March 10, 2011
Complete Brackets from the NCAA (pdf)
TEMPE – The NCAA released the brackets for the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships with two Arizona State University wrestlers earning Top 4 seeds in their respective weight classes for the tournament that will be held March 17-19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Anthony Robles was seeded No. 1 at 125 pounds while Bubba Jenkins earned the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds for the Sun Devils, who will send six competitors to the national event next week.
Robles, a two-time returning All-American and undefeated at 31-0 this season, received the top seed at 125 pounds, making him the first Sun Devil since the 2003 season to earn the No. 1 position in a bracket at the NCAA Championships. In 2003, the top billing went to Eric Larkin at 149 pounds, who capped his perfect senior season with the last national title won by a Sun Devil. Jenkins’ seeding gives ASU a No. 4 seed for the second year in a row after Robles was No. 4 at 125 pounds last year before placing seventh.
The seeding for Robles is the third of his career after earning the No. 12 seed in 2009 and No. 4 last year. And, just like last year, Robles’ quest for a national title will begin with a Virginia wrestler. This year, he will face Matthew Snyder (sophomore, 23-9) in the first round after defeating Ross Gitomer with a fall in 2:58 last year. Robles and Snyder have met once this year with Robles taking a 16-1 technical fall at the Virginia Duals (January 8).
Jenkins, the 2008 NCAA runner-up at 149 pounds for Penn State, holds a 16-3 record on the season and will take on Alex Medved (redshirt freshman, 29-9) of Gardner Webb in the opening round. Jenkins, who took second in the Pac-10 Championships to Adam Hall of Boise State, is on the same half of the bracket with Hall, who earned the No. 1 seed at the 157 weight class this year.
At 174, Eric Starks (17-9) will face No. 5 Chris Henrich (senior, 32-2) of Virginia, the second meeting in the first round of this year’s tournament between the Sun Devils and Cavaliers and also a rematch from a dual on January 8. In their first meeting, Henrich scored a 10-2 major decision over Starks, the last match Starks wrestled before sustaining an injury that sidelined him until the Pac-10 tournament two weeks ago, where he placed third.
Jake Meredith (22-14) is the lone Sun Devil that will compete in a match pitting two unseeded individuals against one another as he will face Iowa State’s Richard Shafer (redshirt freshman, 10-17). The two have not met in their careers. Meredith is coming off a strong showing at the Pac-10 Championships where he captured his first conference crown after reaching his second final of the season.
At 197, Luke Macchiaroli (12-11) is unseeded and will get a rematch from an earlier meeting this season in the first round as he will face No. 2 Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State (senior), who enters the tournament with a 22-0 record. The two met in a dual in Tempe on January 2 in which Foster won a 16-3 major decision. Macchiaroli enters the tournament as the Pac-10 runner-up, where he reached the final by defeating two individuals that had defeated him during the regular season.
The final Sun Devil in the tournament will be heavyweight Levi Cooper (24-9) who will take on No. 4 seed Dominic Russo of Rutgers (senior, 30-6) in the first round. The two have not met in their college careers. Cooper is coming off a third-place showing at the Pac-10 Championships, improving from his seventh-place finish from two years earlier as a true freshman with Portland State.
2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 17-19 • Wells Fargo Center • Philadelphia, Pa.
Round of 32 matches for Arizona State wrestlers
125 • #1 seed Anthony Robles (31-0) vs. Matthew Snyder of Virginia (23-9)
157 • #4 seed Bubba Jenkins (16-3) vs. Alex Medved of Gardner Webb (29-9)
174 • Eric Starks (17-9) vs. #5 seed Chris Henrich of Virginia (32-2)
184 • Jake Meredith (22-14) vs. Richard Shafer of Iowa State (10-17)
197 • Luke Macchiaroli (12-11) vs. #2 seed Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State (22-0)
285 • Levi Cooper (24-9) vs. #4 seed Dominic Russo of Rutgers (30-6)