Craig Sesker (USA Wrestling)
10/19/2001
If anybody knows what it will take to make Arizona State a national championship contender again, it is new Sun Devil coach Thom Ortiz. Ortiz wrestled at ASU under coach Bobby Douglas from 1986-90, the most successful period in Sun Devil history. Ortiz was a three-time All-American at Arizona State. He played a key role in helping lead ASU to its only national championship in 1988, in addition to competing on the runner-up Sun Devil squads in the 1989 and 1990 NCAA meets. All four Sun Devil teams Ortiz wrestled on won the Pac-10 Conference championship. "My motto for this program is 'back to the future'" Ortiz said. "I want to get this program back to wrestling like we did during the domiant years of 1988, 1989 and 1990. We have wrestlers here at ASU to accomplish that, but we have a ways to go. It's going to take a lot of hard work, patience and support." Ortiz inherits a program that returns six NCAA qualifiers, including two All-Americans. The Sun Devils finished ninth at the 2001 NCAA meet after winning their third Pac-10 title in the past five years. Ortiz took over for Lee Roy Smith, who stepped down following a nine-year tenure with the school. Ortiz served nine years as an assistant under Douglas at Iowa State before returning to his alma mater. The Sun Devils will be led by junior Eric Larkin (141 pounds) and senior David Douglas (133). Larkin was the 2001 Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year after he compiled a 28-2 record and finished third at the NCAA tournament. Larkin is ranked No. 1 this year. Douglas was seventh at nationals last March. He starts this season ranked third. Arizona State also is high on Rocky Smart (157), Nick Frost (165), Curtis Owen (174), Erik Gladish (197) and Hector Torres (heavyweight). Smart is ranked 11th, Frost 9th, Owen 18th, Gladish 10th and Torres 15th. Boise State, second in the Pac-10 last season, is bolstered by the return of three of the league's top performers. Boise State's Ben Vombaur (125) is ranked 14th, Gabe Vigil (141) is 11th and Collin Robertson (149) is 12th. All three competed at nationals last season. Oregon State, third in the league a year ago, will rely on returning national qualifiers Nathan Navarro, Nathan Coy, Jed Pennell and Jason Cooley. Navarro is expected to move up a weight class from 125 to 133. Navarro is ranked 12th at 133. Coy, an NCAA quarterfinalist last year, is ranked seventh at 174. Pennell is No. 19 at 165 and Cooley 17th at heavyweight. Oregon is hoping to improve on its fourth-place league finish. The Ducks are led by NCAA qualifiers Shaun Williams (125) and Eugene Harris (157). Oregon also has ranked wrestlers in Brian Watson (20th at 141) and Eric Webb (10th at heavyweight). Cal-Poly senior Cedric Haymon (149) hopes to contend for All-American honors this season after reaching the NCAA quarterfinals in 2001. Haymon is ranked ninth this season. Fellow national qualifier Steve Strange (174) also is back for Cal-Poly. The league's second-division teams - Cal-Bakersfield, UC-Davis, Portland State, Stanford and Cal-Fullerton - face rebuilding jobs this season. Portland State senior Jeremy Wilson is ranked 11th at 184. Wilson was a national qualifier last season. Stanford will have a new head coach for the first time in 23 seasons as Steve Buddie takes over for Chris Horpel, who becomes director of wrestling for the Cardinal. Stanford has one of the league's most promising newcomers in 133-pound freshman Brad Metzler, a four-time state champion from Nebraska. Metzler, who redshirted last season, won the FILA Junior World Team Trials last spring in Greco-Roman.