March 20, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The final day of the 2003-04 wrestling season saw Arizona State sophomore Ryan Bader (Verdi, Nev.) go 1-1 in the consolation bracket at the NCAA Wrestling Championships to earn fourth place in the nation and garner All-America honors at the event held at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo. As a team, the Sun Devils placed 26th overall with 19 points while Oklahoma State repeated as champions with 123.5 points. Iowa was second at 82.0.
In the consolation semifinals, the No. 4 seeded Sun Devil scored a 4-1 decision over No. 2 seed Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra to advance to the third place bout. In the final match of the season, Bader dropped a 5-4 decision to unseeded J.D. Bergman of Ohio State to finish fourth. Bergman was riding an impressive win streak that spanned the entire consolation bracket. After falling to No. 5 B.J. Padden (Nebraska) in the first round, the same Padden that Bader defeated to reach the semifinals, Bergman won seven in a row.
With Bader earning All-America accolades, he continued a streak that has seen at least one Sun Devil wrestler in each of the last 30 seasons earn the national recognition. His fourth place finish is the best for an ASU wrestler in the second-heaviest weight class since Mike Davies finished second at 190 pounds in 1988. For the team, the 19 points are the lowest since the team accumulated 19 in the 1983-84 meet and their 26th place finish marks the first time the team has finished out of the Top 25 since the 1981-82 season when it finished tied for 31st.