Sun Devil Wrestling Stages Stunning Comeback Over No. 22 Cornell, Splits Tri-Dual in Ithaca
ITHACA, N.Y. - Don’t let the record fool you - Arizona State Wrestling still knows how to deliver when the lights are brightest. On Saturday at the Friedman Wrestling Center, the Sun Devils found themselves in a deep hole against No.
22 Cornell, trailing 14-3 with just four bouts to go. But what followed was a gritty, momentum-shifting rally that reminded everyone what this program is capable of when it locks in.
Down by double digits, it was redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz who lit the spark. Wrestling at 165 pounds, the No. 13-ranked Ruiz methodically controlled his match and walked away with a 10-4 decision. That gave ASU three team points - not flashy, but exactly what they needed to start chipping away.
Cornell answered with another decision win, stretching the lead to 17-6, but that’s when senior Azizbek Fayzullaev stepped onto the mat and flipped the entire dual on its head. Wrestling at 184, Fayzullaev delivered a perfectly timed pin - the kind of match-changing moment that swings not just the scoreboard, but the energy in the building. His fall added six massive points to the ASU tally and injected life into the Sun Devil bench.
From there, it was all about closing. Graduate student Colton Hawks followed up at 197 pounds with a composed decision win, cutting the deficit to just two.
That set the stage for heavyweight David Szuba - ranked No. 19 - to seal the deal. Szuba delivered under pressure, grinding out a decision that pushed ASU ahead 18-17 and capped a comeback nearly 25 years in the making.
The Sun Devils hadn’t beaten Cornell since January 23, 2000. That streak?
Officially over.
But the afternoon wasn’t all celebration. In their second matchup of the tri-dual, ASU couldn’t replicate the magic, falling to Columbia 24-15. The Sun Devils struggled to string together wins, though there were still some bright spots.
Redshirt junior Carter Dibert picked up his first win of the season at 133 pounds - a confidence booster for the veteran. At 157, redshirt sophomore Kaleb Larkin, ranked No. 2 in the country, showed why he's one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the nation with his second pin since moving to the newly reclassified weight class.
Redshirt freshman Pierson Manville, ranked No. 26, added to his growing résumé with his 14th win of the season, claiming an 11-7 decision. And once again, it was Szuba who anchored the lineup. He notched his second win of the day, the only Sun Devil to go 2-0 in the tri-dual, improving his season record to 17-8 and continuing to prove himself as a reliable closer.
Now sitting at 2-10 overall (1-6 in Big 12 action), the Sun Devils head back to Tempe with momentum in their back pocket and a familiar foe on the horizon. They’ll host Oregon State at Desert Financial Arena on Friday, Feb. 6, reigniting a long-standing Pac-12 rivalry.
The dual is set for 6:30 p.m. MST and will stream live on ESPN+.
If Saturday’s comeback is any indication, this team may have more fight left in them than the standings suggest.