Sun Devil Wrestling stumbles to No. 5 Northern Iowa in trophy ceremony night

Tempe, Ariz. – Sun Devil Wrestling (4-3, 1-2) stumbled against Big 12 Conference opponent No. 5 Northern Iowa (9-0, 3-0), falling 33-10 in Friday's dual in Desert Financial Arena.

Nicco Ruiz and Cohlton Schultz provided scoring for the Sun Devils, as Ruiz downed No. 19 Jack Thomsen, 8-1, in a controlling manner. Schultz finished the meet with a win by major decision over No. 16 Lance Runyon, to close the night on a positive note.

Richard Figueroa continued to do what the reigning national champion does, winning by decision against No. 16 Trevor Anderson, 11-8, marking his 10th win against a top-33 wrestler since Feb. 24, 2024, according to WrestleStat.

At halftime of the dual, the Sun Devils were honored with rings from their 2024 Pac-12 Championship title, and Figueroa was recognized for his individual title at the NCAA Championships.

The Sun Devils are back in action in two days for a meet against former Pac-12 opponent No. 17 Stanford in California, on Sunday, Jan. 19. They'll head to Columbia days later to visit No. 24 Missouri, completing a stretch of three duals in six days.

No. 5 Northern Iowa 33, Arizona State 10
125 | #2 Richard Figueroa (ASU) wins over #30 Trevor Anderson (UNI) by Decision 11-8 | 3-0, ASU
133 | #21 Julain Farber (UNI) wins over #22 Julian Chlebove (ASU) by Decision 5-4 | 3-3 tie
141 | #5 Cael Happel (UNI) wins over Daniel Miranda (ASU) by Major Decision 19-5 | 7-3, UNI
149 | #16 Colin Realbuto (UNI) wins over #16 Jesse Vasquez (ASU) by Fall (5:53) | 13-3, UNI
157 | #4 Ryder Downey (UNI) wins over Michael Kilic (ASU) by Tech Fall (18-1/4:40) | 18-3, UNI
165 | #12 Nicco Ruiz (ASU) wins over #19 Jack Thomsen (UNI) by Decision 8-1 | 18-6, UNI
174 | #16 Jared Simma (UNI) wins over Max Wilner (ASU) by Tech Fall (21-5/4:59) | 23-6, UNI
184 | #2 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) wins over Cael Valencia (ASU) by Tech Fall (25-9/4:33) | 28-6, UNI
197 | #14 Wyatt Voelker (UNI) wins over Max Acciardi by Tech Fall (19-?:49) | 33-6, UNI
HWT | #8 Cohlton Schultz (ASU) wins over #16 Lance Runyon (UNI) by Major Decision (13-3) | 33-10, UNI

Dating back to February 2024, Figueroa has stacked wins against 10 of WrestleStat's top-33 wrestlers. He's aced every test thrown his way, and Figueroa is healthy and heating up heading into the second half of the regular season.

Figueroa's wins against top-33 wrestlers since Feb. 2024
#2 Drake Ayala (Iowa/NCAA Championships)
#3 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven/NCAA Championships)
#6 Luke Stanich (Lehigh/dual at ASU)
#7 Braeden Davis (Penn State/NCAA Championships)
#11 Caleb Smith (Nebraska/dual at ASU)
#15 Nico Provo (Stanford/Pac-12 Championships)
#16 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa)
#17 Patrick McGee (Minnesota/NCAA Championships)
#24 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State/Pac-12 Championships)
#33 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point/NCAA Championships)

Remaining schedule
January 19 | Stanford | Stanford, CA
January 22 | Missouri | Columbia, MO

February 2 | Northern Colorado | Tempe, AZ
February 7 | Iowa State | Ames, IA
February 15 | Cornell | Tempe, AZ
February 16 | Oklahoma | Tempe, AZ
February 21 | Lehigh | Bethlehem, PA
February 23 | West Virginia | Morgantown, WV

March 8-9 | Big 12 Championships | Tulsa, OK
March 20-22 | NCAA Championships | Philadelphia, PA

Read it Again
All roads lead to Philadelphia, where the Sun Devils will end their season at the 2025 NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Center. Under Jones, the Sun Devils have established themselves as one of the nation's premier programs, having finished within the top-seven at the national tournament in each of the last four seasons.

Previewing the 2024-25 Sun Devil Wrestling Season

Sun Devils in the Postseason Under Head Coach Zeke Jones (11 years)
Year | Conference | NCAAs
2024-25 | TBD | TBD
2023-24 | 1st | 6th
2022-23 | 4th | 7th
2021-22 | 1st | 4th
2020-21 | 1st | 4th
2019-20 | 1st | N/A (Ranked #4 in last poll)
2018-19 | 2nd | 12th
2017-18 | 1st | 10th
2016-17 | 1st | 14th
2015-16 | 2nd | 33rd
2014-15 | 2nd | 29th

The final attendance for tonight's meet against Northern Iowa was 1,870

Made for March
The Sun Devils routinely make their living in the postseason. After a hot finish to their regular season in the spring, they stormed into the Gill Coliseum and captured yet another Pac-12 Championship title at the conference's final championships. It marked the 24th conference title in team history, the sixth under Jones' guidance and the fourth in the past five seasons.

With eight qualifiers competing at the NCAA Championships, the Sun Devils saw four individuals reach the podium. Figueroa etched his name in Sun Devil history with a finals win against Iowa's Drake Ayala, slamming the door on an unbelievable run in Kansas City in which he went 5-0 and dethroned two top-three seeds.

The 2023-24 season marked the team's fourth consecutive top-seven finish at the national tournament, while also earning four All-Americans for the fourth straight year.

Post-match quotes
Arizona State Head Coach Zeke Jones
Opening Statement:
"Overall in the dual, I'm disappointed we didn't finish matches. We could've easily went 5 to 5 with them, a top-five team in the country. But, we're not finishing matches. Julian (Chlebove) tried to manage the win, he didn't try to take the win. Jesse's (Vasquez) up 7 to 0. He didn't try to take the win. He tried to manage the score. You can't manage. You have to keep scoring points. Until they do that, we're going to keep getting that outcome. At some point we've got to decide, are we willing to fight? To score points? To finish matches?"

On individual wins creating momentum: 
"I think getting three wins, Colton finishing strong. Julian and Jesse saying, 'Ok, if I finish, I win.' Now that's a top-five team in the country. Now we need one win and one more other place. Is that Emilio Ysaguirre when he gets back in the lineup? I don't know.. We have Kaleb Larkin redshirting. We have Aziz (Fayzullaev) who's on a season-ending injury. We start putting those guys in the lineup, we can pass that team pretty easily."

On what he liked from what he saw tonight:
"I think Richie (Figueroa) showed us how to do it. When Richie took the lead and the kid tried to make it hard on him, Richie kept shooting. Even though I don't think Richie really wanted to. I think Richie wanted the kid to stop wrestling and make it easy for him, but the kid put pressure on him. And Richie, instead of doing what Julian (Chlebove) and Jesse (Vasquez) did, he kept at least shooting. He didn't always finish, but every time that guy over-wrestled and tried to be aggressive, Richie would sting. That was the difference. I like that. I like Cohlton's (Schultz) energy. He's wrestling free. He's wrestling with confidence. He had a great goal behind. He had a great re-shot. I've never seen him do that offense, defense, offense we call it. He has a smile on his face. He's having fun. It's his senior year, guy's almost done. I like that, and Nicco Ruiz, he's a freshman to deal with. He's gonna be special, he is special. He's gonna have a special career, mark my words. That kid's going to be a force now and in the future.

Junior Richard Figueroa
On getting the momentum going for the Sun Devils by starting first:
"I signed up for this job to be the first one to go out there. I tell the coaches that I'm the best guy in the country and I want to prove to everyone that when I come out their first match. And just keep that momentum going."

On getting his national championship recognition tonight:
"It means the world. A lot of hard work, sacrifices as a kid. Just seeing the people that support me from ASU and the staff and everything is a blessing."

Follow Along
Don't miss any of the action throughout the season! Follow the team on X (formerly Twitter) @ASUWrestling and on Instagram @sundevilwrestling1962.