Wrestling sends three to Pac-10 finals

March 01, 2009

The first day of action at the 2009 Pac-10 Conference Wrestling Championships came to a close Sunday night with Arizona State University advancing three of its wrestlers to the finals of their respective weight classes while all 10 Sun Devils guaranteed themselves a place among the Top 8 in the tournament that is being held inside Titan Gym on the CS Fullerton campus in Fullerton, Calif.<separator></separator>As a team, the Sun Devils have scored 89.5 points and stand fourth overall in the nine-team field while Boise State leads the way with 138.0 points. The Top 3 is rounded out by CS Bakersfield, who stands second with 109.0 points, and third-place Oregon State, who has scored 103.5 points.<separator></separator>Robles needed just over seven minutes of mat time to win his first two matches of the tournament as the top-seed at 125 to advance to his second-consecutive Pac-10 final. Robles opened the tournament with a 16-0 technical fall (4:04) over eighth-seeded Micah Ferguson (Cal Poly) before pinning fourth-seeded Andre Gonzalez (OSU) in 3:23 in the semifinals. Ranked 11th nationally, Robles will now take on third-seeded and 17th-ranked Brandon Zoeteway (CSB) in the finals on Monday night.<separator></separator>At 141 pounds, top-ranked and fifth-ranked Drouin moved his way into the finals for the second year in a row as the sophomore opened the tournament with an 11-1 major decision over eighth-seeded Westley Moniz (PSU) before scoring a 4-2 decision over fourth-seeded Adin Duenas (CSF) in the semifinals. Drouin will look to capture his first Pac-10 title on Monday night as he faces second-seeded Elijah Nacita (CSB).<separator></separator>The third Sun Devil finalist came at 174 where true freshman Starks won a pair of matches as the second-seed to advance to the finals. Starks opened up with a victory by injury default over seventh-seeded Tyler Bernacchi (UCD), who sustained a leg injury early in the first period. Starks followed that with a hard-fought 5-3 decision over sixth-seeded Jason Points (CSB) in the semifinal. He will now face top-seeded and 12th-ranked Nate Lee (BSU) in the finals on Monday.<separator></separator>Three Sun Devils are still in the hunt to place third in their respective weights, including <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/edwards_te00.html">Te Edwards</a> (157), <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/deberry_kyle00.html">K… DeBerry</a> (165) and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/meredith_jake00.html">… Meredith</a> (184) while four others will wrestle for seventh place on Monday afternoon. Edwards, the lone Sun Devil with a pig-tail match to start the day, won his opener with an 11-3 major decision over Sam Barnhart (CSB) before the eighth-seeded Sun Devil fell to top-seeded and sixth-ranked Adam Hall, 11-4. Edwards rebounded with a 5-3 decision over fifth-seeded Alex Bubb in the consolation quarterfinals and will next take on third-seeded Lucas Espericueta (SU) with the winner wrestling for third and the loser for fifth.<separator></separator>DeBerry, who is seeded sixth, opened with an impressive 9-0 major decision over third-seeded Dustin Noack (UCD) in the quarterfinals before falling to second-seeded Nick Amuchastegui (SU), 12-4, in the semifinal. DeBerry will next face fifth-seeded Joey Granata (CSB) for the right to wrestle for third place.<separator></separator>Meredith, the No. 5 seed at 184, dropped a 5-3 decision in the quarterfinals to fourth-seeded Jake Johnson (SU) before rebounding to score a 13-0 major decision over eighth-seeded Tim Hawkins (CSF), marking the second time in two weeks Meredith has defeated Hawkins with a major decision. Meredith will meet third-seeded Jon Clark (UCD) in the consolation semifinals on Monday.<separator></separator>The action continues from Fullerton Monday afternoon with consolation and medal rounds starting at 3 p.m. PT and the finals taking place at 6 p.m. PT. Live streaming video of the tournament is available, free of charge, on the Pac-10 web site, Pac-10.org.<separator></separator>Pac-10 Wrestling Championships Day 1 - Sunday, March 1 - Titan Gym (CS Fullerton) #/# indicates tournament seed/national ranking (if applicable) 125 - #1/#11 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/robles_anthony00.html"… Robles</a> (2-0) Quarterfinal - #1 Robles tech fall #8 Micah Ferguson (CPU), 16-0 Semifinal - #1 Robles pinned #4 Andre Gonzalez (CSF), 3:23 Final - #1 Robles vs. #3/#17 Brandon Zoeteway (CSB) - Monday night<separator></separator>133 - #8 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/prado_david00.html">Da… Prado</a> (0-2) Quarterfinal - #1/#5 Andrew Hochstrasser (BSU) pinned #8 Prado, 3:50 Conso Quarter - #5 Brandon Low (UCD) dec. #8 Prado, 5-1 7th/8th Place - #8 Prado vs. #7 Porfiro Madrigal (SU)<separator></separator>141 - #1/#5 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/drouin_chris00.html">C… Drouin</a> (2-0) Quarterfinal - #1 Drouin major #8 Westley Moniz (PSU), 11-1 Semifinal - #1 Drouin dec. #4 Adin Duenas (CSF), 4-2 Final - #1 Drouin vs. #2 Elijha Nacita (CSB) - Monday night<separator></separator>149 - #7 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/varela_vicente00.html"… Varela</a> (0-2) Quarterfinal - #2/#17 Jason Chamberlin (BSU) dec. #7 Varela, 8-2 Conso Quarter - #3 Barrett Abel (UCD) dec. #7 Varela, 11-7 7th/8th Place - #7 Varela vs. #4 Henry Kofa (PSU)<separator></separator>157 - #8 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/edwards_te00.html">Te Edwards</a> (2-1) Pigtail - #8 Edwards major Sam Barnhart (CSB), 11-3 Quarterfinal - #1/#6 Adam Hall (BSU) dec. #8 Edwards, 11-4 Conso Quarter - #8 Edwards dec. #5 Alex Bubb (PSU), 5-3 Conso Semi - #8 Edwards vs. #3 Lucas Espericueta (SU)<separator></separator>165 - #6 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/deberry_kyle00.html">K… DeBerry</a> (1-1) Quarterfinal - #6 DeBerry major #3 Dustin Noack (UCD), 9-0 Semifinal - #2 Nick Amuchastegui (SU) major #6 DeBerry, 12-4 Conso Semi - #6 DeBerry vs. #5 Joey Granata (CSB)<separator></separator>174 - #2 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/starks_eric00.html">Er… Starks</a> (2-0) Quarterfinal - #2 Starks def. #7 Tyler Bernacchi (UCD), injury default Semifinal - #2 Starks dec. #6 Jason Points (CSB), 5-3 Final - #2 Starks vs. #1/#12 Nate Lee (BSU) - Monday night<separator></separator>184 - #5 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/meredith_jake00.html">… Meredith</a> (1-1) Quarterfinal - #4 Jake Johnson (SU) dec. #5 Meredith, 6-3 Conso Quarter - #5 Meredith major #8 Tim Hawkins (CSF), 13-0 Conso Semi - #5 Meredith vs. #3 Jon Clark (UCD)<separator></separator>197 - #7 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/cranford_jake00.html">… Cranford</a> (0-2) Quarterfinal - #2/#7 Brandon Halsey (CSB) major #7 Cranford, 10-2 Conso Quarter - #6 Luke Feist (SU) dec. #7 Cranford, 4-1 7th/8th Place - #7 Cranford vs. #8 Bo Lukehart (CSF)<separator></separator>285 - #8 <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/etukeren_imanibom00.ht… Etukeren</a> (0-2) Quarterfinal - #1/#6 Mitch Monteiro (CSB) major #8 Etukeren, 10-0 Conso Quarter - #4 Samuel Zylstra (BSU) dec. #8 Etukeren, 8-4 7th/8th Place - #8 Etukeren vs. #6 Levi Cooper (PSU)