Sun Devil Wrestling achieved a comeback victory against No. 22 Oregon State, winning 23-16 at Desert Financial Arena on Friday night. The team was down 16-4 before winning five consecutive matches from the 165-pound division through heavyweight to secure the win.
Redshirt junior Shay Addison, competing in the 184-pound class, reversed a deficit to pin his opponent and tie the overall score at 16-16 with two bouts left. “We were all kind of quiet and just said, ‘Come on, let’s get going’. Shay got the big pin, and it really gave us a hope that we could win. The crowd really jumped up and rallied. We have a good nucleus of fans here. We’ve been blessed in a year when we’re not quite winning as much, but we have a nucleus of people that love the program and come out all the time. And they helped,” said Head Coach Zeke Jones.
Graduate student Colton Hawks then faced Oregon State’s fourth-ranked Justin Rademacher in a match that went into triple overtime. Hawks emerged with a 6-4 sudden victory decision, giving Arizona State its first lead of the meet at 19-16.
Reflecting on his performance, Hawks said: “I was honestly just super fired up to win, but especially for our team wrestling Oregon State, our old rival from the PAC 12. It was just awesome to see everyone celebrating. That’s the best part of winning a wrestle, seeing all of your boys celebrate for you. Honestly, just pure joy, having a good time.”
Freshman heavyweight Ben Szuba secured an 11-0 major decision in the final bout to ensure Arizona State’s victory. On choosing Szuba to close out the dual meet, Jones stated: “The dual meet was on the line, and we felt really confident that Ben could finish it. And he did. He’s had several competitions leading up to this. He’s had some good results, but he hasn’t been in a heater, everything on the line to win a duel. I looked at him right before and said, ‘Are you ready to go?,’ and I smiled at him. He had a big, giant smile. He looked relaxed, but ready to go and he obviously showed it.”
Arizona State now has two wins in its last three dual meets and has extended its streak against Oregon State to eight straight victories since November 2015.
Other notable performances included redshirt freshman Pierson Manville’s four-point major decision at 141 pounds and back-to-back wins by Nicco Ruiz (165 lbs.) and Cael Valencia (174 lbs.), which set up ASU’s closing run.
Colton Hawks’ win marked his highest-ranked career victory across both Arizona State and Missouri tenures. Shay Addison’s fall was only the second by an ASU wrestler at this weight class over three duals; Ben Szuba has now posted nine bonus-point wins this season—the most by any freshman Sun Devil wrestler since at least 2021-22—and his result marked Arizona State’s twenty-second consecutive heavyweight victory between tournaments or duals by him or his brother David Szuba.
ASU improved its record at Desert Financial Arena with its first home win since February 2024—also against Oregon State—and won five straight bouts within one dual for the first time this season.
Arizona State will next face Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on Sunday afternoon.