2016-17 Sun Devil Wrestling Weekly Notes
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2016-17 Sun Devil Wrestling Weekly Notes Media Relations: Mollie Hanke | [email protected] | (480) 965-6594 | www.TheSunDevils.com ARIZONA STATE WRESTLING Sun Devils Open 2017 at Iowa State Friday, Home vs Cal Poly Sunday 2016-17 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Venue/Score Oct. 29 M&G Final M def G, 19-15 TEMPE, Ariz.—The Sun Devils open 2017 at Iowa State Friday at 5:30 pm MT Nov. 4 N. Colorado W, 24-19 before returning home for the first time in almost two months to host Cal Poly on Nov. 6 Daktronics Open No team score Sunday in the Pac-12 opener (2 pm MT). This weekend starts the Devils’ dual Nov. 13 Journeyman No team score schedule in earnest after several tournaments over the last two months. Nov. 19 Ohio State L, 15-27 Dec. 2-3 Cliff Keen Invite 7th of 35 (83) Dec. 29-30 Midlands 3rd of 39 (106.5) Fans are encouraged to wear GOLD, one of ASU’s primary colors, as Sunday’s Jan. 6 Iowa State Ames, IA match has been designated a “Gold Out”. Jan. 8 Cal Poly*$ Wells Fargo Jan. 13 Virginia Duals Hampton, VA Jan. 14 Virginia Duals Hampton, VA BUY TICKETS FOR HOME MATCHES Jan. 20 North Carolina$ Wells Fargo Single game tickets can be purchased by calling the ASU ticket office at (480) Jan. 22 Stanford* Palo Alto, CA 965-5333 or at the WFA box office starting 60 minutes prior to each match while Jan. 29 Illinois Wells Fargo Feb. 5 Oregon State*$ Corvallis, OR matside seating can be purchased through the sales hotline at (480) 965-5812. Feb. 9 CSUB*$ Wells Fargo Feb. 12 Boise State* Boise, ID UP NEXT Feb. 26 Pac-12 Champs.$ Palo Alto, CA Mar. 16 NCAA Champs. St. Louis, MO After away-and-home duals this weekend, the Devils head cross-country to Mar. 17 NCAA Champs. St. Louis, MO Hampton, Va. for the Virginia Duals before returning home Jan. 20 for a Pac-12 Mar. 18 NCAA Champs. St. Louis, MO Network non-conference match vs. North Carolina. $Pac-12 Network BEAUTY AND THE BEAST *Pac-12 Conference game Friday night brings a double dose of Sun Devils action at Iowa State as wrestling Probable Lineups joins the Gym Devils in a “Beauty and the Beast” event. Both events will be live 125: Josh Kramer (9-10)/Michael Nguyen (1-2) streamed on the ISU Athletics website (link on wrestling “schedule” page at 133: Ted Rico (0-2) 141: Nikko Villarreal (3-2) TheSunDevils.com). 149: #20 Josh Maruca (11-6)/Christian Pagdilao (0-2) 157: #7 Josh Shields (20-5) #GREENGAMEASU SUNDAY 165: #9 Anthony Valencia (18-4) Sunday’s match is part of Sun Devil Athletics’ green initiatives to drive fan aware- 174: #1 Zahid Valencia (19-0) 184: Conner Small (2-7) ness of sustainability and best practices. See page 2 of the notes package for 197: Austyn Harris (1-4) facts and figures on the campaign and ASU’s impact on sustainability. HWT: #4 Tanner Hall (17-4) Coaching Staff SUNDAY ON PAC-12 NETWORK Head Coach: Zeke Jones (3rd year, 21-15 duals) ASU’s Pac-12 home opener vs. Cal Poly on Sunday will be the Devils’ first of Assistant Coach: Lee Pritts (5th year) the year on the Pac-12 Network Arizona. Jason Knapp will be doing play-by-play Assistant Coach: Chris Pendleton (3rd year) while ASU alum Anthony Robles returns for the third season to provide color Volunteer Assistant: Haislan Garcia (1st year) Undergrad Asst Coach: Matt Kraus (1st year) commentary. Director of Operations: Maddie Schossow (1st year) Student Asst. Director of Ops.: Madi Davies (1st year) Watch live on the Pac-12 Network Arizona, on www.pac-12.com or on the Pac- Athletic Trainer: Carter Pruitt (2nd year) Media Relations: Mollie Hanke (1st year) 12 Now mobile app. SUCCESS AT MIDLANDS The Sun Devils continued their comeback into national prominence with a third ASU Wrestling Social Media place finish at the 54th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, their best finish as a team since winning the tournament in 1989. FACEBOOK Zahid Valencia (174), who is still undefeated on his career, and Tanner Hall Search: Sun Devil Wrestling (HWT) won individual weight class titles, marking the first time since 1996 the Devils have had multiple champions, just the fourth time in program history. Hall TWITTER and Valencia became the 13th and 14th all-time individual winners for ASU, and @ASUWrestling the first since Eric Larkin in 2001. INSTAGRAM SunDevilWrestling1962 Additionally, Anthony Valencia and Josh Shields each finished third, the first time 2016-17 Sun Devil Wrestling Green Match Facts/Figures PURPOSE To promote Sun Devil athletics’ green initiatives while driving fan awareness of sustainability and its best practices. Arizona State University was the first school in the country to offer a degree in sustainability and the University prides itself on being a national leader in the sector. Sun Devil Athletics green games will leverage the high-profile platform of athletics events to inform our fan base and highlight sustainable practices. SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE AT ASU Sustainability is one of the pillars of Arizona State University, and Sun Devil Athletics prides itself with aligning the department to minimize its carbon footprint. Athletics provides a unique opportunity to promote sustainability at our University, and Sun Devil Athletics has fully embraced the opportunity to advance sustainable practices as an institution and with our fans. In June of 2016, USG and NACDA named Arizona State the most sustainable athletics department for its innovative and creative sustainable practices. Basketball’s Weatherup Center has the distinction of being named the first athletic practice facility in the nation to become LEED-certified. Wells Fargo Arena became the first installed and operational LED-lit Power Five athletic facility, increasing lighting by 25 percent and increasing energy consumption by 75 percent. Additional, ASU boasts the most solar panels out of any university in the country to harness the Valley’s 300-plus days of sunshine. ZERO WASTE Help Sun Devil Athletics achieve Zero Waste by composting and recycling your waste at events. By recycling and composting, Arizona State is not sending trash to the landfill but reusing and repurposing materials to help the environment. Look for the BLUE and GREEN bins to help participate in ASU’s Zero Waste program. Use #ZeroWasteASU and #GreenGameASU to help bring awareness to the issue. SUSTAINABILITY FACTS •The average American uses 700 lbs. of paper a year. That’s equal to approximately 465 trees per person. •Plastic takes 450 years just to BEGIN to decompose. Every single piece of plastic ever created has not even started to de- compose. •Did you know you can recycle bottles into clothes? It only takes 25 recycled plastic bottles to make one fleece jacket. •For every ton of paper that is recycled, 17 trees are saved. •An aluminum can can be recycled and back on the shelf in 6 weeks. •It takes between 200-500 years for an aluminum can to decompose in a landfill. •An American uses an average of 159 gallons of water a day, or three bathtubs full. The rest of the world averages 25 gallons of water a day. ZERO WASTE INITIATIVES AT ASU •Arizona State harnesses energy from 81,424 solar panels, the most of any university in the country. In FY16, ASU generat- ed 41,305,722 kWh of energy from the sun, enough to power over 3,100 Arizona homes for the entire year (40% of Tempe campus during peak demand). Softball stadium solar panels generate energy and provide shade to spectators, using Phoenix’s 300-plus days of sunshine (local resource) to create energy. •Every ticketed sport hosts a green game to put promotion behind the zero waste initiative. Have seen diversion results (waste from event thrown into recycle/compost instead of trash) in the 90% range when events are publicized. •Participated in Pac-12 Game Day Challenge, where teams take snapshots of their Zero Waste success and compete against other Pac-12 schools for most sustainable school in the conference. This year ASU placed first in the Pac-12 for the school that creates the least waste per fan. •ASU has the largest solar portfolio in the country. •Wells Fargo Arena was the first operational LED-lit Power Five athletic facility in the nation, increasing lighting levels by 25% and reducing energy consumption by 75%. Exceeds the 125-vertical foot candle measurement needed for NCAA broadcast standards, and will factor into championship selections for ASU. The total 10-year savings with the new lighting is $357,000. •LEED Certification of Weatherup Practice Facility (Basketball)/Sun Devil Stadium: Weatherup is the first athletic practice facili- ty in the nation to become LEED-certified (v2+ Gold), solar panels provide 45% of energy, and the facility is made with renew- able wood flooring and recycled/locally manufactured products. •Sun Devil athletics worked with concessionaire Sodexo on sustainable practices and since February 2013, the majority of products sold by SDA are recyclable and compostable. 2016-17 Sun Devil Wrestling Head Coach Zeke Jones The seventh coach in ASU wrestling history, Zeke Jones was hired in April 2014 and had his contract renewed in October 2016. In his first season with the Sun Devils, Jones led ASU to a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, the best fin- ish since 2006, and coached six wrestlers to the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Champi- onships, including All-American Blake Stauffer (184 pounds). In 2015-16, the Sun Devils again returned six individuals to the NCAA championships.