March 18, 2000
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Arizona State junior Steve Blackford finished third at 165 pounds to earn All-America honors for the second straight season with two wins Saturday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships held March 16-18 at the Kiel Center.
The third-seeded 165-pounder opened the day with a 12-10 win over defending NCAA champion Kirk White of Boise State to advance to the third-place match, a rematch of the Pac-10 Conference Championship finals this season which Blackford won with a 5-2 decision.
Blackford next downed Chris Martin of Virginia Tech 6-2 to capture third place and improve upon his fourth-place finish last season. He finished the NCAA Championships with a 5-1 mark with his only loss coming with a 4-2 overtime decision in the semifinals to eventual national champion Don Pritzlaff of Wisconsin.
Blackford ends the season with a 43-4 record which ties him for second on the Arizona State single-season list with Eddie Urbano who won 43 matches en route to the 150-pound NCAA title in 1985. Blackford also becomes the 21st Sun Devil to earn at least two All-America honors in his career.
As a team, Arizona State finished in a tie for 16th place with Penn State with 32 team points. Iowa won its sixth straight national title with 116 team points, while Iowa State finished second with 109.5 and Minnesota took third with 80 points.