Sun Devils Win 7 Matches to Beat Titans Jan. 16, 2005-- Tempe, AZ
The No. 18-ranked Arizona
State wrestling team won seven of 10 bouts to record a 31-14 decision
over visiting Cal State Fullerton Sunday evening in Pac-10 Conference
action inside Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils (5-4-1, 2-0-0 Pac-10)
used three falls and one technical fall to down the Titans (9-3-0, 2-1-0
Pac-10) for the 14th time in a row and remain perfect in the all-time
series between the two schools at 14-0-0.
The action opened at 184 where No. 8-ranked C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead,
Ohio) needed 3:17 in order to stake the Sun Devils to an early lead as
he pinned Jesse Taylor. With ASU ahead, 6-0, a clash of Top 10 wrestlers
took center stage with No. 6 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno, Nev.) and No. 9 Landon
Seefeldt locking horns at 197. With each wrestler earning an escape, the
bout went into sudden victory tied at one. After neither wrestler scored
in the one minute extra session, Bader chose down in the first tiebreaker
and escaped in four seconds to take a 2-1 lead. In the second session,
Seefeldt chose down, but could not escape, giving Bader the 2-1 victory.
Leading 9-0, No. 3 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.) needed 5:40 to add
five team points to the scoreboard as he recorded a 19-4 technical fall
over Chris Chambers at heavyweight to put the hosts ahead 14-0. The last
bout of the night featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers saw No. 9 Jeremy
Mendoza (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) square off with defending Pac-10 Champion
Jesse Miramontes at 125. With Mendoza leading 2-1 at the start of the
second period, Miramontes chose down. Mendoza positioned himself just
right as he scored a fall at 4:01 to push the Sun Devil advantage to 20-0.
John Espinoza (So., Phoenix) added to the overall lead with his 13-4 major
decision over Paul Tice at 133.
With ASU ahead 24-0, the Titans broke onto the scoreboard with a pair
of victories to cut the deficit to 24-10. Juan Mora put the visitors on
the board with a pin of Chris Frieje (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) at 6:23 before
Jeff Silva recorded a 13-4 major decision over Ross Cromartie (Fr., Dallas,
Texas) at 149.
A pair of Sun Devil victories put the dual out of reach for CSUF as No.
13 Brian Stith (So., Hampton, Va.) and Patrick Pitsch (Fr., Spanaway,
Wash.), at 157 and 165, respectively, each won their bouts. Stith recorded
his third major decision victory in a row, this time downing Angelo Lago,
13-1. Pitsch then added another three team points with his 11-4 decision
over Risto Marttinen, bringing the score to 31-10.
The final bout of the dual saw Leonel Sanchez record a 16-8 major decision
over Rick Renzi (Fr., Flagstaff, Ariz.) for the final score of 31-14.
