June 12, 2007
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Three members of the Arizona State University wrestling program, one current and two former, competed at the 2007 U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev., over the weekend with current student-athlete Kenny Lester placing fifth at 120kg in Greco-Roman while assistant coach Eric Larkin took third at 66kg in freestyle.
Lester, who redshirted as a freshman last year, went 1-2 overall in the challenge tournament. Lester dropped his opening bout in a 6-0, 7-0 decision to Timothy Taylor (U.S. Army) before rebounding with a 6-0, 3-0 defeat of Brandon Doran (New York AC) in the consolation bracket. Lester was bounced from the tournament one bout later as Mark Simmonds (U.S. Navy) scored a 5-0, 4-0 decision.
Larkin, competing at 66kg, had a tough start to his day as he fell to Bill Zadick, 6-0, 0-4, 2-0, in the first round. From there, however, Larkin reeled off five victories in a row to finish third. He opened with a 5-1, 2-0 defeat of Teyon Ware (NYAC) before taking down Brent Metcalf (Gator WC), 1-0, 3-0. In the consolation semifinals, Larkin scored a 1-0, 3-0 defeat of Zack Esposito (Gator) to earn a rematch with Zadick for third place. In the medal match, Larkin dropped the first period, 0-2, but rebounded to take the next two periods for an 0-2, 2-0, 4-0 victory. From there, Larkin defeated Jared Frayer (Gator), 2-1, 1-0, in the true third-place bout.
Former Sun Devil Danny Felix also competed in the freestyle challenger tournament and went 1-2 at 60kg. Felix opened with a 1-0, 1-0 loss to Chris Fleeger (NYAC) before taking a 2-0, 2-2, 1-0 decision from Eric Albright (Cavalier WC) in the consolations. Felix fell from the tournament with a 1-0, 1-0 loss to Todd Meneely (Maverick WC) in the consolation quarterfinals.