ASU 27, GCU 16
No. 5 Grand Canyon came close, but fell just shy of upsetting Division I Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Sunday.
GCU won four of 10 matches and lost 27-16 to the Sun Devils.
“We gave up too many bonus points,” said GCU head coach R.C. LaHaye. On the positive side,
Celic Bell looked really good and
Kyle McCrite looked good at 125. It’s still early in the season and we have a long way to go.”
The ’Lopes wrestled without injured 141-pounder
Madison Gambrell, an NCAA qualifier last year and 174-pounder
Victor Carazo, a two-time All-American, who will be back in the lineup after Christmas break.
Bell, one of three GCU champions at last week’s Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield, Calif., was dominant in a 13-5 major decision over Tommy Burriel, ranked No. 24 in this week’s D1CollegeWrestling.net rankings.
Bell’s win followed a
Brett Sanchez 8-5 triumph over Bobby Bowman to give GCU a 7-6 lead.
McCrite defeated Dalton Miller 9-3 to give GCU a 10-9 lead.
The fourth GCU win came from
Austen Moore. Leading a tight match, Moore got Kyle McIntosh on his back midway through the third period to record a pin at the 6:03 mark.
GCU suffered a tough loss at heavyweight. In a battle of two nationally-ranked wrestlers, Levi Cooper (No. 8, D-I) edged
Jordan Johnson (No. 5, D-II) 3-2, getting the decisive points on a penalty and riding time.
Bobby Ward wrestling up two weight class got out to an early lead, 5-1, but fell 10-8 to Hans Rasmussen at 165.
GCU newcomer
Justin Martin hung tough with one of the Sun Devils’ 2011 NCAA qualifiers, Eric Starks, before falling 9-4.
Wrestling for Gambrell, freshman
Ricky Ryan lost by fall to Nathan Hoffer in 3:46. At 133, sophomore
Lino Estrada was pinned in 1:02 by Shane McGough.
In the final match of the day, GCU 157-pound All-American
Ted Bristol lost by injury default to Kyle DeBerry.
Grand Canyon will compete at the Menlo (Calif.) Invitational Saturday.