Larkins, Ysaguirres and Szubas form a trio of brothers for ASU wrestling

TEMPE – The three values of Arizona State wrestling this season are grit, gratitude and brotherhood. One look at the roster this year is all it takes to understand that ASU has the third value in spades – and biology.

The Sun Devils have three sets of brothers on the roster: Emilio and Aidan Ysaguirre, Kaleb and Kyler Larkin and heavyweights Ben and David Szuba.

So while every team wants to call itself a brotherhood – a buzzword that can become a bit of a cliche due to overuse – the Sun Devils literally achieved it this season with three sets of siblings on the team. ASU begins its final push of the year at the Big 12 Championships, starting Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

”They wanted to do this together,” coach Zeke Jones said of the choice the Larkins, Szubas and Ysaguirres all made to come to ASU. “They chose to want to be together because they love each other.

”The Ysaguirres, the Szubas and the Larkins really exemplify what you’re looking for in a program: a family of high-character people.”

For the Larkins, the connection to ASU goes beyond Kaleb and Kyler. Their father, Eric Larkin, won the 2003 NCAA national championship at 149 pounds and was a four time All-America at ASU. Eric remains the only Sun Devils wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy, given annually to the best collegiate wrestler in the country. He was also an assistant on the Sun Devils coaching staff from 2004-2008. 

Following that legacy could be difficult for the Larkin brothers, but they are letting their wrestling do the talking. 

“We’re trying to start something new, or I guess kind of keep the same thing rolling,” Kyler said. “It’s just my turn to do it.” 

Kaleb and Kyler are taking their turns and not looking back. Both are ranked sixth nationally in the InterMat rankings in their respective weight classes; Kyler as a freshman competing at 133 pounds and Kaleb, a redshirt freshman, at 157 pounds. 

Off the mat, Kyler credits Kaleb as the reason he came to ASU.

“I don’t think I’d be as good as I am today without my brother,” Kyler said. “He was already here at ASU and I couldn’t leave him. “Wherever I went, I would’ve been a different person because Kaleb is a part of my identity.”

It’s an example of the brotherhood bond that can be seen at practice and up and down the ASU roster. 

“Family cuts through recruiting, it cuts through money, it cuts through all those things,” Jones said. “That’s a perfect example of ‘family first.’”

Family is why all the brothers are in the same place. Jones knows that all the sibling athletes were good enough to compete at other schools and make quite a bit of NIL money doing it. However, wrestling together was always their No. 1 priority. 

“It was definitely a packaged deal,” David Szuba said. “I really wanted somewhere that I wrestled for to bring Ben, and that’s one of the big reasons we chose Arizona State.”

The Ysaguirre brothers shared that motivation.

“When we were younger we kind of always talked about wrestling at a Division I level, so when (Emilio) came to ASU in the back of my head I was like ‘OK, I’m coming to ASU, too,’” said Aidan Ysaguirre, who wrestles at 197 pounds. 

Raised in Eloy, the Ysaguirres believe wrestling together at ASU gives them an opportunity to motivate the next generation of kids in a place where they didn’t have many wrestling role models growing up. 

If they weren’t wrestling, the brothers don’t know what they’d be doing. In their words, there was no plan B. 

“Young kids in Eloy don’t always get to make it out because they fall into that wrong type of path; you know, that small-town mindset. It means a lot (to inspire the next generation),” said Emilio, who at 141 pounds is much smaller than his little brother. 

Aidan added that “kids in Eloy can look at us, and we can kind of be those role models. Kids can start saying ‘I want to be like Emilio and Aidan Ysaguirre.’”

The Ysaguirre brothers credit their parents and family while they were growing up with motivating them to accomplish their dream together. They grew up competitive, and that competitiveness motivated them to strive to wrestle together at the next level. Today, that competitiveness is still there, whether it be on the wrestling mats, playing ping pong at home or even fishing. 

“My dad was the one who paved the way as an adult in Eloy to be able to put us in that situation to dream big and accomplish our dreams and our goals,” Emilio said. 

For Ben and David Szuba, coming from New Jersey, ASU wasn’t always at the forefront of their dreams. However, the opportunity to wrestle together is still surreal to them. David is a graduate student at ASU while Ben is a freshman.

“I wanted to end my wrestling career and give Ben a headstart in his,” David said.

Ben added that “it’s definitely a dream come true.”

Wrestling together at ASU brings back memories of the brothers wrestling together throughout their childhood, Ben said, in high school and during summers when David was training at Rider University in New Jersey.

“I’ve always looked at David as an idol in a way,” Ben said, beaming. “I thought he was the best no matter what.”

Even though Ben has always looked up to David, the fact they both now share the ASU heavyweight room leads to some good family competition. 

“It used to be I would just beat the crap out of him and now I can’t really do that anymore,” David said, laughing. 

David capped off his dual meet college career with an extra special win on senior night, helping ASU upset No. 22 Lehigh – a traditional wrestling power in the east that is less than a two-hour drive from the Szubas’ hometown. David scored a 7-3 decision over Lehigh’s No. 5-ranked Nathan Taylor.

The win came against the highest-ranked wrestler David has defeated in his college career. Even sweeter, he avenged a previous loss by pin against Taylor in 2023 while David was wrestling at Rider. 

Ben warmed David up before that match, and they both knew it was going to be special. 

“When we warm up hard, it’s really hard to get to Ben’s legs and I got to his legs really easily,” David said. The rest was a fitting end to a Sun Devil upset victory.

Jones singled out David as the kind of wrestler he wants in the Sun Devil program, even though he is a recent transfer. 

“You would’ve thought he’s been in the program five years,” Jones said.  

“It makes wrestling easier,” David said about wrestling with his brother on the team. “I remember when I started wrestling in college, I didn’t have someone to kind of take me under their wing. I get to do that for Ben.”

Ben has been able to not only learn from his brother, but other legends in the Sun Devils wrestling room as well. 

Ben spends plenty of practice time wrestling with former ASU heavyweight Cohlton Schultz, a five time All-American and four time Pac-12 champion during his career at ASU who is also an Olympic hopeful in Greco-Roman wrestling. Schultz won the 2022 Gorriaran Award, recording the most pins in the least amount of time at the NCAA Championships that year. 

“Cohlton, he’s a mastermind,” Ben said. “He knows a lot of the really intricate things, especially the upper body stuff. It’s been a learning experience, understanding the dynamics of handfighting and learning how to manipulate someone’s body.” 

Kids of a Sun Devils legend, brothers from a small town and brothers who grew up across the country. They all chose ASU because the program in Tempe gave them an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than themselves – to combine a biological brotherhood with team camaraderie. 

“I think because you have three sets of brothers (on the team), it sets a standard that’s a little different than just teammates … and that rubs off on the rest of the group,” Jones said.  

Jones may have summed it up best when he paused and added, “that’s special.”

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