Wrestling sends five to finals, 2nd at Pac-10 Championships


The first day of action at the 2008 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships came to a close Sunday night in Eugene, Ore., where eight members of the Arizona State University wrestling team remain in the tournament being held on McArthur Court on the Oregon campus. Of those eight Sun Devils, five have advanced to the finals and have earned berths into the NCAA Wrestling Championships later this month.

On the team scoring front, Boise State leads the way with 128 points while the Sun Devils are second with 94 points. Oregon State (83.5), Cal Poly (79) and CS Bakersfield (77.5) round out the Top 5 and are followed by Stanford (75), CS Fullerton (72), UC Davis (66.5), Oregon (55.5) and Portland State (17).

The five Sun Devils headed to the finals, which will be contested Monday night, include second-seeded Anthony Robles (125), sixth-seeded Chris Drouin (141), top-seeded Patrick Pitsch (165), third-seeded Brent Chriswell (184) and top-seeded Jason Trulson (197). Robles went 2-0 on the day with wins by technical fall and major decision to advance to the finals where he will face top-seeded and fifth-ranked Tanner Gardner (Stanford).

At 141 pounds, Drouin had an impressive conference meet debut as he opened with a 6-4 decision before taking a 9-7 victory in the semifinals to set up a bout with top-seed and national No. 1 Chad Mendes of Cal Poly in the finals. At 165 pounds, two-time defending champion Pitsch scored a pair of victories to advance to his third-consecutive final where he will meet second-seeded Kurt Swartz of Boise State.

Chriswell won a pair of bouts, including a 5-1 decision over second-seeded and 12th-ranked Ian Murphy of CS Fullerton to advance to this first final where he will meet fellow rookie, top-seeded and eighth-ranked Kirk Smith of Boise State. Perhaps the most interesting road to the final came at 197 pounds where Trulson won an early decision before needing an overtime takedown to reach the semifinals. In the semifinal, Trulson was awarded one point less that two minutes into the bout and then was awarded the victory as his foe, fourth-seeded Matt Casperson of Boise State, was disqualified for head-butting. Trulson will now face third-seeded Kyle Bressler of Oregon State in the final.

Three other Sun Devils remain in the competition as well with two vying for seventh place and the third in contention for as high as third and as low as sixth. Heavyweight Quinton Pruett rebounded from a 2-1 loss in the first round to take a pair of two-point wins in the consolation rounds to advance to the consolation semifinals on Monday morning against third-seeded Charlie Alexander. A victory would put Pruett into the third-place bout and a loss would relegate him to the fifth-place bout. Both Todd Schavrien (133) and Orlando Jimenez (149) will wrestle for seventh place on Monday.

Competition at the Pac-10 Championships concludes Monday.

2008 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships
Eugene, Ore. - Day One (March 2)
125 - #2 Anthony Robles (2-0)
Quarterfinal - Robles tech fall #7 Jake Gonzalez (Oregon State), 17-0
Semifinal - Robles major #3 Brandon Zoeteway (CS Bakersfield), 10-2
Final - Robles vs. #1 Tanner Gardner (Stanford), Monday night

133 - #3 Todd Schavrien (0-2)
Quarterfinal - #6 Thomas Kimbrell (CS Bakersfield) dec. Schavrien, 6-5 tb1
Conso Quarter - #7 Francisco Manriquez (UC Davis) dec. Schavrien, 6-2
Seventh Place - Schavrien vs. #8 Porfirio Madrigal (Stanford), Monday morning

141 - #6 Chris Drouin (2-0)
First Round - Drouin dec. Max Rosefigura (Stanford), 8-4
Quarterfinal - Drouin dec. #7 Nexi Delgado (UC Davis), 9-7
Final - Drouin vs. #1 Chad Mendes (Cal Poly), Monday night

149 - Orlando Jimenez (1-2)
First Round - Jimenez dec. #8 Elliot Tracey (Oregon), 8-7
Quarterfinal - #1 Morgan Atkinson (CS Fullerton) tech fall Jimenez, 17-2
Conso Quarter - #4 Jeremy Doyle (CS Bakesfield) dec. Jimenez, 3-0
Seventh Place - Jimenez vs. #7 Barrett Abel (UC Davis), Monday morning

157 - #6 Alex Pavlenko (0-2, Did Not Place)
Quarterfinal - #3 Tyler Sherfey (Boise State) major Pavlenko, 9-0
Conso Second - Tim Patrick (Oregon State) pinned Pavlenko, 4:35

165 - #1 Patrick Pitsch (2-0)
Quarterfinal - Pitsch dec. #8 Dustin Noack (UC Davis), 4-2
Semifinal - Pitsch dec. #5 Zack Frazier (Oregon), 8-3
Final - Pitsch vs. #2 Kurt Swartz (Boise State), Monday night

174 - Rick Renzi (0-2, Did Not Place)
First Round - #6 Ronnie Lee (Oregon) dec. Renzi, 4-2
Conso Second - #4 Christopher Platt (Oregon State), 7-3

184 - #3 Brent Chriswell (2-0)
Quarterfinal - Chriswell dec. #6 Ernie Varela (Cal Poly), 5-2
Semifinal - Chriswell dec. #2 Ian Murphy (CS Fullerton), 5-1
Final - Chriswell vs. #1 Kirk Smith (Boise State), Monday night

197 - #1 Jason Trulson (3-0)
First Round - Trulson dec. Rockland Schneider (Portland State), 5-2
Quarterfinal - Trulson dec. #8 Shaun Dee (Oregon), 3-1 sv1
Semifinal - Trulson won by DQ over #4 Matt Casperson (Boise State), headbutting
Final - Trulson vs. #3 Kyle Bressler (Oregon State), Monday night

285 - Quinton Pruett (2-1)
First Round - #6 Ricardo Alcala (UC Davis) dec. Pruett, 2-1
Conso Second - Pruett dec. #4 Kurt Klimek (CS Fullerton), 7-5
Conso Quarter - Pruett dec. #8 Phil Doerner (Stanford), 6-3
Conso Semifinal - Pruett vs. #3 Charlie Alexander (Oregon), Monday morning

Team Standings - Through Day 1
1. Boise State - 128
2. Arizona State - 94
3. Oregon State - 83.5
4. Cal Poly - 79
5. CS Bakersfield - 77.5
6. Stanford - 75
7. CS Fullerton - 72
8. UC Davis - 66.5
9. Oregon - 55.5
10. Portland State - 17