With a distinguished collegiate wrestling career nearing its end, Anthony Robles is looking to leave the sport in the same spot he's found himself for much of his time in it: on top.
Robles and five of his teammates will lead Arizona State into the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Thursday through Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
A senior, Robles (31-0) is the top seed in the 125-pound weight class and is looking to bring ASU its first individual wrestling title since Eric Larkin won at 149 pounds in 2003.
Robles, who wrestled at Mesa High and is a two-time All American, said a national championship would be the perfect way to close out his career.
"I've been wrestling in the state of Arizona for nine years now," he said. "Winning that title would be a way for me to kind of say thank you, just for everything that they've given me."
The first round of the tournament will pit Robles against sophomore Matthew Snyder of Virginia. Robles defeated Snyder by a technical fall (16-1) at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 8, but he said he will not be taking any of his opponents lightly.
"I'm just going to go in like I've never wrestled him," Robles said. "That national tournament, it's a fresh start for everybody. Anybody can take home the title, so it's all about who shows up that day.
"Past records don't really matter, so I just got to put everything together for five matches."
Also seeded for the Sun Devils is senior Bubba Jenkins, the No. 4 wrestler at 157 pounds. Jenkins is 16-3 in his only year with ASU after transferring from Penn State, and will face redshirt freshman Alex Medved of Gardner-Webb in the first round.
"I'm probably more excited than I've ever been for any other tournament," Jenkins said. "I feel like I'm peaking at the right time and I feel like my conditioning is as good as it's going to get.
"I'm not looking past anybody, but I'm pretty happy with where I sit in the bracket."
The Sun Devils also have an impressive group of underclassmen in the tournament, something that coach Shawn Charles said will hopefully help the team realize his goal of returning the program to national prominence.
Juniors Eric Starks and Jake Meredith are two of those underclassmen. Both will be making their NCAA debuts after making a splash at the Pac-10 tournament - Starks by finishing third at 174 pounds and Meredith by winning at 184.
Starks (17-9) will face fifth-ranked senior Chris Henrich from Virginia in his first-round matchup. Meredith (22-4) will take on Iowa State redshirt freshman Richard Shafer.
The remaining two qualifiers for ASU are redshirt freshman Luke Macchiaroli and redshirt sophomore Levi Cooper. Macchiaroli (12-11) has his first-round, 197-pound matchup set against No. 2 Clayton Foster, a senior out of Oklahoma State.
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