No. 7 Spartan Wrestling Places Fourth At Big Ten Championships

March 9, 2003

MADISON, Wis. - Four Spartans placed in the top three and seniors Gray Maynard (157 pounds) and Nik Fekete (197) finished runner-up in their weight classes as the No. 7 Michigan State wrestling team finished fourth with 92.5 points at the Big Ten Championships Sunday afternoon (March 9) before 4,200 at Wisconsin Fieldhouse. Minnesota claimed the team championship with 126.5 points.

Along with Maynard and Fekete, four other Spartans received bids to the NCAA Championships, including Nick Simmons (125) and Rashad Evans (174), who each placed third. Simmons was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year at the conclusion of the championships for his third-place finish and his 24-10 overall record.

Karl Nadolsky placed fourth at 149 pounds and Ryan L'Amoreaux placed sixth to round out the NCAA qualifiers for MSU. The top seven placers in each weight class receive berths to the NCAA Championships held March 20-22 in Kansas City, Mo.

"I thought we competed very well the whole weekend," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "Fourth place is a solid showing at a tournament of this caliber. We have six wrestlers that will make an impact in the national tournament in two weeks."

In the championship match at 157 pounds, Gray Maynard (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) fell just short of winning his first Big Ten title, losing to second-seeded Luke Becker of Minnesota, 6-3. Maynard and Becker went scoreless through the first period, but Becker escaped from Maynard in the second and added a takedown in the last 10 seconds to go up 3-0 after two. Escaping from Becker at the onset of the third, Maynard tied the match by slamming Becker to the mat for two points with one minute remaining. Becker pulled his own escape route, however, and recorded a late reversal with 30 seconds left to put the match away. The second-place finish for Maynard is the highest of his career.

"Gray went up against a very gifted athlete in Becker," said Minkel. "He fought the whole match and was tied with a minute left. He tried to cut Becker in the last minute and just couldn't get it. But I'm very proud of the way Gray wrestled today."

Second-seeded Damion Hahn of Minnesota defeated top-seed Nik Fekete (Sr., Cranford, N.J.), 8-3, in the championship match at 197 pounds. Hahn recorded a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the match and led the entire bout. Fekete escaped in the middle of the first and scored a takedown late in the third, but Hahn had three takedowns and riding time in the win.

"Nik just never got into a rhythm today," Minkel said. "He dug himself a pretty big hole early, but he'll bounce back at nationals."

Nick Simmons (R-Fr., Williamston) stormed back after losing his first bout of the championships, winning four matches in a row to take third place in the 125-pound division. Simmons avenged his quarterfinal loss to Tony Black of Wisconsin by defeating the Badger 6-2 in the third-place match. Tied 2-2 after the first period, the score remained the same heading into the third. Simmons rode Black for most of the third, and tacked on near fall points in the last 10 seconds for the win. The red-shirt freshman topped 2002 NCAA runner-up Luke Eustice of Iowa in the consolation semifinals, 4-2.

"I don't know what happened in that first match," Simmons said on his first round loss. "But I'm glad I got to wrestle (Tony) Black again. It was nice to come all the way back and beat him for third place. After the loss, I knew the best I could do was third, so I stayed in that mindset and came out with two pins last night and a couple of wins today."

"Nick deserves that prestigious honor," Minkel said of Simmons being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. "He brings tremendous excitement to the sport and will be a force for years to come."

Similar to Simmons, Rashad Evans (Sr., Niagara Falls, N.Y.) exacted some revenge as he beat Illinois' Brian Glynn for the first time in three tries this season with a 5-1 victory in the third-place match at 174 pounds. Evans, who fell to Glynn 3-1 in the quarterfinals yesterday, controlled Glynn the entire match and put the bout away with a late takedown in third.

Senior Karl Nadolsky (Holland) lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Michigan's Ryan Churella in the 149-pound third-place match. Churella escaped from Nadolsky in the third for the only point of the match. Nadolsky defeated Illinois' Ryan Pedrosa 5-3 earlier in the session in the consolation semifinals.

At 141 pounds, Ryan L'Amoreaux (Jr., Clarkston) placed sixth. L'Amoreaux lost to third-seeded Derek Phillips in the fifth-place match, 5-2.

Three Spartans narrowly missed the NCAA Championships. Shane Martin (So., DeWitt), Nate Mesyn (Jr., Clinton Twp.) and John Wechter (Sr., Saginaw) all lost in their respective seventh-place matches. Martin (133) fell to Indiana's Greg Schaefer, 12-5, Mesyn (174) lost to Ben Wissel of Purdue, 4-3, and John Wechter (Hwt.) fell to Isreal Blevins of Purdue, 8-6.


CHAMPIONSHIPS SUMMARY - THIRD SESSION
Championship Bracket (Seed)
157 pounds - Championship MatchNo. 2 Luke Becker (MINN) dec. No. 4 Gray Maynard (MSU), 6-3
197 pounds - Championship MatchNo. 2 Damion Hahn (MINN) dec. No. 1 Nik Fekete (MSU), 8-3
Consolation Bracket
125 poundsSemifinals - No. 3 Nick Simmons (MSU) dec. No. 4 Luke Eustice (IA), 4-2Third-place match - No. 3 Nick Simmons (MSU) dec. No. 6 Tony Black (WIS), 6-2
133 poundsSeventh-Place Match - No. 5 Greg Schaefer (IND) dec. No. 7 Shane Martin (MSU), 12-5
141 poundsSemifinals - No. 4 Jeff Ratliff (OSU) dec. No. 5 Ryan L'Amoreaux (MSU), 9-3Fifth-place match - No. 3 Derek Phillips (MINN) dec. No. 5 Ryan L'Amoreaux (MSU), 5-2
149 poundsSemifinals - No. 3 Karl Nadolsky (MSU) dec. No. 5 Tony Pedrosa (ILL), 5-3Third-place match - No. 4 Ryan Churella (MICH) dec. No. 3 Karl Nadolsky (MSU), 1-0
174 poundsSemifinals - No. 5 Rashad Evans (MSU) dec. No. 3 Blake Kaplan (OSU), 5-0Third-place match - No. 5 Rashad Evans (MSU) dec. No. 4 Brian Glynn (ILL), 5-1
184 poundsSeventh-place match - No. 6 Ben Wissel (PUR) dec. No. 8 Nate Mesyn (MSU), 4-3
HeavyweightSeventh-place match - No. 7 Isreal Blevins (PUR) dec. No. 8 John Wechter (MSU), 8-6
MSU PLACERS IN BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS (TOP SEVEN ADVANCE TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS):
125 - Nick Simmons, third141 - Ryan L'Amoreaux, sixth149 - Karl Nadolsky, fourth157 - Gray Maynard, second174 - Rashad Evans, third197 - Nik Fekete, second
BIG TEN AWARDSCoach of the Year: Troy Sunderland, Penn StateOutstanding Wrestler of the Season: Steve Mocco, IowaOutstanding Wrestler of the Tournament: Chris Fleeger, PurdueFreshman of the Year: Nick Simmons, Michigan State
FINAL STANDINGS1. Minnesota        126.5 pts.2. Iowa         121.0 pts.3. Penn State       111.5 pts.4. Michigan State   92.5 pts.5. Illinois     92 pts.6. Michigan     90.5 pts.7. Purdue       84.5 pts.8. Ohio State       84.0 pts.9. Wisconsin        71.5 pts.10. Indiana     36.0 pts.11. Northwestern    12.0 pts.