Redshirt senior Anthony Robles took home the individual crown at 125 pounds to lead the ASU wrestling team at the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational over the weekend.
Redshirt senior Bubba Jenkins (second at 157 pounds) and junior Jake Meredith (eighth at 184 pounds) also placed for the Sun Devils, who, as a team, finished tied for 12th overall with Ohio State in the individually bracketed tournament.
“We had our ups and downs as a team and I think some guys could have wrestled better out there,” Meredith said.
No. 1 Cornell lived up to its ranking and captured the team crown with 140 points, while No. 4 Wisconsin (101.5), No. 6 Boise State (100.0), No. 8 Oklahoma (99.0) and No. 9 Illinois (91.0) completed the Top 5.
ASU finished with 63.5 points, three points behind the next closest team, No. 13 Oregon State (10th with 66.5 points).
“You can’t really take any tournament for granted,” Meredith said of the elite competition. “I was happy to place, but I guess in the last couple matches I could have wrestled better.”
The one Sun Devil who surely couldn’t have wrestled any better was Robles, who extended his undefeated mark to 9-0 on the season, good enough not only for the 125 title but also selection as the event’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
“For me personally, I was really happy with the outcome of the tournament,” Robles, who is ranked No. 3 nationally, said. “I went in there with the goal of winning and getting the [Most Outstanding Wrestler] award.”
Robles won his matches 16-0, 8-4 and 17-0 on Friday and 17-0 and 13-1 on Saturday, once again defeating Oklahoma’s Jarrod Patterson (whom he beat in Tempe on Nov. 18th) in the final.
Robles’ final pair of wins came against the No. 7 and No. 8 wrestlers in the nation at the 125-pound weight class.
“It’s a whole other level [of competition] that the team has got to get used to, because we’re just going to have to face the same talented guys at nationals,” Robles said.
Robles said that this tough competition might have gotten into the heads of some of his teammates who didn’t wrestle as well.
“Honestly, it was a tough tournament, and maybe that just intimidated some of the guys,” Robles said.
Meredith agreed with Robles, noting that some guys weren’t aggressive enough out on the mat.
“I think a lot of our team is lacking confidence,” Meredith said. “I think we are coached pretty damn well, and we just have to trust more in what our coaches are telling us.”
Though the Sun Devils did not have as much individual success as they had hoped, the team got a chance to continue to develop camaraderie on the second road trip of the season.
“We just started taking buses to tournaments and that’s really a great way to build relationships with each other,” Meredith said.
Robles also said that the bus trips have been effective in bringing the team closer off the mat.
“We sure had some fun going up there,” Robles said. “It was a fun time just hanging out with the guys on the bus and getting to know each other a little more.”
However, there was more to take away from the Vegas trip besides the conversation on the bus, Robles said.
“You can never take anybody lightly,” Robles said. “As a team, we have a long way to go before nationals.”
ASU’s next competition will be on Dec. 19th, when they travel to Nevada again for the 2010 Reno Tournament of Champions.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
