The ASU wrestling team posted a 1–1 record on its road trip this weekend with Sunday’s victory against Cal State Bakersfield snapping an eight-match losing streak for the Sun Devils.
ASU (6–10, 2–2 Pac-12) fell to Cal Poly 26–11 on Friday night before toppling the Roadrunners of Cal State Bakersfield 24–17 on Sunday afternoon.
It was a much-needed victory for the youthful team, which has struggled with consistency during the season.
“I feel like we finally got the majority of our team on the same page, as far as wrestling hard,” assistant coach Brian Stith said. “In matches before, we only had one or two guys wrestling hard.”
With just one showdown remaining before the Pac-12 championships Feb. 26, ASU’s win finally gives the team some momentum.
“It made the bus ride home much better, and I think that everyone’s morale is up now,” redshirt junior Levi Cooper said. “I hope that we can feed off this win and have a great week of practice.”
The Sun Devils know they can’t remain content with Sunday’s success. Cooper acknowledged that despite the win against CSU Bakersfield, ASU still has a lot of work to do in practice.
“This weekend, we didn’t wrestle anywhere near our full potential,” Cooper said. “We need to go out and improve these next few weeks in order to do what we want to do when the Pac-12 tournament rolls around.”
The team’s freshmen continue making steady progress toward preparation for spots at the year-end national tournament in St. Louis.
“We’re taking it day to day, but we’re closer,” redshirt freshman Kevin Radford said. “We just have to put in these last couple weeks, and I think we’ll surprise some people at the Pac-12s.”
Stith also agreed the Sun Devils’ young guns are coming along, and the progress they’ve shown is indicative of how good the team will perform in the future.
“I’d say the three best guys on our team right now are all freshmen,” Stith said. “That shows how good we can be in the future.”
For the time being, however, ASU will have to figure things out on the fly. As Cooper explains, this group of freshmen will be ready for anything when the Pac-12 tournament starts.
“Everyone has to have their first trip there, and it’s a little bit overwhelming,” Cooper said. “A lot of these guys have gone through a really grinding schedule, a much more difficult schedule than the one I went through when I was a freshman. They’ve wrestled some of the best guys in the country, and nothing’s going to be a surprise to them. They know what they’re in store for.”
As the Sun Devils prepare for battle Sunday with Stanford at home, Cooper continues to work to end up at the top of the podium in St. Louis.
The heavyweight finished eighth at last year’s NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.
“I know what it’s going to take at the end of the year,” Cooper said. “I need to put in another two or three good weeks until the Pac-12s roll around, but I’m happy with where I’m at right now, and I’m ready to make a run and win a national title.”
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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