Spartan Wrestling Crowns Five Individual Champions
12/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 3, 2000
EAST LANSING, MICH. - The country's ninth-ranked Spartan wrestling program placed seven wrestlers in the finals of their weight-classes and won five of the ten individual titles at the University of Northern Iowa Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Spartans also had wrestlers finish second and third in two other classes. The tournament boasted almost 350 wrestlers from throughout the midwest and gave the Spartans their first look at competition they are to face later in the season.
Sitting at No. 16 in the country at 125 pounds, junior Chris Williams (Perry, Mich./Fowlerville) started the Spartans off right, marching his way into the finals, outscoring his opponents 34-12 throughout the tournament. He defeated Nebraska-Omaha's Mack LaRock in the championship match, 3-2.
At 133 pounds, No. 4 senior Pat McNamara (Jordan, Mich./Jordan) suffered his first loss of the year at the hands of Minnesota's Ryan Lewis. Lewis defeated McNamara by decision in the championship round, 9-3. Prior to the 9-3 loss, McNamara had outscored his opponents 54-5 on the season and recorded two falls.
Senior Mike Castillo (Rochester, Mich./Forest Hills Central) won his second straight 141-pound title of the season, defeating Northern Iowa's Mark Rial, 6-4. Castillo currently is ranked fifth in the country and claimed the title with a 37-14 margin of victory and a fall in his six tournament matches.
The sophomore duo of Karl Nadolsky (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) and Gray Maynard (Las Vegas, NV/St. Edward) claimed the championships at 149 and 157 pounds. No. 18 Nadolsky defeated teammate Charlie Sageman in the final match, 3-2. Nadolsky upped his pin total to three on the season, recording two in this tournament, and claimed his second individual title of the year. Sageman (Saginaw, Mich./Bridgeport), also a sophomore, has looked impressive this season, as he has finished in the top eight in all three meets this season, including two second-place finishes. No. 11 Maynard went on to win the title at 157, pinning Northern Iowa's Drew Kelly in 1:45. The fall in the championship match was Maynard's third of the tournament.
Sophomore Nik Fekete (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) won the 197 pound title via major decision over Nebraska-Omaha's Lee Sigman, 16-7. No. 20 Fekete's nine-point victory was the largest margin of victory in a championship match for the tournament.
Seniors Corey Posey (Cloumbia, Tenn./Westfield) and Matt Lamb, rounded out Spartan wrestlers in the top eight, with Posey finishing sixth at 165 pounds and Lamb taking third at heavyweight.
The Spartans will next face off with intrastate rivals, No. 7 Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m.