Five Sun Devils traveled to the NCAA Wrestling Championships, but only one traveled home with All-America honors.
No. 4 ASU junior Anthony Robles (125 pounds) earned his second-straight All-American label with a seventh-place finish, the first Sun Devil to earn that honor in back-to-back seasons since Brian Smith and Cain Velasquez in 2005-06.
Iowa ran away with the team title, totaling 132.5 points, followed by Cornell with 90.
ASU placed 30th overall with 19.5 points.
The four other Sun Devils to compete were junior Ben Ashmore (133), junior Chris Drouin (141), sophomore Te Edwards (157) and senior Erik Nye (285).
Close losses dictated the tournament for the Sun Devils, with six coming by two points or less.
Robles’ first loss came in the quarterfinals against No. 5 Iowa State freshman Andrew Long, 5-3.
Then, after another victory in the consolation bracket, Robles lost to No. 2 Cornell senior Troy Nickerson, 2-1.
“It was one of those situations where Anthony didn’t get into his rhythm his whole match,” ASU coach Shawn Charles said. “He has to get back in the wrestling room to figure out why that happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Edwards was the other Sun Devil to fall in tight matches.
A first-round 8-7 loss to Iowa junior Jake Kerr quickly sent him to the consolation bracket, where he was able to record two victories before losing to Michigan State junior Anthony Jones, 10-9.
Charles said it was a great learning experience for the sophomore, who had opportunities to win both of his losses.
“Te did a fantastic job,” Charles said. “He learned a lot about himself and learned a lot about what he has to do to get himself better over the summer so that he can go back to the national tournament next year and be an All-American or a national champ.”
Nye, who was the only other Sun Devil to win in the first round, also fell in two close matches.
His first-round victory then paired him up against the nation’s top wrestler and eventual national champion, No. 1 Iowa State senior David Zabriskie, which resulted in a 4-2 decision.
He then faced off against No. 11 Cal State Bakersfield senior Mitchell Monteiro and again lost by a two-point decision, 2-0.
Both Ashmore and Drouin lost in the first round, picked up consolation bracket wins and then lost in the second round.
Drouin had to face No. 3 Minnesota junior Michael Thorn in the second round of the consolation bracket and lost 9-1, ending his chances for a second All-America honor.
Only Nye will not return next season for the Sun Devils, giving ASU four wrestlers with more experience and knowledge on the national stage.
The Sun Devils will have nine returning starters next season.
“Getting there and going through the whole experience is huge,” Charles said. “Also, they can bring back some of the insight to some of their teammates that didn’t qualify.”
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu
