With the type of season Arizona State has had in terms of injury-based lineup decisions seemingly being made on a weekly basis, it’s not a huge surprise that ASU’s 10 starters remain in flux just days before the Pac-12 Championships. Conversely, it might not be a revelation if things work out just fine for the Sun Devils.

ASU heads to Stanford for Sunday’s NCAA qualifier with its quartet of stars at 125, 133, 149 and 285. Whether that list turns into a six-pack, or more, is something veteran coach Zeke Jones can’t wait to see.

One change is definite and another could be looming. True freshman Emilio Yasguirre of Eloy, Arizona, will replace Jesse Vasquez at 141 pounds. Vasquez, ranked 15th with a 16-7 record, suffered a season-ending injury. Yasguirre debuted with a major decision against Cal State Bakersfield and followed that with a 10-4 win over fourth-ranked Brock Hardy of Nebraska; that earned him Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors.

Additionally, four-time Pac-12 champion (one title at 184, three at 197) Kordell Norfleet hasn’t wrestled since early December but possibly could get late medical clearance and take a shot at a fifth conference crown. Lineup regular Josh Nummer has been seeded but Norfleet may get cleared, according to Jones.

“We're excited,” Jones said. “It's postseason time of the year and it's always the best time. This is fun for everybody … kids on the team, fans, the families, the friends. I mean, this is where lives are changed forever. People leave legacies for decades from what happens over the next three weeks. So I just always think that's the most fun.”

While Jones said it’s not easy to replace a Vasquez, he knows Yasguirre can compete at a high level. 

“I saw it coming,” Jones said. “He’s going toe-to-toe with Kyle Parco in practice, and I just knew at that point. He wrestled in a tournament a couple of weekends before (Bakersfield and Nebraska) and he was just starting to turn the corner, but I think he was still building some confidence that he could compete at this level. 

“That's generally what happens. When you look at true freshmen, they generally start to turn the corner second semester. First semester is an eye opener — new town, new location, new people, new coaches, new training partners, and very difficult … college wrestling from high school wrestling. 

“Second semester, when January and February come, the kids start to get used to the speed, they used to the college schedule, they get used to the coaches and partners,” Jones added. “That's generally when a good one starts to turn the corner, and he did, you could see it, and that’s why he’s in.”

Yasguirre will have to win the 141-pound title to qualify for the NCAA tournament in Tulsa, or else be in the hands of the wildcard selection committee. “You take somebody out of redshirt, you don’t do that lightly,” Jones said. “You only do it because you feel it can help your team and they’re good enough to get on the podium. That’s the only reason you would ever pull a redshirt, at least in my mind, and we believe he can do both those things for us.”

The 11th-ranked Sun Devils’ main competition will come from No. 24 Oregon State. ASU won its third straight Pac-12 title last season by a mere half-point over the Beavers, despite crowning six champions to OSU’s one. Jones explained that it’s the number of matches wrestled overall and that winning pigtail bouts can pile up points before calling it “the worst scoring system in the world.”

The Sun Devils, who have won five of the past six conference tournaments, line up with three-time Pac-12 champ and three-time All-America Brandon Courtney (8-2) at 125 and follow with defending Pac-12 champ and All-America Michael McGee (16-2) at 133. “I think our 25-33 combination is probably the best in the country,” Jones said. “Two seniors who have held that spot down for a while and have been the cornerstones for fast starts ASU’s gotten over the years.”

Yasguirre follows at 141 and Parco (19-4), a Pac-12 champ and All-America in 2022, is at 149. Max Wilner (3-10) is at 157, Tony Negron (8-11) is at 165 and Cael Valencia (9-8) mans the 174 spot. Jones said Valencia will be the No. 3 seed despite victories over top-seeded Aaron Olmus of Oregon State and second-seeded Tyler Eischens of Stanford.

“Whoever earns an allocation to the NCAA tournament, they get the first seeds, then it goes head-to-head after that,” Jones explained. “Those two earned an allocation spot but Cael had not earned an allocation because he had a rough first semester.”

Anthony Montalvo (5-6) follows at 184, and then it’s either Nummer (3-8) or Norfleet (6-5) at 197. The catch is that 197, Jones said, arguably could be the best weight class in the Pac-12 with Cal Poly’s fifth-ranked Bernie Truax and Oregon State’s 20th-ranked Tanner Harvey. That weight has three qualifying spots.

Fifth-ranked Cohlton Schultz (15-2) is the Sun Devils’ anchor at 285. The 2022 NCAA runner-up is aiming for his third conference crown.

Despite the six-team conference receiving only 19 allocations, including just the champions at four weight classes, Jones doesn’t believe the Sun Devils are under any extra pressure to advance to Tulsa.

“I don't think it's any different than any other conference; your weight classes have earned what they’ve earned, and you have to go out and earn your spot,” he said. “The weight is as good as the qualifier.

“Maybe one pressure is when only the champion goes. In some weights, it's only one guy who qualified the weight or nobody qualified the weight, but the conference champ goes.”

Frequent Flyers All

Arizona State’s schedule takes the team to the East, West and Midwest. They’ve already been to Stanford and are head back to Palo Alto for the championship tournament. Trips like that can be draining but 149-pound redshirt sophomore Kyle Parco, a two-time All-America and 2022 Pac-12 champion, said the Sun Devils make the most of it.

“We can look at it two ways,” Parco said. “Some people get really drained by traveling everywhere. Those Midwest states are really hard to go to sometimes, especially in the winter, and it’s so cold. A lot of places aren't better than Tempe, Arizona, in my opinion. But we always kind of make fun of that. We always say, ‘oh my gosh, like this place sucks.’ Just making fun of everywhere we go just because Tempe is so nice.”

The Sun Devils’ motto could be ‘Come to Arizona State, see the country,’ and Parco embraces that. “The way I look at is I get to travel the country and see all these places that normally I wouldn't see if I wasn't a wrestler, so I'm always blessed to be able to travel, to go places that I would never go if I wasn't a wrestler,” he said.