This year's event marked the 14th time the Sun Devils have competed in the tournament and raised their overall record to 32-29. ASU has placed among the Top 8 in nine of their appearances and finished seventh for the fifth time overall. The last time the Sun Devils placed in the tournament was the 2003 event in Columbus, Ohio, where they opened the tournament by defeating Missouri in the first round before finishing seventh.
No. 6 Jeremy Mendoza (Sr., Temecula, Calif.) got the Sun Devils on the board first as he recorded a 4-1 decision over No. 18 Austin DeVoe at 125 to stake his squad to an early 3-0 lead. But, just as they did Saturday, the Tigers took the team lead with wins at 133 and 141 as Adam Hickey (So., Mayfield, Ohio) dropped a 10-3 decision to No. 16 Tyler McCormick before Elias Johnson (Jr., Manson, Iowa) was pinned by No. 19 Chris McCormick at 4:27.
Trailing 9-3, the Sun Devils needed wins and received two in a row at 149 and 157. In the first bout, Pat Payne (So., Poway, Calif.) picked up a 4-0 decision before No. 7 Brian Stith (Jr., Hampton, Va.) scored an 11-4 decision over Michael Chandler to tie the score at nine.
Just as ASU tied the team score, the Tigers again took control as they won the next three bouts to put the Sun Devils on their heels. At 165, No. 11 Patrick Pitsch (So., Spanaway, Wash.) put up a tough fight, but No. 4 Matt Pell scored a 4-1 victory before No. 1 Ben Askren pinned Jamie Robbins (Jr., Mesa, Ariz.) in 3:49 at 174. UM's final win came at 184 as No. 8 C.B. Dollaway (Sr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) dropped his second bout in a row, this time being edged by No. 17 Raymond Jordan, 3-2, to put the Tigers ahead, 21-9.
But the Sun Devils would not go quietly as wins by fall in the last two bouts would tie the team score and force the decision to be based upon criteria factors. No. 14 Ryan Bader (Sr., Reno, Nev.) kept his team alive as he scored a fall over Joey Garrity with one second remaining in the bout, picking up six team points with the fall at 6:59. No. 4 Velasquez (Sr., Yuma, Ariz.) then picked up his second fall of the weekend over Sean Connole, this time at 5:38, to tie the score at 21.
After looking through the individual bout statistics, it was determined that ASU was the winner as its wrestlers scored more near fall points. Only one bout featured near fall points being scored and those came during the 197 bout when Bader took his foe down for the third time in the first period and picked up two near fall points in the process.
The Sun Devils return home next weekend as they face a pair of Pac-10 foes as the Oregon schools invade Wells Fargo Arena. ASU first faces Oregon State at 7 p.m. Friday before closing out the weekend with a 6:30 p.m. dual with Oregon Sunday evening.
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