The ASU wrestling squad endured a rough road trip this weekend, as the Sun Devils (5-9, 1-1 Pac-12) dropped a 33–6 decision to No. 1 Oklahoma State on Friday night before falling 33–7 to No. 11 Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Radford was the highlight of the weekend for ASU, as he was the only wrestler to post two wins on the weekend in upsets against both the Cowboys and the Sooners at 184 pounds.
“I give special kudos to (Radford),” ASU coach Shawn Charles said. “He won both his matches, and that’s pretty hard to do against these types of schools. He was the only one to go undefeated, so hopefully he’ll remember this and use it in the near future to be the best wrestler he can be.”
Despite the fact that Radford, true freshman Rush Hall and senior Eric Starks were the only ASU grapplers to come away with wins this weekend, Charles refused to take a negative outlook on what has been a trying season for the freshman-laden Sun Devils.
“We knew we were going to be wrestling some very tough teams,” Charles said. “I really believe that from this experience, the whole team (and) the whole program got better.”
In a learning season such as this one, ASU is taking inspiration from any source that provides it. This past weekend, Radford was that source.
“It should give a lot of confidence to (Radford) that he can compete with the best of the best,” Charles said. “As far as our team, we’re just young. They competed hard, wrestled well, and I’m just hoping that these experiences that we’re going through with this young group will fuel them to wrestle well at the Pac-12 championship and the NCAA tournament this year.”
The third-year coach also stressed that ASU improved in a number of key areas during the duels, especially in regards to surrendering pins and wrestling hard for the entire match.
“We didn’t give up any falls against the No. 1-ranked school in the country, and only one against the No. 11-ranked school in the country,” Charles said. “That’s a big improvement, because the Oklahoma State match was the first time we didn’t give up a fall in a competition.”
Sooner or later, Charles explained, the Sun Devils are finally going to turn the corner and start winning meets.
“Every time we go out there and have a chance to compete, we’re just going to get better and better at being able to show up, at home or away, and win some of these bigger matches in the near future,” Charles said.
Until then, the youthful Sun Devils must keep grinding away and “taking their lumps,” as captain Levi Cooper said last week before the trip.
“It’s just a matter of time for us,” Charles said.
ASU hits the road again this weekend for another set of duels. The Sun Devils take on Cal Poly on Friday night before facing Cal Bakersfield on Sunday afternoon.
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
