Arizona State wins 2022 Pac-12 Championships

From Arizona State

TEMPE – It took a complete effort from up and down the entire lineup, but Arizona State pulled it off and won the 2022 Pac-12 Wrestling Championship Sunday night at Desert Financial Arena – it’s third in a row, fifth in the last six years, and first at home since 1997. ASU earned the half-point clinch thanks to a heavyweight win from Cohlton Schultz that followed a major decision from Kordell Norfleet. 125 Brandon Courtney, 133 Michael McGee, 149 Kyle Parco, 157 Jacori Teemer, 197 Kordell Norfleet and HWT Cohlton Schultz all won gold.

FINAL PDF (Team scores, complete brackets)

Scoring:
ASU 115
Oregon State 114.5
Stanford 97
Cal Poly 88.5
CSU Bakersfield 83
Little Rock 71

“Every year it’s like this,” head coach Zeke Jones said. “We are going to have six champs every other team will have one or two. We beat OSU head-to-head almost everywhere, but the score is so close. It always feels really weird at the end, but regardless of that it is really exciting. They all stepped up. Obviously Kordell came back in to save the day, and Schultz put the exclamation point on it.

“It feels good to win at home,” Jones said. “I didn’t really know that until recently but it feels great not only to feel what it’s like to win a championship, but to win a championship at home in front of all of our people. We had a great crowd. They came out with a lot of energy. Obviously coming down to the end was really exciting, so it was a lot of fun tonight.”

2021 NCAA Qualifiers/Champs/AAs: 27/1/8

2021 Team Standings: 1. Arizona State – 138; 2. Oregon State – 123; 3. Stanford – 115.5; 4. Cal Poly – 107; 5. CSU Bakersfield – 97.5; 6. Little Rock – 69.

2021 Individual Champs/Runner-ups: 125 – Brandon Courtney (ASU)/Jackson DiSario (Stanford); 133 – Devan Turner (OSU)/Chance Rich (CSUB); 141 – Grant Willits (OSU)/Real Woods (Stanford); 149 – Jaden Abas (Stanford)/Legend Lamer (Cal Poly); 157 – Hunter Willits (OSU)/Jacori Teemer (ASU); 165 – Anthony Valencia (ASU)/Shane Griffith (Stanford); 174 – Bernie Truax (Cal Poly)/Trey Munoz (ASU); 184 – Dom Ducharme (CSUB)/Ryan Reyes (OSU); 197 – Kordell Norfleet (ASU)/JJ Dixon (OSU); Hwt – Cohlton Schultz (ASU)/Nathan Traxler (Stanford).

All-Time Team Championships (Started in 1963) – School-No. (Last title): Oregon State – 23 (2016); Arizona State – 20 (2021); Boise State – 6 (2004, dropped program in 2017); Oregon – 3 (1982, dropped program in 2008); CSU Bakersfield – 2 (1999); Washington – 2 (1974, dropped program in 1980); Stanford – 1 (2019); UCLA – 1 (1964, dropped program in 1980); Washington State – 1 (1963, dropped program in 1986).

2022 Top Storylines: 

• A year ago, Stanford was competing in what was supposed to be their last Pac-12 and NCAA tourneys after the school announced it was dropping wrestling. But then Shane Griffith went and won the NCAA title at 165 pounds. The school changed its mind by reinstating wrestling and doubled down their commitment when the California school hired longtime Cornell coach Rob Koll, who also features a Pac-12 champ in Jaden Abas (149).

• Oddly, Griffith is not even the highest ranked 165-pounder in the conference this year. Evan Wick, an All-American transfer from Wisconsin, leads this weight class in the conference and the country, especially after the California native beat Griffith, 6-2, on Dec. 3 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Another All-American to watch at 165 is Arizona State’s Anthony Valencia, who has won four Pac-12 crowns, but lost to both Wick, 9-1, on Jan. 24, and to Griffith, 7-6, on Feb. 4.

• Arizona State goes after a third straight team crown with a line-up that features a couple wrestlers who were forced to transfer after their first schools dropped wrestling. One is Michael McGee (133), who qualified for two NCAAs for Old Dominion before adding a third national qualification last March for the Sun Devils. The other is 149-pound Kyle Parco, who earned All-American honors last season for Fresno State, which in turn dropped wrestling.