March 19, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Ryan Bader (So., Verdi, Nev.) went 1-1 on the second day of competition at the NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday to advance to the consolation semifinals at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo., and earn All-America honors. With 15.5 team points, the Sun Devils are in 28th place while defending national champions Oklahoma State is leading the way with 97.5.
Bader, the No. 4 seed in the national tournament, opened the day with a 5-3 defeat of No. 5 B.J. Padden of Nebraska in the championship quarterfinals. From there, he advanced to the semifinals where he fell in a close, 2-1, decision to No. 1 seed and defending champion Damion Hahn of Minnesota. Bader will face No. 2 Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra Saturday morning with the winner meet the winner of No. 3 Sean Stender (Northern Iowa) and J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) to see who will finish third. The losers of the two bouts will meet as well, with that winner finishing fifth overall. Bader is assured of All-America status for the first time in his collegiate career.
A trio of other Sun Devils also competed Friday, each compiling a 1-1 record to fall from the tournament. At 125 pounds, Christian Staylor (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) began his day with a 10-7 decision over Duke's Christian Smith in the consolation first round before falling to Drew Opfer of Kent State in a pin a 2:01. At 149 pounds, Patrick Williams (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) downed Josh Wooten of Illinois, 5-3, in the consolation second round before dropping a 5-0 decision to No. 8 Matt Storniolo of Penn State. The final entrant remaining for ASU was No. 6 Nick Frost (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.). Following a 2-0 decision over Josh McLay of Minnesota in the 184 bracket, Frost was bounced from his final collegiate competition in a 3-1 loss to Nick Ciarcia of Brown.
Championship action concludes Saturday in St. Louis with ESPN providing live coverage of the event.