It was after a 28-10 loss to #5 Iowa State on Jan. 5 that Arizona State coach Zeke Jones let his Sun Devil squad know that he wasn’t satisfied with their fight or their toughness.

ASU lost eight of 10 bouts, two by technical fall and six others by six, four, four, five, seven and one point. The Sun Devils bounced back two days later with a 43-0 shutout at Cal Bakersfield to improve their midseason record to 2-3, but Jones made sure the tone was set and the message was heard.

“Yeah, it was frustrating … just not finishing out the matches for a variety of reasons,” he said. "But it's been a great two-week cycle. That's part of the learning processes. When you get 10 to 15 matches under your belt in the season, you know exactly what you need to work on. And then those that go back and work on it improve the fastest — that's part of this phase right now is correcting those mistakes and the team really has responded.”

One of the losses was fifth-ranked All-America Jacori Teemer falling 9-5 to #11 Cody Chittum. Jones said Teemer has answered the wake-up call.

“Jacori Teemer really has stepped up his commitment to wanting to win a national championship; he's got to look inside himself and make those corrections and he's doing it right now,” Jones said. “I have to say, it’s best work I've seen him put in all year these last couple of weeks. And I think it's gonna go a long way for him.

“I think we just have to just keep getting better … at the edge of the mat, end of the period, finishing scores, just finishing our leg attacks, being committed to the ride … things like that.”

Jones believes the issue is commitment much more than conditioning. 

“We’ve been training 20 weeks; I don't buy the out-of-shape thing. And I don't buy it for any team. I know these teams all work hard,” Jones said. 

“What it is, is how they manage fatigue. I think a lot of times either guys don't believe, they get scared, or they don't like fatigue and haven't made peace with it. There are levels to it. First off is being scared of fatigue and the next step is making peace with fatigue. And the next step is saying, ‘Oh, I kind of like fatigue.’ And then the final kind of phases are, ‘Oh man, I love this and I'm gonna make you tired.’”

The longtime coach said a wrestler must progress through the levels. 

“No one just gets tired the first time and says ‘That's the greatest thing I've ever felt,’” Jones continued. “The first time they feel it, it’s ‘What was that?’ It's getting kids comfortable with it, getting excited about it, and then imposing it on others. 

“Some guys think you're gonna go out and I'm gonna get in great shape, and then I'm never gonna get tired in a match. This is college wrestling. You watch (Olympic champion) Kyle Snyder, he walks off the World Championships and he collapses. Are you telling me he's out of shape? No, it's because he spends everything. You don't get in shape to never get tired. You get in shape so you're good at fatigue. That's really what it is.”

Team, AND Lineup, Taking Shape

The Sun Devils were without three starters against the Cyclones, which actually was a lower total than in some previous matches. 

Jones said #12 Richie Figueroa (125) and #3 Kyle Parco (149) are traveling this weekend to Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday and to Pittsburgh on Sunday, and noted that #26 Jesse Vasquez (141) is close.

“We just won't have Jesse, but the other two will be with us this weekend,” he said. “I feel pretty confident that in two weeks we'll have everybody in.”

Frequent Flyers Once Again

It’s 1,300 miles from Phoenix to Little Rock, Arkansas, and another 900 miles to Pittsburgh; that’s what’s facing ASU this weekend. Jones is not concerned that that is part of the fatigue process.

“I don't really think it is because I really don't think it's far,” he said. “Go to Russia, that's far. That's 30 hours of travel … 30! You go to Pennsylvania, it's four or five. So Russia is six times as far and we (USA) go over there and win. So I just don't think that distance really is a factor. 

“Now, if you talk to other coaches, they'll make a big deal of it. But for us, we don't because we look at travel differently than most because we have kids that are wrestling with the national team. Iran's far.”

Weekend Matchups

The Sun Devils, #24 in Flo’s dual rankings, face Little Rock (unranked in duals) on Friday and the #15 Panthers on Sunday. Jones says they match up well with Pitt.

“I think they're kind of going through some of the things same things we are. They've had a couple of duals they pulled out that were really big and probably a couple losses they didn't expect,” he said. “I think they have a good team. 

“Obviously, you got a lineup full of Pennsylvania kids. They’ll be tough on top, they'll have a good underhook, they'll throw in legs, that kind of thing. So, we've been preparing for that, and we like that.”

Boarding Extra Guys, But…

The Sun Devils can take 15 wrestlers on a double-dual road trip, and while Jones said a few extra athletes will board the plane, all might not wrestle.

“Right now, what we've got to do is the NCAA qualification process to earn allocations to the conference; you gotta get eight matches minimum and we have a couple kids that still have to get there,” he explained. 

“That's for win-loss percentage and your coaches rank. And then for RPI, you have to have 15 matches to get RPI. So, really, we're trying to get guys to eight and 15 right now. And so we probably won’t alternate as much just because those guys need those matches.”