With a young team come problems.
Nothing proved truer than that when the ASU wrestling team finished in 24th place out of 48 teams at the Las Vegas/Cliff Keen Invitational over the weekend.
Only two Sun Devil wrestlers made it to the second day of final round bouts, and none walked away with the coveted weight class title. The team only mustered together 26 points.
No. 10 Michigan claimed the team title with 127.5 points after crowning three individual champions: Kellen Russell (141 pounds), Eric Tannenbaum (165 pounds) and Tyrel Todd (184 pounds). All scored titles in their respective weight classes for the Wolverines.
No. 7 Missouri placed a close second with 125 points.
ASU's biggest help came through in senior Patrick Pitsch's efforts in the 165-pound weight bracket.
Pitsch, ranked third in the nation, carried a No. 2 seed in the tournament but was upended on the first day of action by 10th seeded Jarrod King of Edinboro in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket.
The loss left Pitsch to wrestle in the consolation bracket, where he regrouped on the second day to capture three consecutive victories.
An injury suffered during the tournament caused Pitsch to forfeit his consolation championship match with Keegan Mueller of North Carolina. That left Pitsch to take home fourth place honors.
Pitsch had beaten Mueller earlier in the tournament in a 9-5 decision.
Although suffering from injury, Pitsch recorded his best-ever finish at the tournament, placing one spot higher than he did last year, when he took fifth as a junior.
The other Sun Devil to succeed was senior Jason Trulson, who went 3-2 for the tournament in the 197-pound weight bracket.
Trulson, ranked 14th in the nation, carried the fifth seeded in the tournament but also suffered a loss at the hands of a Tar Heel, dropping a 4-0 decision to Dennis Drury of UNC in the first round of championship bracket action.
After pulling off three consecutive victories, Trulson was beat in a 3-1 decision by Pat Bradshaw of Edinboro in the sixth round consolation match.
The Sun Devils are off during finals before heading back to Nevada for the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 19.
Reach the reporter at: love.bhakta@asu.edu.
