Arizona State’s star-studded lineup is beginning to take shape as the Sun Devils get closer to Saturday’s season opener against Rutgers. 

But one key piece of the lineup puzzle will be missing. 

Arizona State coach Zeke Jones confirmed 157-pounder Jacori Teemer is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Going forward without a two-time All-America and defending Pac-12 champion is huge; no timetable has been set for his return.

“Jacori is injured,” Jones said. “He’s getting healthy right now. I don’t want to put a timeline on it; I’m not a big fan of timelines. I’ve seen people get healthy quicker; some people get healthy longer. We just got to get him back to health and get him to 100 percent. The goal doesn’t change; we just continue to put guys in who want to put the singlet on and want to compete on a high level.”

The Sun Devils don’t have a ready-made replacement to step in and make up for the loss of Teemer, who went 22-3 last season with seven bonus-point victories. Jones is hopeful Arizona State can up its production elsewhere.   

“Last year we were a different team,” he said. “We had six guys that were competing at a really high level and we had four guys that were really fighting to stay alive. This year is significantly different. You’re gonna have Jesse Vasquez in the lineup; Anthony Montalvo in the lineup; Tony Negron in the lineup. Those guys easily, easily can make up for the points of a Jacori Teemer. 

“I think it becomes a little harder to win a national title depending on what happens with Jacori, but I think you have guys who can more than make up the slack where he is. I still feel pretty confident this can be a season or a team that can compete at a high level, and they believe that, too.”

Jones has three transfers in Jonathon Fagen (Cornell, 197), Montalvo (Oklahoma State, 184) and Negron (Penn State, 165). Negron and Montalvo are expected to start.

Other starters, according to Jones, who will take 20 wrestlers to the Journeymen Classic on Nov. 12, include two-time All-America Brandon Courtney at 125. Courtney must contend with Richard Figueroa, the nation’s top recruit from 2021. 

“We don’t have to pick it (a starter), they’ll pick it,” Jones said. “Everyone’s waiting to see what happens there, including myself.”

Two-time All-American Michael McGee is at 133; Vasquez is back at 141 after a season-ending injury last year; All-American Kyle Parco is 149; and Max Wilner and Michael Kilic are at 157; Wilner defeated Kilic 3-2 in a recent intrasquad bout.

After Negron at 165 is Cael Valencia at 174. Jones also cited Josh Nummer at 174, and Montalvo follows at 184. Three-time NCAA qualifier Kordell Norfleet and NCAA runner-up and two-time All-American Cohlton Schultz close out the Sun Devils’ powerful lineup at 197 and 285. Schultz is being eased back into the daily practice routine after recent international Greco-Roman competition.

Ready To Rack Up Travel Miles

Of Arizona State’s nearly 78,000 students, only a fraction can say they will see the United States from coast to coast at 36,000 feet.

TSA clearance and frequent flyer status are perks for the ASU wrestling team; the Sun Devils between November and March will travel nearly 17,000 miles. Tournaments included, 11 out of the 18 dates on ASU’s schedule are away from Tempe, Arizona.

It’s not unique. Sun Devils coach Zeke Jones never has shied away from competition, but most of college wrestling’s challenging outings are far to the east of the Valley of the Sun. The third-ranked Sun Devils begin with two trips to Pennsylvania — in eight days, no less — with a home dual meet against #6 Missouri in between.

Other trips booked are Las Vegas, Chicago, Austin, Pennsylvania (again) Stanford (twice),  Oklahoma and Ames, Iowa. “We tend to hit different areas based on where good competition is, where kids are from on our roster and where the best recruits are … we’re going to schedule those three things,” Jones said. 

“It’s really difficult to get the best teams on our schedule. I haven’t said it out loud for 10 years but if you took some time and went back and saw how many times we’ve wrestled the top three or four teams in the country, it’s not for a lack of asking. It becomes a challenge.”

Jones’ intent is to prepare the Sun Devils for the postseason. “We have a schedule that will have us ready,” he said. “Any time you go to Las Vegas (Dec. 2-3) and the Midlands (Dec. 29-30), you’re going to run into the best teams in the country and that’s great.

“The NCAA is a tournament format, so when we go to those tournaments, we’re simulating the NCAA tournament the best we can. We have good teams like Iowa State (Jan. 8) and Missouri (Nov. 17) and Cornell (Jan. 4) and Lehigh (Jan. 28). We’ll run into some top-five and top-10 teams; having Missouri at home is big for us.”

Speaking Of Rankings…

Coming off of back-to-back fourth-place finishes at the NCAAs, Arizona State carries a #3 ranking into the season. There are many ways to look at rankings and Jones has this practical view: “Rankings are great for sharing your program and what people believe it can become. It’s good for sales, it’s good for recruiting; however, it’s just a number. But it does tell you what people think your team is made up of,” he said.

Jones reflected on his first season (2014) and ASU’s distant NCAA finish of 58th. “We’ve worked hard to build it into this spot,” he said. “Obviously, it’s thin air up there; everybody’s gasping that very thin air at the very top of that mountain. We’re gonna fight to stay up there and weasel our way into that stop spot. And sometimes people only look ahead and don’t watch the teams behind them and they get snuck up on. We just need to be who we are … compete, be the team that people think we are and maybe we can be a little more than that; that’s the goal.”

Jones said the upcoming season will be rugged and that people will be paying to attention to the Sun Devils; he’s convinced his squad is ready. “I feel pretty confident the kids are prepared,” he said. “Number 3 is a nice spot, but it’s not enough. Kids came to Arizona State to win a national championship; they want to do something people don’t think they can do. And people don’t think they can do that, that’s why they put them at #3 … they’re saying ‘you’re not #1.’ I do think they feel that they can be the best team in the country; they’re just gonna have to wrestle for it.”

Icing Their Opponents

ASU will split its home matches between Desert Financial Arena, an all-purpose center that seats nearly 15,000, and Mullett Arena, a new hockey arena on campus that seats 5,000. And, for the next three seasons, Mullett Arena is the temporary home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, who are attempting to gain approval to build a new hockey arena in Phoenix. The Sun Devils’ Nov. 17 match against #6 Missouri will be in Mullett. 

“We can really create a really cool atmosphere if we have enough seats on the hockey floor and maximize the flooring space on something that is 100 feet wide by 200 wide,” Jones said. “The arena itself isn’t very big and my hope is we can create that intimate environment. We might be the only wrestling team that plays with a pro team ... in the desert … in 100-degree temperatures.”