want to be and the wins will come.”
ASU returns to action with a double dual next Sunday against Embry-Riddle and Grand Canyon University. The matches are set to start at 2 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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