Feb. 28, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Seven of the nine Arizona State wrestling team members entered into the 2004 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships are seeded in the event with a pair of Sun Devils holding the No. 1 seed at their respective weights. The tournament, which is used as a qualifying event to the NCAA Wrestling Championships, will run Sunday through Monday inside Wells Fargo Arena.
Ryan Bader (So., Verdi, Nev.) at 197 and Patrick Williams (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) at 149 are each the top-seed in their weight classes with Ron Renzi (Sr., Burke, Va.) entering the 174 pound tournament at No. 2. Mike Simpson (Jr., Anaheim, Calif.) at 133, Nick Frost (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) at 184 and Clifford Starks (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) at heavyweight are all seeded third with Christian Staylor (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) at 125 is fourth. Jeremy Mendoza (So., Temecula, Calif.) and Brian Stith (Fr., Hampton, Va.) are both unseeded at 141 and 157, respectively.
Staylor has a bye into the quarterfinals at 125 and will face No. 5 Tanner Gardner of Stanford. Staylor scored a 6-3 decision at the Sun Devil Duals in their only meeting of the season. In another Arizona State-Stanford battle, Simpson will take on No. 6 Paul Gross in the quarterfinals. Simpson also won the only meeting of the season between the two in a 12-3 major decision at the Sun Devil Duals.
Mendoza will have to wait for the outcome of a pigtail bout at 141 before knowing who his opponent will be. He will face either No. 2 Jesse Brock of Boise State or Chris Brines of UC Davis. While Mendoza has not faced Brines this year, he has battled Brock and dropped an 11-3 major decision at the Reno Tournament of Champions. At 149, top-seeded Williams also will have a bye into the quarterfinals where he will face Oregon's Cyle Hartzell. Williams scored a 16-10 decision over Hartzell in a dual in Tempe on Feb. 1 in their only meeting this season.
At 157, Stith has certainly drawn the toughest assignment of anyone on the team as he has a bye into the quarterfinals where he will face undefeated and top-seeded Matt Gentry of Stanford. In the only meeting of the year between the two, Gentry posted a 2-0 decision. Renzi will not have the luxury of a bye into the quarterfinals as he will battle Joe Brady of Cal Poly, an opponent he has not faced this season. Following a first-round bye, Frost will face Cal State Fullerton's Ian Murphy, the No. 6 seed at 184. The two have not faced each other yet this year.
Bader, ranked No. 2 in the nation, will have a first-round bye before taking on Jed Lowe of Oregon State. Bader and Lowe have not met yet this year. The final weight of the tournament will see Starks advance to the quarterfinals with a bye where he will await the winner of No. 6 Shawn Ritzenthaler of Stanford and Matthew Fitu of Cal State Fullerton. While Starks and Ritzenthaler have not met this year, Starks and Fitu have with the Sun Devil big man winning a 13-0 major decision in a home dual.
The first session of the tournament, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, will feature the championship pigtails and quarterfinals, as well as the consolation pigtails. Session two (Sunday, 6-9 p.m.) will showcase the championship semifinals, as well as the consolation first round and consolation quarterfinals. Monday opens with session three (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) and the consolation semifinals, as well as matches for third and fifth places. The finals will begin at 6 p.m. Monday with the Grand March set for 5:30 p.m.