Individual championships were secured by Patrick Pitsch at 165 pounds, his third in a row, and at 184 pounds by Brent Chriswell. The title for Pitsch makes him the first wrestler in Pac-10 history to win the 165-pound title three times and just the third wrestler since weight classes were reorganized in 1998-98 to win the same weight three times in a career joining former Sun Devil Ryan Bader (197) and BSU's Scott Jorgenson (133).
The finals opened with second-seeded and 17th-ranked Anthony Robles putting on a stellar performance at 125 pounds before falling just shy of an upset bid of sixth-ranked Tanner Gardner by dropping a 7-6 decision. Two bouts later, sixth-seeded Chris Drouin also came close to a huge upset, falling to undefeated and No. 1 Chad Mendes, 6-4, in the 141 bout.
Pitsch, the top-seed in his weight class, was the first victorious Sun Devil in the finals, despite surrendering an early takedown. Trailing 2-0, Pitsch fought back to take a 6-4 upset victory over second-seeded and 17th-ranked Kurt Swartz (BSU) for his third crown. Two weight classes later, third-seeded and 15th-ranked Brent Chriswell pulled off a big upset of his own as he scored a 10-7 defeat of top-seeded and eighth-ranked Kirk Smith, a fellow freshmen. The final Sun Devil in the finals was one bout later where top-seeded Jason Trulson dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Kyle Bressler (Oregon State) at 197 pounds.
Three others ASU wrestlers competed in the medal rounds on the day as well, including Quinton Pruett, who placed fifth at heavyweight. Pruett, unseeded in the tournament, opened the day with a close 3-2 loss to third-seeded Charlie Alexander of Oregon. In the fifth-place bout, Pruett faced sixth-seeded Ricardo Alcala (UC Davis) and exacted revenge for an opening round loss with a 6-1 victory. Orlando Jimenez was pinned in 4:24 of the seventh-place bout at 149 pounds to earn eighth place while Todd Schavrien accepted eighth-place at 133 pounds after medically forfeiting his bout.
Next up for those Sun Devils that have qualified will be the NCAA Wrestling Championships, set for March 20-22 in St. Louis.
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