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Eight months worth of dust will finally be swept off the wrestling mats as the Cowboys unload their new arsenal of wrestlers on Arizona State University to kick off the 2009-10 season.
The Cowboys host the Sun Devils at 7 tonight in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
That new arsenal includes three returning Cowboys who have dropped down a weight class and four new wrestlers who will experience their first match in Gallagher-Iba. For those four wrestlers, it will be a moment that they will remember for the rest of their lives, just as coach John Smith remembers his first match in the arena.
“It was against a defending All-American that I butted heads with,” Smith said. “So, I didn’t really have any choice but to wrestle hard. I actually ended up winning the match and I still remember it as being one of my more memorable moments in wrestling.”
For redshirt freshman Jordan Oliver, tonight will fulfill a dream that he said he has had for many years.
“Throughout high school I would go to the Reno tournament and I’d see OSU there and I would see coach Smith coaching and think about what it would be like to wrestle for him,” Oliver said. “I’m definitely pumped to step on the mat for the first time for Oklahoma State.”
As Oliver steps on the mat for the first time in his career, another OSU wrestler will step on the mat for the last opening dual of his career. Senior Chris Notte will face off against Arizona State’s highest ranked wrestler tonight.
ASU’s junior Anthony Robles is the No. 3 wrestler in the country at the 125-pound weight class, according to Amateur Wrestling News. Notte, who is No. 10, will have his hands full as he battles an opponent who forced Notte to change his wrestling style.
Robles does not start in the normal standing position for most wrestlers. That is because Robles only has one leg. The All-American wrestler is a force to be reckoned with because his upper body strength is equivalent to that of about a 149-pounder, Smith said.
Although Notte and Robles have never officially wrestled each other, Notte said he has been watching videos and studying Robles’ technique.
“I saw him wrestle in the national tournament last year and I actually got to roll around with him a little bit over the summer at the New York camps,” Notte said.
“It is a little different. You have to change up your style a little bit. You have to fight with more hands because you have a lot less opportunities for the leg fakes.”
Smith said he is excited to watch Notte and Robles battle it out because they are both talented wrestlers.
“(Robles) is really a special kid to be able to perform at such a high level of competition,” Smith said. “He does a few things very well and he pretty much stays within that game plan.
“Notte is going to have to have one of his better matches. It is going to feel a little bit different for Chris because of the fact that you normally don’t wrestle a guy on his knees. Chris (Notte) is good on bottom and Robles is good on top. So, I think the key for Chris is going to be to come off bottom. If Chris does that, I think that we’re going to win that match.”
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