Robles, Meredith win, but wrestling falls to Cal Poly
Anthony Robles closed out his home career in dominating fashion and Jake Meredith scored a win by fall, but those two victories were not enough as visiting No. 22 Cal Poly won a 40-11 decision in a Pac-10 Conference dual held Sunday afternoon inside Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The loss drops the Sun Devils 5-9 on the year and 1-3 in the Pac-10 while the Mustangs improved to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-10.
Before the dual began, the program and over 1,400 fans in attendance saluted seniors Robles and Bubba Jenkins in their final home appearance. Robles would wrestle in the final match of the day while Jenkins, still recovering from an injury sustained a few weeks ago, was in each match, coaching and urging his teammates on.
The dual opened a 133 pounds with the Mustangs taking a 3-0 lead as Brandan Rocha won a 9-5 decision over Kalin Goodsite in his second match at that weight after wrestling much of the season at 141. The Mustangs grew that lead to 21-0 after scoring six points each in the next three weights. First up, no. 2 Boris Novachkov pinned ASU’s Carlos Castro in 4:46 of the 141 match before No. 12 Filip Novachkov scored a pin of his own in 6:29 of the 149 match over Tai Fukumoto. Barrett Abel won by forfeit at 157.
At 165, Te Edwards tried to halt the CPU run, but could not come out on top of a match filled with scrambles as No. 13 Ryan DesRoches won a 14-6 major decision to make it 25-0 in the team race. After and intermission to honor the alumni in attendance and a forfeit win at 174 for CPU’s Steven Vasquez, Meredith finally broke the Mustang scoring run to make it 31-6 with his win by fall in 2:13. Meredith shot in on Kelan Bragg and eventually worked his opponent to his back where he flattened him out and picked up the win.
The next two matches went the way of the visitors as Ryan Smith defeated Luke Macchiaroli with a 5-2 decision at 197 and Atticus Disney won by injury default at heavyweight over Levi Cooper as the Sun Devil big man could not continue after hitting his knee into the surround hardwood basketball floor. With that loss, the visitors lead stood at 40-6 with only one match remaining.
With a thunderous ovation, Robles took to the mat inside WFA for the final time in his collegiate career and gave the fans much to cheer about. After his opponent, Britain Longmire, continued to circle the center of the mat in the opening minute, Robles was able to corral is opponent’s wrist and then leg before scoring a takedown. Robles turned Longmire twice to build an 8-0 lead through one period. In the second, Longmire chose neutral and went for a shot, but Robles countered through it and put Longmire down for two more points before turning him twice more with the final turn giving the Sun Devils a 16-0 technical fall win, the 17th of the season for Robles, and still-perfect 24-0 record. Robles ends his career with an 18-4 all-time home record and won the last 10 in a row.
With their final home dual in the books, the Sun Devils will now turn to the road for the next two weekends where they will face three nationally ranked foes in a row. Next weekend, ASU will take on No. 15 Nebraska at 7 p.m. CT on Friday in Lincoln before facing No. 16 Iowa State at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday in Ames.
#22 Cal Poly def. Arizona State, 40-11
Sunday, January 30, 2011 • Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe)
133 - Brandan Rocha (CP) dec. Kalin Goodsite, 9-5
141 - #2 Boris Novachkov (CP) pinned Carlos Castro, 4:46
149 - #12 Filip Novachkov (CP) pinned Tai Fukumoto, 6:29
157 - Barrett Abel (CP) won by forfeit
165 - #13 Ryan DesRoches (CP) major Te Edwards, 14-6
174 - Steven Vasquez (CP) won by forfeit
184 - Jake Meredith (AS) pinned Kelan Bragg, 2:13
197 - Ryan Smith (CP) dec. Luke Macchiaroli, 5-2
285 - Atticus Disney (CP) def. Levi Cooper, injury default (0:06)
125 - #2 Anthony Robles (AS) tech fall Britain Longmire, 16-0
Attendance: 1,413 • Officials: Cody Olson & Charlie Jones