ASU wrestling to hold Annual Award Banquet

The Arizona State University wrestling program will hold its annual awards banquet on Tuesday, April 29, at the Groves Wedding Garden & Reception Center in Mesa, Ariz. The event, which is open to all-comers, will begin at 6 p.m. will feature guest speaker Pat Murphy, the head coach of the Sun Devil baseball program.

The banquet will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour and will be followed with dinner at 7 p.m. Remarks from Sun Devil wrestling coach Thom Ortiz and guest speaker Murphy, along with the presentation of awards, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Cost for the banquet is $15 per person and can be paid at the door (please make checks out to Sun Angel Foundation).

The Groves Wedding Center & Reception Center is located at 606 N. Alma School Road in Mesa (85201). The center is on the west side of Alma School Road approximately one-quarter of one mile north of University Drive. For more information and/or to R.S.V.P. for the banquet, please contact Kelly Kodrick via email at kelly.kordick@asu.edu.

The Sun Devils are coming off a successful season that saw a group of young and talented competitors take the mat for the maroon and gold. In all, the starting lineup featured between five and seven redshirt freshmen in a starting lineup that sent five Sun Devils to the finals of the Pac-10 Championships with two winning titles (Patrick Pitsch at 165 and Brent Chriswell at 184). All five finalists, including runners-up Anthony Robles, Chris Drouin and Jason Trulson, competed at the NCAA Championships with four of those wrestlers (Robles, Drouin, Pitsch and Trulson) falling one victory short of attaining All-America honors.