TEMPE, Ariz.—This weekend, the No. 6 Sun Devils will have their first early test, facing the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the nation in road duals. ASU faces No. 3 Michigan at Detroit Catholic Central in Novi, Mich. Friday before heading to Columbus to take on No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday. Friday's contest vs. Michigan will start at 5 p.m. MT while Sunday's dual at Ohio State begins at 11 a.m. MT.
Links to watch and follow live stats are on the wrestling schedule page on TheSunDevils.com. Ohio State's match will be pay-only.
UP NEXT
After being on the road for two full weeks to start the season, the Sun Devils return to Tempe to host No. 23 Pitt at ASU Gammage Theatre in a first-of-its-kind event at 12 noon on Sunday, Nov. 19.
VALENCIA MOVES BACK TO NO. 1
After defeating reigning national champion Mark Hall (Penn State), 3-2, at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 5, Zahid Valencia moved back to No. 1 at 174 lbs. in several polls including Intermat, FloWrestling, and TrackWrestling.
#3 MICHIGAN VS #6 ARIZONA STATE (NOV. 10)
Friday's dual will be held at Detroit Catholic Central High School and will be the first meeting between the Wolverines and Sun Devils since 2005-06. Michigan holds a slight advantage in the series, 4-3, and the last three meetings have come at the National Duals. Only one past dual was on either school's campus (1983-84 season).
#2 OHIO STATE VS #6 ARIZONA STATE (NOV. 12)
The Sun Devils hosted Ohio State in their home opener in 2016-17 and are facing for the third straight season. Prior to 2014-15, the last meeting between the two teams came in 1989-90 in Columbus, a 19-15 ASU win. The Buckeyes hold a slight 4-2 advantage in the all-time series.
EASTERN MICHIGAN OPEN
Several Sun Devils will be competing at the Eastern Michigan Open in Ypsilanti on Saturday, Nov. 11, with live coverage and live scoring on Trackwrestling. Competition begins at 9 am ET/7 am MT.
GRAPPLING AT GAMMAGE
In a first of it's kind event, Arizona State will take their home opener to a different venue, hosting Pitt on Sunday, Nov. 19 at ASU Gammage Theatre on the ASU Tempe campus.
"Wrestling has performed on the biggest stages in the world - the Coliseum in Rome, Times Square, the U.S.S. Intrepid on the Hudson River, and even NYC's Grand Central Station. Now we will make our own small part of history when we wrestle Pitt in one of Arizona's iconic buildings. It will be an excellent venue for wrestling and a historical event in ASU history and we're proud to be a part of it."
ASU Gammage was designed in partnership with then-President Grady Gammage and famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid-1950's. Though neither lived to see the blueprints take life, the building was completed in Sept. 1964 and is the only public building in Arizona designed by Wright.
The Gammage stage has welcomed a vast number of musical, artistic, and cultural talents over the years including B.B. King, Johnny Cash, and Elton John, a 2004 presidential debate, and numerous Broadway touring plays including The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, the Lion King, and more.
SUN DEVIL REPRESENTATION ON WORLD TEAMS
Two Sun Devil coaches served on USA Wrestling World Freestyle Teams, with assistant coach Chris Pendleton on the Junior World Team staff and assistant coach Lee Pritts on the Cadet World Team staff.
All-American Zahid Valencia also won a silver medal for the US, helping the team to its first title since 1984. Valencia significantly improved upon his 10th place finish in 2015 and seventh place finish in 2016.
Valencia followed in his head coach's footsteps as Zeke Jones earned a Junior World Freestyle silver in 1986 while Sun Devil teammate Mike Davies won silver in 1984.
It was the seventh consecutive year ASU has had representation on the Junior World Team, with Zahid Valencia from 2015-17, his brother Anthony Valencia in 2014, and Tanner Hall in 2011-12. Now current Sun Devil Jason Tsirtsis was on the 2013 team while Bubba Jenkins won gold in 2007 prior to his time in Tempe.
ANTHONY ROBLES INDUCTED INTO ARIZONA SPORTS HOF
Anthony Robles, 2011 NCAA champion and ASU graduate, was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The 3-time All-American and 4-time NCAA qualifier at 125 lbs. also finished his ASU career ranked eighth in wins (122) and 10th in dual wins (53), setting ASU career records for bonus-point victories (92) and technical falls (47).
In 2011, Robles capped a perfect 36-0 season and won a national championship by defeating the reigning champion, Iowa's Matt McDonough, 7-1, in the finals. That year, he was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Since graduating from ASU, Robles has become a motivational speaker, receiving the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance in 2011, and recently had the opportunity to narrate an ESPN E:60 episode on Wisconsin high school wrestler Zack Anglin, who was born with no hands or feet. Robles also returns to ASU on the Pac-12 Network broadcast team for wrestling matches, also part of ESPN's team for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Robles is the third representative of Sun Devil wrestling to be named to the prestigious Hall of Fame after 1967 NCAA wrestling champion and Pro Football Hall of Famer Curley Culp (2002) and 1965 WAC champion, former president of USA Wrestling, and longtime supporter of ASU wrestling Art Martori (2014).
Joining Robles in the five-member class of 2017 are Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, longtime sportswriter and current Cronkite School professor Paola Boivin, former Coyotes captain Shane Doan, and former NBA great and GCU head men's basketball coach Dan Majerle.
1988 CHAMPIONSHIP REUNION
On January 20 vs. Oregon State, members of the 1988 NCAA National Championship team will return to Tempe to be honored as part of the dual for the 30th anniversary of the championship.
PAC-12 NETWORK BROADCASTS
Three of five Sun Devil home duals will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network, starting with Sunday, Nov. 26 vs. South Dakota State as well as Pac-12 duals vs. Stanford (Friday, Jan. 19) and Oregon State (Saturday, Jan. 20) on back-to-back days.