In the championship semifinals, No. 2 Brian Stith (157) scored a 7-0 decision over No. 3 Tony Hook of Oregon State to advance where he will meet No. 1 Ben Cherrington of Boise State. Stith is no stranger to being in this position as he upset the No. 1 seeded Matt Gentry of Stanford last year in the finals to win his first title. No. 3 Patrick Pitsch (165) advanced to his first final as he scored a 4-1 decision over No. 2 Ray Blake of Stanford in the semifinals. Pitsch, who finished third one year ago, will face No. 5 Brian Busby of CSUB for the title.
ASU's three heaviest weights all came out on top as well. No. 2 C.B. Dollaway (184) scored a 10-0 major decision over Cal Poly's No. 3 Ryan Halsey in the semifinals to set up a rematch of last year's final against No. 1 Shane Webster of Oregon. No. 1 Ryan Bader (197) won his semifinal, 2-0, over No. 4 Casey Walsh of BSU to set up a familiar meeting in the finals as he will take on CPU's No. 2 Matt Monteiro. Bader and Monteiro have met on several occasions, including two years ago when Monteiro competed for CSUB.
The final Sun Devil finalist will be No. 1 Cain Velasquez (285) who breezed into the bout with an 18-7 major decision over No. 4 Andy Patrick of BSU. Velasquez will meet No. 2 Ty Watterson of Oregon State. The lone semifinalist that did not win was No. 1 Jeremy Mendoza (125), who suffered a 6-2 setback to No. 4 Tanner Gardner of Stanford.
In the consolation draw, No. 4 Pat Payne (149) pinned his way back into the hunt for a place at the national meet as he scored two falls in a row to set up a meeting with No. 3 Jeff Owens of CPU in the consolation semifinals. A win will see him battle for third place while a loss will send him to the battle for fifth. Joining him in the same situation is No. 6 Jason Robbins (141). Robbins scored a 9-2 decision over Jordan Brock of BSU.
John Espinoza (133) fell, 8-2, to No. 6 Omar Gaitan to get bounced from the tournament while Chris Remsen (174) also suffered his second defeat, falling to Ben Gilliland of BSU, 5-3.
Monday's morning session will see the conclusion of the consolation bouts, including bouts for third and fifth places. The finals will begin at 6 p.m. (PST) in the final session of the event.
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