LAS VEGAS – After four Sun Devils advanced to Saturday's semifinals and one advanced through the consolation bracket, redshirt freshman Zahid Valencia's first place finish at 174 lbs. highlighted ASU's appearance at the 35th Cliff Keen Invitational.
ASU also recorded three other top-five finishes and five total podium finishes including Tanner Hall in fourth (HWT), Josh Shields (157) and Anthony Valencia (165) in fifth, and Ali Naser (133) in seventh.
On the season, Z. Valencia remains undefeated, wrestling his way all the way through the championship bracket to secure the overall victory. A. Valencia and Shields recovered from earlier losses to capture fifth place finishes while Ali Naser won two of three matches on the day to take seventh.
In the final bout of the evening, Hall took Minnesota's Michael Kroells to extra time before the match was ultimately decided after tiebreaker and sudden victory rounds.
It's believed that '03 alum Eric Larkin was the last and only Sun Devil freshman to win a weight class at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Z. Valencia is only the second all-time freshman to win.
As a team, the Sun Devils finished seventh overall (83 points) while Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Virginia Tech went 1-2-3 atop the leaderboard. The top-10 finish was ASU's best as a team since 2006.
ASU has a break for most the remainder of December before heading to Midlands hosted by Northwestern at the end of December. The Sun Devils return to Tempe on Jan. 8 to host Cal Poly in their Pac-12 opener.
133: Ali Naser (7th Place)
Consolation Round of 8 (#2) – #8 Ali Naser def. Carlos Herrera (CSU Bakersfield), 13-6 dec
Consolation Round of 4 – #4 Anthony Tutolo (Kent State) def. #8 Ali Naser, 10-3 dec
7th Place Match – #8 Ali Naser def. Eli Stickley (Wisconsin), 10-4 dec
157: Josh Shields (5th Place)
Semifinals – #4 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) def. #8 Josh Shields, 6-3 dec
Consolation Semifinals – #3 Victor Lopez (Bucknell) def. #8 Josh Shields, 9-5 dec
5th Place Match – #8 Josh Shields def. #7 Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech), forfeit
165: Anthony Valencia (5th Place)
Semifinals – #2 Logan Massa (Michigan) def. #3 Anthony Valencia, 17-4 MD
Consolation Semifinals – Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) def. #3 Anthony Valencia, 5-2 dec
5th Place Match – #3 Anthony Valencia def. #6 Brandon Womack (Cornell), fall :40
174: Zahid Valencia (1st Place)
Semifinals – #2 Zahid Valencia def. #3 Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 10-2 MD
Finals – #2 Zahid Valencia def. #1 Brian Realbuto, 3-2 dec
HWT: Tanner Hall (4th Place)
Semifinals – #2 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) def. #3 Tanner Hall, 5-3 dec
Consolation Semifinals – #3 Tanner Hall def. #5 Nathan Butler (Stanford), 3-2 dec TB1
3rd Place Match – #4 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) def. #3 Tanner Hall, 3-2 SV-2
ASU also recorded three other top-five finishes and five total podium finishes including Tanner Hall in fourth (HWT), Josh Shields (157) and Anthony Valencia (165) in fifth, and Ali Naser (133) in seventh.
On the season, Z. Valencia remains undefeated, wrestling his way all the way through the championship bracket to secure the overall victory. A. Valencia and Shields recovered from earlier losses to capture fifth place finishes while Ali Naser won two of three matches on the day to take seventh.
In the final bout of the evening, Hall took Minnesota's Michael Kroells to extra time before the match was ultimately decided after tiebreaker and sudden victory rounds.
It's believed that '03 alum Eric Larkin was the last and only Sun Devil freshman to win a weight class at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Z. Valencia is only the second all-time freshman to win.
As a team, the Sun Devils finished seventh overall (83 points) while Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Virginia Tech went 1-2-3 atop the leaderboard. The top-10 finish was ASU's best as a team since 2006.
ASU has a break for most the remainder of December before heading to Midlands hosted by Northwestern at the end of December. The Sun Devils return to Tempe on Jan. 8 to host Cal Poly in their Pac-12 opener.
133: Ali Naser (7th Place)
Consolation Round of 8 (#2) – #8 Ali Naser def. Carlos Herrera (CSU Bakersfield), 13-6 dec
Consolation Round of 4 – #4 Anthony Tutolo (Kent State) def. #8 Ali Naser, 10-3 dec
7th Place Match – #8 Ali Naser def. Eli Stickley (Wisconsin), 10-4 dec
157: Josh Shields (5th Place)
Semifinals – #4 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) def. #8 Josh Shields, 6-3 dec
Consolation Semifinals – #3 Victor Lopez (Bucknell) def. #8 Josh Shields, 9-5 dec
5th Place Match – #8 Josh Shields def. #7 Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech), forfeit
165: Anthony Valencia (5th Place)
Semifinals – #2 Logan Massa (Michigan) def. #3 Anthony Valencia, 17-4 MD
Consolation Semifinals – Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) def. #3 Anthony Valencia, 5-2 dec
5th Place Match – #3 Anthony Valencia def. #6 Brandon Womack (Cornell), fall :40
174: Zahid Valencia (1st Place)
Semifinals – #2 Zahid Valencia def. #3 Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 10-2 MD
Finals – #2 Zahid Valencia def. #1 Brian Realbuto, 3-2 dec
HWT: Tanner Hall (4th Place)
Semifinals – #2 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) def. #3 Tanner Hall, 5-3 dec
Consolation Semifinals – #3 Tanner Hall def. #5 Nathan Butler (Stanford), 3-2 dec TB1
3rd Place Match – #4 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) def. #3 Tanner Hall, 3-2 SV-2