Sun Devil Wrestling began 2026 with a narrow 24-14 loss to South Dakota State in a dual meet held Friday night at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Freshman Kyler Larkin, ranked No. 5 at 133 pounds, and his brother, redshirt sophomore Kaleb Larkin, ranked No. 3 at 149 pounds, each secured decision victories to give Arizona State an early lead of 6-3. Kyler Larkin improved his season record to 11-1, while Kaleb moved to 13-1.
Redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz, ranked No. 13 at 165 pounds, earned an overtime sudden victory win. Graduate student David Szuba, ranked No. 20 at heavyweight (HWT), added his first technical fall win of the season with a score of 20-5 in six minutes. These wins brought the Sun Devils within four points of South Dakota State at 18-14.
The dual concluded with junior Damian Moreno suffering a pin at the hands of South Dakota State’s Brady Roark in the final match at 125 pounds.
Full individual results from the dual included:
133: No. 5 Kyler Larkin defeated Cale Seaton (SDSU) by decision, 4-1.
141: No. 15 Julian Tagg (SDSU) defeated No. 26 Pierson Manville by decision, 8-3.
149: No. 3 Kaleb Larkin defeated No. 21 Alek Martin (SDSU) by decision, 5-2.
157: No. 17 Cael Swenson (SDSU) won by major decision over Gabriel Delgado, 10-2.
165: No. 13 Nicco Ruiz won by sudden victory over No. 32 Marcus Espinoza-Owens (SDSU).
174: No.16 Moses Espinoza-Owens (SDSU) won by major decision over Cael Valencia,17-7.
184: Brock Fettig (SDSU) defeated No.30 Shay Addison by decision,5-3.
197: Quin Morgan (SDSU) won by major decision over Damion Schunke,15-3.
HWT: No.19 David Szuba scored a technical fall over Micah Hach (SDSU),20-5 in six minutes.
125: No.22 Brady Roark (SDSU) pinned Damian Moreno at six minutes and fifty-seven seconds.
Arizona State will return home for three consecutive duals beginning with a matchup against fourth-ranked Iowa State on Tuesday, January 6 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
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