Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney advanced to the NCAA Wrestling Championships semifinals Friday while three other Sun Devils lost in the quarterfinals.

Courtney, seeded No. 3 at 125 pounds, won 4-2 over North Carolina State’s Jakob Camacho in St. Louis. He will face No. 7 Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley in the semifinals Friday night. LaMont won 7-4 over No. 2 seed Sam Latona of Virginia Tech in the quarters. 

ASU’s Anthony Valencia (165 pounds), Kordell Norfleet (197) and Cohlton Schultz (heavyweight) all suffered their first loss of the season.

No. 2 seed Valencia was leading 4-2 over Ohio State’s Ethan Smith when he suffered a leg injury in the second period. He continued in the match after an injury timeout but was ineffective, losing 13-4.

No. 3 seed Norfleet fell 4-1 to Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi and No. 4 Schultz lost 4-1 to Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi.

ASU dropped from sixth after day 1 to eighth in team standings, now with 31.5 points going into Friday night.

Four ASU wrestlers advance to NCAA Championships quarterfinals

Arizona State’s top four wrestlers won twice each Thursday at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

Brandon Courtney (125 pounds), Anthony Valencia (165), Kordell Norfleet (197) and Cohlton Schultz (heavyweight) advanced to the quarterfinals Friday. All remain undefeated for the season.

No. 2-seeded Valencia had a close call in the second round, going into overtime against Northern Illinois’ Izzak Olejnik (No. 18 seed) before a sudden victory takedown.

No. 3 seed Courtney also had a close second-round match, winning 9-7 over Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett (No. 19). 

No. 3 seed Norfleet pulled away from Purdue’s Thomas Penola (No. 19) for an 8-4 second-round win.

No. 4 Schultz was up 4-0 over Wyoming’s Brian Andrews after the first period of their second-round match before winning by disqualification.

ASU’s Michael McGee (133), Jacori Teemer (157) and Trey Munoz (174) lost in the second round while Cory Crooks (149) fell in the first round. All still are competing in consolation with Crooks winning his first wrestleback.

The Sun Devils are in sixth after day 1 with 19.5 points. Favored Iowa leads with 33.5 followed by Penn State (28), Missouri (23.5), North Carolina State (21) and Oklahoma State (20). Minnesota (16.5) and Michigan (16) are behind ASU.

ASU NCAA quarterfinal pairings

125 pounds: Brandon Courtney vs. Jakob Camacho (North Carolina State)

165: Anthony Valencia vs. Ethan Smith (Ohio State)

197: Kordell Norfleet vs. Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt)

Heavyweight: Cohlton Schultz vs. Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)

More: Arizona State wrestling seeking top-four trophy finish at NCAA Championships

More: ASU wrestlers break Pac-12 competition and championship trophy

More: Sunkist Kids’ Zahid Valencia, Surino win gold, silver medals for U.S. wrestling

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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