Wrestling king Penn St. visits No. 10 Arizona St.

Signing up to wrestle against Penn State is not for the faint of heart.

Take Arizona State for example. The Sun Devils finished 12th at NCAA Championships last year yet lost 41-3 to Penn State in a dual meet.

Wrestling admittedly is a different animal when it comes to dual meets vs. tournament scoring, but the Nittany Lions are king of the pack in both. They’ve won 60 consecutive duals and eight of the last nine NCAA Tournament titles.

“Penn State is what UCLA basketball was,” ASU coach Zeke Jones said. “Penn State is what the Patriots are now. You want to see the best college team in wrestling, this would be the one to come to. Hopefully we’re going to make them the second best, that’s the goal.”

No. 1 Penn State (1-0) is at No. 10 ASU (4-0) on Friday in a meet expected to draw the largest crowd in Sun Devil wrestling history — the record is 5,497 in 1990.

It would take a major disruption in the sports universe for the Sun Devils to end Penn State’s four plus-year unbeaten dual streak. But such opportunities are why Jones left the USA Wrestling freestyle national team in April 2014 to return to his alma mater.

“Everyone in our wrestling room believes we can win,” Jones said. “If you look at it on paper, it’s possible. It’s not like there’s no chance. Everything has to line up right.”

ASU vs. Penn State in the last three years centers on the titanic Zahid Valencia vs. Mark Hall duel at 174 pounds.

Hall won 4-3 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament semifinals — Valencia’s only loss as a redshirt freshman — on his way to a title.

At the 2018 and 2019 nationals, Valencia beat Hall in the championship match (8-2 and 4-3), the latter avenging a 4-0 loss to Hall in the December 2018 dual meet.

It’ll be Hall against Valencia again Friday, but this time Anthony not Zahid, who has moved up to 184 pounds for his senior season.

“He doesn’t have to wrestle like me (against Hall),” Zahid said. “I believe he could be the best in the world too. It’s making sure he believes in that and wrestles his match. Don’t let Mark dictate it, and if he gets off to the fast start, keep the pressure and just continue to score points.”

Anthony Valencia, a redshirt junior, wrestled Hall in high school and of course has studied his brother’s high profile matches vs. Hall. “I just have to make sure to keep my mind right, stay confident and don’t expect to lose or hope to win,” he said. “Just go out there and wrestle my best and whatever happens, happens. I really believe I’m going to be victorious.”

As for Zahid, ranked No. 1 at 184, he could be facing No. 2 Shakur Rasheed if healthy or unranked Creighton Edsell, a significant difference in potential opponents.

ASU seniors Josh Maruca (149) and Josh Shields (165) are from Pennsylvania for whom this meet carries extra significance. Shields will face No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph for a third with the most recent meeting won 3-2 by Joseph at the NCAA Tournament.

The 133 and heavyweight matches also will feature two nationally-ranked wrestlers.

Brandon Courtney, ASU’s only winner in the 2018 Penn State dual, is back at 125 pounds.

ASU will not know until Friday is Jacori Teemer (157) and Kordell Norfleet (197) are healthy enough to compete.

“This is a big time in our program,” Jones said. “It’s an event we put on our schedule ever since the day Anthony, Zahid and I arrived here. We marked this as an important date for wrestling in the west and for our university. I have a tremendous amount of pride in bringing Penn State in here and I’m excited about our team competing. It’s a big one.”

ASU wrestling vs. Penn State

When: 7 p.m. Friday.

Where: Desert Financial Arena. TV: Pac-12 Network.

Probable lineups

125 pounds: No. 19 (Intermat rankings) Brandon Courtney (ASU) vs. Brody Teske or Devin Schnupp (Penn State).

133: No. 16 Josh Kramer (ASU) vs. No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State).

141: Cory Crooks or Navonte Demison (ASU) vs. No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State).

149: Josh Maruca (ASU) vs. Luke Gardner or Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State).

157: No. 17 Jacori Teemer or Dillon Ulrey (ASU) vs. No. 5 Brady Berge or Bo Pipher (Penn State).

165: No. 5 Josh Shields (ASU)) vs. No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State).

174: No. 8 Anthony Valencia (ASU) vs. No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State).

184: No. 1 Zahid Valencia (ASU) vs. No. 2 Shakur Rasheed or Creighton Edsell (Penn State).

197: Kordell Norfleet or Cade Belshay (ASU) vs. No. 7 Kyle Conel (Penn State).

Hwt.: No. 5 Tanner Hall (ASU) vs. No. 1 Anthony Cassar (Penn State).