The ASU wrestling team had a taste of some of the best competition in the country over the weekend, placing fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
The tournament did not count toward team scores, but individually, five ASU wrestlers placed in the top five in their respective weight classes with two grapplers reaching the finals.
The 52-team tournament featured nine of the nation's top-25 teams, with No. 3 Michigan winning the two-day invitational for the second year in a row. ASU sat ninth in the standings after the first day of the event, but a strong showing by five Sun Devil wrestlers on the final day of competition carried the team to a top-five finish.
ASU senior Jeremy Mendoza (125 pounds) seeded second in the tournament and went 4-1 over the weekend, before falling to Cornell's Troy Nickerson in the championship bout Saturday on a 7-4 decision.
The loss was Mendoza's first of the season in 12 bouts.
Senior heavyweight Cain Velasquez also suffered his first loss of the season in the championship bout of the tournament. Velasquez, ranked fourth in the nation and seeded second at the invitational, dropped a 6-1 decision to Michigan's Greg Wagner, the top-seeded heavyweight in the tournament.
Senior Ryan Bader (197 pounds) lost a 9-4 decision in the quarterfinals, but rebounded to win four bouts in a row by fall, a pair of one-point decisions and a 7-4 victory to take third place.
Sophomore Patrick Pitsch (165 pounds) took fourth place after losing to Cornell's Steve Anceravage 8-6 in the third-place bout, and sophomore Pat Payne (149 pounds) rounded out ASU's top finishers.
Payne lost in the first round, but came back to win six bouts in a row before losing a 4-0 decision to Wisconsin's Tyler Turner. He took fifth place when his opponent took a medical forfeit.
The Sun Devils have the weekend off before returning to action Dec. 18 to take part in the Reno Tournament of Champions.
Reach the reporter at derrik.miller@asu.edu.
