As they head into two road showdowns this weekend, the Sun Devil wrestling team is searching for a big dual meet victory to turn the season around.
After last week’s drubbings at both No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Oklahoma, ASU (5-9, 1-1 Pac-12) has a more realistic shot to snap its seven-match skid against Cal Poly (4-5, 2-2 Pac-12) on Friday night or Cal State Bakersfield (2-5, 0-4 Pac-12) on Sunday afternoon.
“We know that we need to start winning some matches,” ASU coach Shawn Charles said. “We’re competing against our conference now, so it’s very important that we wrestle well.”
The Sun Devils will need more individual victories than they had last weekend, when only three grapplers in maroon and gold won matches during the two duals.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Radford, the only ASU wrestler to post a win in both meets, explained that it’s going to take total and complete concentration from everyone in order to get a couple wins against the California schools.
“A part of the problem is that a lot of us have mental lapses during matches,” Radford said. “We’ll relax for 20, 30 seconds and then get down by a couple points. If everyone just sticks to the process, goes out there and wrestles as hard as they possibly can, and is continuously wrestling, that’s just something that’s going to make us better every day for the next three or four years. ”
The Sun Devils aren’t merely looking to get better, Charles noted. ASU’s last win was Dec. 29, 2011, against Boise State. The team’s ability to win over the last month has been handicapped by its tendency to give up bonus point victories.
“We know we’re going to win matches,” Charles said. “As long as we’re not giving up bonus points, we should be fine.”
ASU’s top priorities this weekend include pushing the tempo and not allowing any pins.
“A critical part of our past success in matches is not giving up those falls,” Charles said. “We have to be very focused on making sure we don’t give up bonus points.”
The squad’s freshmen took several lessons from last week’s losses. The Sun Devils realized they’re in better shape than most opponents.
“We learned this past week at Oklahoma that if we wrestle the whole time, not a lot of teams can keep up with our conditioning,” Radford said.
Radford also believes he and the other freshmen know what it takes to be successful at the Division I level.
“At the beginning, a lot of us took our lumps and everything,” Radford said. “Now, everybody’s learning what to do, what not to do and how to finish out the matches.”
Despite the losing streak, ASU hasn’t strayed from their usual routine in practice.
“Nothing has really changed in the (preparation) aspect,” Charles said. “It’s just a matter of focusing now. Every match and every point is important.”
Friday’s California action begins at 7 p.m. at Mott Gymnasium in San Luis Obispo, while Sunday’s meet in Bakersfield is set to start at 2 p.m. inside the Icardo Center.
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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