Michigan State University
NCAA Championships
Wrestlers Finish 14th at NCAA Championships
3/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 19, 2000
The Michigan State wrestling team finished 14th with 36.5 points at the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday at the Kiel Center in St. Louis. Iowa won its sixth consecutive national championship with 116 points, besting Iowa State (109.5) and Minnesota (80).
Individually, MSU crowned a pair of All-America grapplers Saturday evening. Junior Pat McNamara (Jordan, Minn.) finished sixth at 133 pounds and senior Nick Muzashvili (Unadilla, N.Y./Republic of Georgia) finished fourth at 197, giving each the second All-America performance of his career.
McNamara suffered a 4-3 loss to Rob Loper of Pittsburgh in the consolation semifinals, then an 8-2 setback against Todd Beckerman of Nebraska in the fifth-place match. By finishing in the top eight of his weight class, though, McNamara became an All-America wrestler for the second time. He finished fifth as a freshman in 1998.
Muzashvili began his day with a 3-2 decision over Penn State's Ross Thatcher in the consolation semifinals, setting up a rematch with Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State in the third-place match. Muzashvili defeated Munoz by a 3-2 score earlier this season in East Lansing, but Munoz turned the tables and scored a 3-2 win in Friday's consolation final. Muzashvili's fourth-place finish earns him his second All-America award. The senior co-captain finished third at 197 last season.
Final Team Standings Individual Champions1. Iowa 112 125 - Jeremy Hunter, Penn State2. Iowa State 104.5 133 - Eric Juergens, Iowa3. Minnesota 76.0 141 - Carl Perry, Illinois4. Oklahoma 69.5 149 - Tony Davis, Northern Iowa5. Oklahoma State 66.5 157 - Brett Matter, Pennsylvania6. Illinois 59.5 165 - Don Pritzlaff, Wisconsin7. Lehigh 46.5 174 - Byron Tucker, Oklahoma8. Nebraska 45.5 184 - Cael Sanderson, Iowa StateT9. Penn 44.0 197 - Brad Vering, NebraskaT9. Wisconsin 44.0 HWT - Brock Lesnar, Minnesota14. Michigan State 36.5
