As ASU wrestling gets underway of their final season in the Pac-12, they look to leave the historic conference with a bang.
Last year, ASU came close to winning the Pac-12 championship finishing fourth in the tournament. This year, ASU’s lineup is ranked No. 7 by FloWrestling, but team aspirations are even higher; they want to win.
The team brought on nine new freshmen this year to help them through the season; although they are just freshmen, many of them have placed well at their respective state competitions.
Head coach Zeke Jones said that his goals for the team are the same as they are every single year.
"We want to win a conference championship, we want to win a national championship, we want to put everybody on the podium, and we want to win individual national titles," Jones said. "The process is that we want to get better at wrestling, we want to have fun, and we want to be thankful for the opportunity we get to do what we do every day."
Jones said that before the season starts, he's really trying to hammer into his guys that they just need to "relax, breathe, and wrestle."
Assistant coach Lee Pritts, who has been working with the Sun Devil Wrestling program for over a decade, said that his coaching goals all revolve around the wrestlers' goals.
"My goals are the guys' goals, right?" Pritts said. "I’m here to help them. They set the standard, and they set the goals."
Similarly to Jones’ three-word plan, Pritts has one as well, "vision, plan, and execution." He finds out what a certain wrestler's vision is, he helps them plan a way to get to that vision, and then the wrestler has to execute it.
With high team spirits this year, redshirt sophomore Cael Valencia said he looks forward to getting his first Pac-12 title, and right now, he's just focused on consistency.
"Just staying on pace, following the schedule, and just continuing to get better every day," Valencia said. "It’s a marathon, not a sprint."
The team prioritizes team bonding, which comes from how they start practice a couple of times a week. The wrestlers pick teams and play a vastly different sport than wrestling, handball.
Pritts said that the guys get pretty rowdy and competitive when playing, and Jones said it is also a good warm-up before practice. But most importantly, Pritts said they love it. The guys are getting closer and more comfortable with each other, which is vital for the success of the team.
The team already had an intrasquad match, but their first competition against non-Sun Devil wrestlers will be in Bethlehem, PA, on Saturday the 11th, at Wrangle Mania.
Edited by Alfred Smith III, Angelina Steel and Grace Copperthite.
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