March 16, 2004
Live Brackets (courtesy of NCAAsports.com)
TEMPE, Ariz. - The brackets for the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships were released Tuesday with a pair of Arizona State wrestlers earning a Top 12 seeding in their respective weight classes. The five members of the Sun Devils' squad that earned a berth into the meet will compete in the event that runs Thursday through Saturday at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Ryan Bader (So., Verdi, Nev.) earned the No. 4 seed at 197 pounds after compiling a 29-6 overall record this season and winning the 2004 Pac-10 Championship. Ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation this year, Bader will meet Jeff Foust of Missouri in the first round. Bader, a two-time conference champion at 197, and Foust have not met this season. ASU's other seeded wrestler is Nick Frost (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.), who earned the No. 6 position at 184. The Pac-10's champion at 184 this season and at 165 a year ago, Frost will face Michigan State's Nate Mesyn in the first round.
All three of the remaining Sun Devils in the meet will make their debut in the national tournament this week, including redshirt freshman Christian Staylor (Chesapeake, Va.) at 125. At the lightest weight class, Staylor will open his quest for All-America accolades with a bout against No. 11-seed Bobbe Lowe of Minnesota. At 149, Patrick Williams (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) will meet James Strouse of Hofstra with the winner of the bout advancing with the potential to face the No. 1-seed, Jesse Jantzen of Harvard. ASU's final entrant, heavyweight Clifford Starks (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.), will face Ohio's Jeremiah Beltran in the first round.