Courtesy of Iowa State Athletic Communications
TEMPE, Ariz. – It was a big win. For Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Jackson, it was the 11th victory of his coaching career, but for the vaunted Cyclone wrestling program, it was a more tremendous milestone. No. 2-ranked ISU posted the 1,000th dual win in program history Sunday afternoon in Wells Fargo Arena, beating Arizona State, 30-10. Iowa State turned up the heat on the Sun Devils, winning seven of the nine contested matches to become the first collegiate program to reach 1,000 wins.
Jackson recognized the magnitude of his team’s win, but stressed to importance of further improvement from the Cyclone grapplers.
“We’re happy with the victory,” Jackson said. “We’re glad this group of guys was able to accomplish that for our university and for all Cyclones out there.
“I don’t believe we wrestled to our full ability today. Overall, we’ll take the win, but we have to improve. We have to wrestle the way we want to wrestle at the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA tournament. That will be our focus over the next few weeks.”
Four Cyclone win results added bonus points towards the team’s effort, with 157-pounder Andrew Sorenson scoring the biggest victory. The sophomore Iowa Stater pinned ASU’s Michael Swigart in the first period at the 1:53 mark. Sorenson drove the Sun Devil straight to his back after finishing a double-leg takedown. Top-ranked Cyclone Jake Varner also earned six team points after being forfeited to at 197 pounds. The two teammates hold season records of 22-6 and 22-0, respectively.
ISU 165-pound junior Jon Reader recorded his fifth technical fall of the season against Arizona State’s Kyle DeBerry. Reader powered his way to a 13-0 lead to finish the first period. Starting in neutral, the two-time All-American ended the match with a takedown at the 3:23 mark. Reader improves to 19-3 and 11-2 in dual matches.
Senior 133-pounder Nick Fanthorpe scored bonus points for Iowa State with a 12-3 major decision of ASU’s Ben Ashmore. Fanthorpe (13-6) nears the 100-win plateau with a 95-29 overall record for his career.
Cyclones Mitch Mueller (149), Duke Burk (174) and David Zabriskie (HWT) notched victories by decision in their matchups against Arizona State. Mueller edged Sun Devil Vicente Varela by a score of 3-2. Burk was victorious over ASU’s Eric Starks, 7-2. Zabriskie concluded the dual meet with a 4-1 win over Erik Nye of Arizona State.
The ISU-ASU dual began with fireworks at 125 pounds with a matchup of top-five individuals. Fifth-ranked Cyclone Andrew Long was unable to finish off an upset of No. 3 Anthony Robles of ASU after leading 10-2 in the second period. The Sun Devil went on a run of 10 points to close the match against the redshirt freshman Cyclone, 12-10.
The Cyclones return home to Hilton Coliseum Feb. 14 to dual Big 12 foe Missouri. Mat competition begins at 2 p.m.
IOWA STATE 30, ARIZONA STATE 10 125 pounds – No. 3 Anthony Robles (ASU) dec. No. 5 Andrew Long (ISU), 12-10 133 pounds – No. 10 Nick Fanthorpe (ISU) major dec. Ben Ashmore (ASU), 12-3 141 pounds – No. 18 Chris Drouin (ASU) major dec. No. 13 Dalton Jensen (ISU), 10-1 149 pounds – No. 10 Mitch Mueller (ISU) dec. Vicente Varela (ASU), 3-2 157 pounds – Andrew Sorenson (ISU) pinned Michael Swigart (ASU), 1:53 165 pounds – No. 2 Jon Reader (ISU) tech. fall Kyle DeBerry (ASU), 15-0 (3:23) 174 pounds – Duke Burk (ISU) dec. Eric Starks (ASU), 7-2 184 pounds – Jake Meredith (ASU) dec. No. 10 Jerome Ward (ISU), 3-2 197 pounds – No. 1 Jake Varner (ISU) won by forfeit HWT – No. 4 David Zabriskie (ISU) dec. No. 14 Erik Nye (ASU), 4-1
