The D1 NCAA landscape went through a seismic shakeup last week as six teams announced their departure from the Pac-12 Conference. While the fallout from this round of college realignment is not finished, what is certain is that Zeke Jones feels confident that Arizona State's move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 conference will be a positive for the wrestling program. 

Last weekend saw the official announcements that Arizona State, along with Colorado, Utah and Arizona, will leave the Pac-12 and join the Big 12 for the 2024-25 season. Additionally, Oregon and Washington announced their departure from the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten, also for the 24-25 season. Additionally, a little over a year ago, UCLA and USC also agreed to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten. 

Coming 2024 ⏳ pic.twitter.com/xD5Cf6yVDT

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) August 5, 2023

This is B1G. 🗺️ pic.twitter.com/rrBWAWF6xZ

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) August 4, 2023

That leaves the Pac-12 conference, which traces its roots back to 1915 with only four full-time members: Stanford, Cal-Berkley, Oregon State and Washington State. Of those four remaining schools, only Oregon State and Stanford have wrestling. Of the schools that announced their impending exit from the conference, only Arizona State sponsors a varsity wrestling program.

What The Move Means For ASU

In the summer before his 10th year as head coach of the Sun Devils, Zeke Jones learned that his 11th season would be his first in the Big 12 conference. Monday morning after the news broke, the Sun Devils' communications department set up a Zoom call for members of the media to ask Coach Jones questions about the recent events. 

While Jones was clear that he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Pac-12, being both a head coach and former student-athlete at Arizona State while they were in the Pac-12, he called the news that ASU was headed to the Big 12 a 'breath of fresh air', and that he expected Arizona State to be one of the 'anchors' of the conference.

Jones also mentioned how both ASU President Michael Crow and Athletic Director Ray Anderson were in touch with him throughout the process and that both are ardent supporters of the wrestling program. Both President Crow and AD Anderson were confident that as far as the wrestling team was concerned, the move was a good one. 

Big 12 Wrestling Programs In 2024-25 With Total All-American Honors From 2021, 2022 & 2023

• Arizona State (from Pac-12) - 14
• Oklahoma State - 10
• Missouri (wrestling only) - 10
• Iowa State - 7
• West Virginia - 3
• South Dakota State (wrestling only) - 3
• Northern Iowa (wrestling only) - 3
• Wyoming (wrestling only) - 2
• Utah Valley (wrestling only) - 2
• North Dakota State (wrestling only) - 2
• Oklahoma (wrestling only*) - 1
• Northern Colorado (wrestling only) - 1
• Air Force (wrestling only) - 1 
• California Baptist (wrestling only) - 0

*Oklahoma's status as a wrestling-only associate member of the Big 12 is not yet confirmed, as they will move from the Big 12 to the SEC at the start of the 2024-25 season.

On The Remaining Pac-12 Teams

On the subject of what might happen to the Pac-12's remaining two full-time (Stanford and Oregon State) and three associate members (Cal Poly, CSU-Bakersfield, and Little Rock) with wrestling trams, Coach Jones was hopeful that a solution will be found where either more non-conference teams are added as associate members to the Pac-12 or that a different conference invites those five programs to join as affiliate members. 

It should also be noted that at this point everything is speculative and that the latest round of conference musical chairs is likely not yet over. 

On The Future Big 12 Schedule And Travel Concerns

Scheduling has never been a simple process for a school like Arizona State, with few geographic neighbors and with most of the campuses of college wrestling's bluebloods lying much further to the east. Jones spoke candidly about the difficulties he's had in getting larger schools with budgets commensurate with Arizona State's to agree to schedule his Sun Devils. 

That chore will become easier with the move to the Big 12, as it is presumed that ASU will start seeing power programs Iowa State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia on a more regular basis with no arm-twisting necessary. 

Additionally, Jones welcomes more duals with associate members Missouri and Oklahoma (assuming OU stays in the Big 12 for wrestling after their move to the SEC in all other sports), as well as the rest of the associate members.

Jones also made sure to point out that Missouri, Iowa State, and Wyoming (among others) have been eager to schedule Arizona State in the past and he appreciates their willingness to compete against the Sun Devils. 

With regards to travel, Zeke acknowledged that the amount of time spent traveling undeniably adds to the burdens of the student-athletes, however, because ASU has routinely crafted continent-spanning schedules with a roster of nationally recruited wrestlers, total travel time is not going to appreciably change once the move to the Big 12 is complete. 

Jones also pointed out that the very best wrestlers in the world, like those he recruits, regularly travel to Europe and Asia to compete, and that those trips to Russia, Iran, and Japan help put trips to the east coast of the US in perspective. 

The 2023-24 Projected Lineup

The usual caveats apply for a lineup look in early August, however, the following projected lineup was presented to all the media members in the Zoom call:

• 125: Richard Figueroa, JR
• 133: Julian Chlebove, JR
• 141: Jesse Vasquez, JR
• 149: Kyle Parco, JR
• 157: Jacori Teemer, SR
• 165: Tony Negron, SR
• 174: Cael Valencia, SO
• 184: Anthony Montalvo, SR
• 197: Damion Schunke, SO
• 285: Cohlton Schultz, JR

Coach Jones also noted that wrestlers like Emilio Ysaguirre at 141 and Kaleb Larkin at 157 will have opportunities to start and that redshirts for either of them are not sure things. Additionally, Jacori Teemer has recovered from an injury that kept him out all of last season and will be ready to go right away in the fall.