Take Me Out To The Ball Game: The Sun Devils Wrestle On The Diamond

Take Me Out To The Ball Game: The Sun Devils Wrestle On The Diamond

FloWrestling caught up with Arizona State to see what it was like to wrestle on the diamond. Spoiler: it was awesome.

Jan 17, 2020 by Nick Zeller-Singh
Take Me Out To The Ball Game: The Sun Devils Wrestle On The Diamond
From March to October, the Arizona Diamondbacks lay home at Chase Field in Phoenix. Although Chase Field sometimes holds other events, it broke down barriers in early January as Arizona State wrestling hoisted the first-ever duals on a baseball field.

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From March to October, the Arizona Diamondbacks lay home at Chase Field in Phoenix. Although Chase Field sometimes holds other events, it broke down barriers in early January as Arizona State wrestling hoisted the first-ever duals on a baseball field.

The Duals on the Diamond hosted four teams (Arizona State, Campbell, Iowa State, and Harvard) in a round-robin event. The Sun Devils captured every moment of playing on the field and turned it into a monstrous execution on the mat

Besides wrestling, the ASU wrestlers changed the approach of entering the scenery. Instead of coming out of a tunnel or locker room, several Devils walked onto the mat from the Diamondbacks locker room. They lived the walkup mojo similar to the MLB players.

“Walking to the mat from the dugout was probably the coolest thing because you got to see all the fans and see my coaches and my opponent across from me,” said 125-pounder Brandon Courtney. “It really hyped me up a lot.”



For other Sun Devils, the hype was not the first thing that popped in their head. Instead, 165-pound Josh Shields reminisced about the days he watched his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates play against the Diamondbacks on that field.

“It was so much fun,” said Shields. “I went to a couple of Diamondbacks games in the past when the Pirates are in town and that atmosphere is awesome. We’ve seen people wrestle at football stadiums and big gymnasiums where basketball teams play, but we’ve never seen someone do it on a diamond.”

The newly arranged experience placed the Sun Devils under the radar again. However, head coach Zeke Jones believes his squad flourishes under these big stadiums and the pressure weighing down on them.

“It was a big atmosphere and I think our team thrives on getting in a bigger atmosphere,” said Jones. “I think they come to expect being in a place little bigger than normal, whatever big means in that moment, so I think they embraced it and did well because of it.”

The pressure paid off as the Devils capped off the duals with three captivating wins to seal the first half of the season.

With PAC-12 play coming up and dropping the PAC-12 Championship last season, coach Jones says one main goal is to recapture the title. 

A few of the wrestlers have battled injuries this season, but the plan to progress for the future is certain.


Nick Zeller-Singh is a student at Arizona State studying Sports Journalism. In addition to writing for FloWrestling, he appears on his college radio station, does play-by-play, and covers a variety of sports as a beat writer. Follow him on Twitter.