Junior Eric Starks captured his first collegiate title in the 174-pound division at the 2010 Fullerton Open in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday, while redshirt senior Ben Ashmore and junior Jake Meredith took second in their respective weight classes.
The tournament, hosted by CS Bakersfield, featured nearly 300 wrestlers from six Pac-10 wrestling schools well as several other Division II schools and junior colleges.
“Duals and tournaments are obviously different,” said Ashmore, who normally competes at 133 but dropped down to 125 for the tournament. “But I think competing and just wrestling in front of a crowd period is good.”
Starks won his finals match 10-6 in overtime against Grand Canyon’s Victor Carazo, avenging his loss to him a week before in Phoenix. More than half of the Sun Devils competing in uniform (seven of 13) placed among the top six in their respective weight classes.
“[Our team] looked more confident in every aspect, for sure,” ASU coach Shawn Charles said.
There was a more focused attitude heading into the tournament after the disappointing 32-7 thumping from Oklahoma in the home opener on Thursday night.
“They did well,” ASU assistant coach Ben Askren said. “For the most part, the guys wrestled awesome, and it was definitely some of their best performances [thus far].”
Other place winners for the Sun Devils included redshirt freshman Kalin Goodsite, who was fifth at 141; junior Luke Ashmore, who was fourth at 149; junior Te Edwards, who was third at 165; and redshirt sophomore Michael Hawkins, who was sixth at heavyweight. Two ASU true freshmen also competed unattached from the team, as Bobby Bowman finished third at 174 and Joel Smith was sixth at 149.
“I was glad to see Starks defeat someone he lost to in earlier bouts,” Charles said. “Ashmore wrestled outstanding, and I was very happy to see Meredith reach the finals of a D-1 tournament.”
Redshirt seniors Anthony Robles, ranked No. 3 nationally at 125, and Bubba Jenkins, No. 6 at 157, did not compete in Saturday’s tournament in anticipation of their participation in the 45th NWCA All-Star Classic in Fresno, Calif., on Sunday.
“It’s just a fun environment to be in,” Robles said. “With all great wrestlers, it was just a privilege to be a part of it. I just went out there, had some fun, and did work.”
The exhibition tournament saw Robles take on No. 4 Zach Sanders of Minnesota, while Jenkins battled top-ranked Adam Hall of Boise State. Both Sun Devils dominated their opponents, with Robles earning a 20-2 tech fall in the second period against Sanders while Jenkins won 12-4 by way of a major decision against Hall.
“It was a good day for Sun Devil wrestling,” Robles said. “I think we really just kind of stole the show and showed everybody there that we need to be taken seriously.”
ASU was satisfied with some aspects of their wrestling this weekend but still has things to work on in preparation for the home opener of Pac-10 play against CS Fullerton on Saturday.
“The good things were conditioning and technique,” Charles said. “Things we need to work on are our mat strategy, coming off the bottom, increasing our offensive energy, and riding.”
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
