The youthful ASU wrestling squad is set to open the 2011-12 season tomorrow at the Eastern Michigan Open in Ypsilanti, Mich. The tournament will serve as the Sun Devils’ first opportunity to demonstrate that their lack of experience doesn’t necessarily translate to a lack of talent.
“At this point, I think our conditioning level’s where it should be, I think our strength is where it should be,” coach Shawn Charles said. “The kids understand my expectations of them when they walk out on the mat this weekend, and I think that’s really important.”
ASU is fresh off the Maroon and Gold Wrestle-Offs last Friday at the Riches Wrestling Complex. Several Sun Devil freshmen showed flashes of brilliance at the intrasquad showdown, including Derek Felton and Tommy Burriel, both of whom had pins on the night.
“There’s a lot of talent in this wrestling room, and there’s a lot of guys that could potentially start,” assistant coach Anthony Robles said.
As many as eight redshirt freshmen are expected to receive time out on the mat this year, and many will be starting this weekend in Ypsilanti. In addition to Felton (165) and Burriel (197), Dalton Miller (125), Shane McGough (133), Nathan Hoffer (141), Joel Smith (149), Hans Rasmusson (157) and Bobby Bowman (184) are all freshmen that Charles anticipates to have an impact this year.
“There’s still a few very contested weight classes,” junior heavyweight Levi Cooper said of the competition between the veterans and the youngsters. “The coaches will evaluate the situation more (after Michigan), I’m sure.”
Six of those eight aforementioned freshmen won at least one state title in high school. Transfer Victor De Jesus, a two-time national junior college champ at 149 pounds, will also figure to mix into the starting line-up this year.
Charles will also rely on Cooper as ASU’s only returning All-American and the senior duo of Eric Starks (174) and Jake Meredith (184) to anchor the inexperienced Sun Devils.
“Meredith’s been hurt, so we’ll see how he does when he comes back,” Cooper said. “We’ll have Bobby Bowman wrestling (184) for the first few weeks of the season … Starks is definitely the starter at 174. Other than that, we’re going to have a lot of young guys starting this year.”
ASU will be taking two wrestlers in several weight classes to Ypsilanti in a meet that should provide plenty of gut-checks for the Sun Devils. But as Charles pointed out, ASU has been preparing all off-season for this moment.
“We’ve got some very talented kids, some very hardworking kids, some kids that have aspirations to be All-Americans and national champs,” Charles said. “And they don’t just say it, they also show it by their actions and how hard they work and how hard they train on a day-to-day basis.”
The tournament will begin at 9 a.m. ET inside Bowen Field House.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
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