The wrestling season didn't come to an end the way ASU coach Thom Ortiz envisioned it would.
Before the weekend's NCAA Championship began, Ortiz thought at least one of the five Sun Devils who were competing would come home an All-American. Maybe even a national champion.
But when the competition came to a close Saturday night in St. Louis, Mo., the ASU wrestling team headed back to Tempe without a single wrestler placing at the tournament.
But Ortiz wasn't disappointed with the outcome.
"Every one of my kids fought as hard as they could," he said.
"We ended up with some really tough matchups, and that's just how it goes sometimes."
Iowa won the tournament with 117.5 points, Ohio State finished second with 79, Penn state was third with 75, and Nebraska was fourth with 74. ASU finished in a tie for 28th place with 15.5 points.
In the double-elimination tournament, ASU's 125-pound freshman Anthony Robles won three bouts before being eliminated, 141-pound freshman Chris Drouin won two, 165-pound senior Patrick Pitsch won three, 184-pound freshman Brent Chriswell won one and 197-pound senior Jason Trulson won three.
Robles, Drouin, Pitsch and Trulson all fell one win short of obtaining All-American status.
Robles' final loss of the tournament came against No. 4 Tanner Gardner of Stanford after his first loss was against the eventual-national champion in a 4-2 decision.
"After Robles saw [Angel] Escobedo [of Indiana] win the national title, he believes he can be a national champ," Ortiz said. "This weekend gave him a lot of experience and confidence."
Drouin dropped his first bout of the tournament to No. 9 Nick Gallick of Iowa State, but then had perhaps ASU's biggest upset of the tournament his next time out with a 13-7 decision over eighth-ranked Dan LeClere of Iowa Thursday night. Friday, Drouin defeated another ranked opponent, No. 7 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin, before losing to No. 5 Manuel Rivera of Minnesota.
And for ASU's other two near All-Americans, their collegiate careers came to a close over the weekend.
Pitsch went into the meet with hopes of coming home a national champion but lost his second match of the tournament to No. 8 Moza Fay of Northern Iowa Friday night.
"I've watched Pitsch put in the hard work for five years and no one wanted him to be an All-American more than me," Ortiz said. "He was so close but that guy from UNI was really good. I guess it just wasn't in the cards."
Of Pitsch's three tournament victories, none came against a ranked opponent but he did pin Jake Donar from Wisconsin in 5:08 during his first bout of the tournament.
And for Trulson, his ASU wrestling career came to an end at the hands of No. 7 Hudson Taylor of Maryland in a 5-0 decision.
"Trulson has been hurt almost this whole season and finished second in the Pac-10's and was one win away from being an All-American with no ACL [anterior cruciate ligament]," Ortiz said. "That sums up what kind of kid he is. He is just so determined, and he had a great career here at ASU."
Reach the reporter at: samuel.good@asu.edu.
