BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--Arizona State (9-7, 4-1 Pac-12) won the final two matches as the Sun Devils defeated Bakersfield (6-8, 1-4 Pac-12) 22-15 in the final regular season dual for the Roadrunners.
The dual opened at heavyweight where Chace Eskam defeated Sammy Cervantes (R-Sr., Chula Vista, Calif., Palomar College) 3-2. Ares Carpio earned a 21-9 major decision over Matt Correa (R-Jr., Santa Maria, Calif., Cuesta College) to give the Sun Devils an early 7-0 lead.
Jose Mendoza (R-Sr., Selma, Calif., Selma HS) got the 'Runners on the board with a 7-0 victory over Cord Cornado at 133. Ian Nickell (R-So., Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield HS) gave CSUB its first lead of the night when he pinned Matt Kraus at the 5:17 mark of the 141-pound bout.
Senior Dalton Kelley (Alamosa, Colo., Alamosa HS) won his final match in the Icardo Center when he defeated Preston McCalmon 2-0 in the 149-pound match. With Bakersfield leading 12-7, Joel Smith posted a major decision (18-6) over Spencer Hill (R-Jr., Clovis, Calif., Fresno City College) at 157 to get ASU to within one. Nick Rex won 7-4 over David Meza (R-So., Fullerton, Calif., Buena Park HS) in the 165-pound bout to make it 14-12 Arizona State.
Bryce Hammond (R-So., 174, Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield HS) won the final Bakersfield match of the dual when he earned a hard fought 1-0 decision against Ray Walters. CSUB led 15-14 going into the 184-pound match. Blake Stauffer, the lone nationally ranked Sun Devil, tech falled Sean Pollock (R-Jr., Oceanside, Calif., Rancho Buena Vista HS) for a four-point ASU advantage. Wes Moore concluded the night with a 12-6 victory over Reuben Franklin at 197 to make it the final 22-15.
"It was a back and forth kinda of night," said Bakersfield head coach Mike Mendoza. "Coming in we knew there were a couple of matches coming in were going to be a fight and we were going to need to win, but they scored were able to score bonus points in those matches and that makes a big difference. Now its time to get ready for conference."
The Pac-12 Championships will be conducted, Sunday, Mar. 2 at Stanford. The finals of the tournament will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. Check your local listings for a final time of the broadcast.
~www.GoRunners.com~
Arizona State (AS) 22, Bakersfield (B) 15
285 Chace Eskam, (AS), dec. Sam Cervantes, 3-2 125 Ares Carpio, (AS), maj. dec. Matt Correa, 21-9 133 Jose Mendoza, (B), dec. Cordero Coronado, 7-0 141 Ian Nickell, (B), pinned Matthew Kraus at 5:47 149 Dalton Kelly, (B), dec. Preston McCalmon, 2-0 157 Joel Smith (AS), maj. dec. Spencer Hill, 18-6 165 Nickolas Rex, (AS), dec. david Meza, 7-4 174 Bryce Hammond, (CS), dec. Raymond Waters, 1-0 184 Blake Stauffer, (AS), tech. fall Sean Pollock, 7:00 18-3 197 Wesley Moore, dec. Ruben Franklin, 12-6
