ASU Wrestling Captures 15th Pac-10 Championship, Add Two Individual Crowns
Stith upsets defending NCAA champion Gentry, earns tournament’s Outstanding
Wrestler Award
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Last year, the Arizona State University wrestling
team finished tied for fifth in the Pac-10 Championships with 85 points and
its lowest finish in the conference event in program history. This year, the
Sun Devils stepped back on top of the podium as champions for the 15th time as
they secured the crown at the 2005 event that was hosted by Cal Poly inside
Mott Gym in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Sunday and Monday.
Nine members of the team placed among the Top 6 in the event, including two
individual champions, to help the team amass 106.0 points enroute to the
crown. Boise State, the 2004 champion, finished in second place with 93 points
while Oregon took third with 88 points. UC Davis (82) and host Cal Poly (74)
rounded out the Top 5.
The evening started off in emotional fashion for the Sun Devils as Brian
Stith (So., Hampton, Va.), who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and
ranked No. 13 in the nation at 157, scored a 3-1 upset of No. 1 seed and No. 2 in
the nation Matt Gentry of Stanford. After a scoreless first period, Gentry
started down and escaped for the early 1-0 lead. From there, Stith opened the
third period with an escape of his own to tie the bout at one.
As the clock counted down and no scoring was recorded, each man stepped up
the action until Stith, with only six seconds remaining in the match, finished
off a shot on the edge of the mat to pick up the two points and the win.
Stith, who went 0-2 in the conference event last year, handed Gentry just his
second loss on the year and avenged three earlier losses to the defending
national champion. For his efforts, Stith was selected by the conference coaches
as the Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships.
In the final bout of the tournament, No. 1 Cain Velasquez (Jr., Yuma, Ariz.)
met surprise finalist Allen Kennett of Portland State and the two big men
mixed it up throughout the bout. In the end, a very aggressive Velasquez
recorded four takedowns and would go on to win the heavyweight crown, 9-3. The
victory also extended Velasquez’ winning streak to 18 bouts in a row, all of
which have come in the 2005 calender year.
At 184, No. 2 C.B. Dollaway (Jr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) faced No. 1 Shane
Webster of Oregon and could not get his offense started as he Webster connected on
several takedowns to record a 15-5 major decision. That was followed by
another ASU-UO bout as No. 1 Scott Barker upended No. 2 Ryan Bader (Jr., Reno,
Nev.), the defending two-time champion at 197, with a 3-0 decision.
Those Sun Devils that have qualified for the NCAA Championships will head to
St. Louis, Mo., for the 2005 event to be held at the Savvis Center March
17-19. The Top 8 finishers at each weight class will earn All-America honors.
2005 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships
Mott Gym * San Luis Obispo, Calif.
ASU’s Session 4 Results ONLY
(number proceeding wrestler is tournament seed)
157 * No. 2 Brian Stith (3-0, 2005 Pac-10 Champion)
Championship Final – #2 Stith dec. #1 Matt Gentry (SU), 3-1
184 * No. 2 C.B. Dollaway (2-1, 2005 Runner-up)
Championship Final – #1 Shane Webster (UO) major #2 Dollaway, 15-5
197 * No. 2 Ryan Bader (2-1, 2005 Runner-up)
Championship Final – #1 Scott Barker (UO) dec. #2 Bader, 3-0
285 * No. 1 Cain Velasquez (4-0, 2005 Pac-10 Champion)
Championship Final – #1 Velasquez dec. Allen Kennett (PSU), 9-3
FINAL TEAM SCORING
1. Arizona State – 104.0
2. Boise State – 93.0
3. Oregon – 88.0
4. UC Davis – 82.0
5. Cal Poly – 81.0
6. Oregon State – 74.0
7. CS Bakersfield – 67.0
8. CS Fullerton – 52.5
9. Stanford – 48.5
10.Portland State – 26.0
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