Four Grapplers Head to NCAA Championships in St. Louis

March 17, 2004

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Michigan State wrestling sends four individuals to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., at the Savvis Center, March 18-20. Each of the Spartans' four wrestlers have never advanced to the national tournament in their collegiate careers, including senior Nate Mesyn, sophomores Darren McKnight and Jeff Clemens and redshirt freshman Andy Simmons.

Mesyn leads the way for Michigan State, the Spartans' highest finisher at the 2004 Big Ten Championships. Mesyn finished fourth at 184 pounds, falling to Purdue's Ben Wissel, 9-2 in the third-place bout. En route to his fourth-place finish, Mesyn defeated Wisconsin's Brad Reinke, 9-2, and Minnesota's Josh McLay, 4-0. The Clinton Twp., Mich., native posted an overall record of 17-10 on the year and boasts a career record of 42-45.

This marks the first time of Mesyn's collegiate career that he has advanced to the NCAA Championships. Mesyn faces Arizona State's No. 6 seed Nick Frost (24-5) after drawing a bye through the first round of competition.

At 149 pounds, McKnight finished fifth at the Big Ten Championships to earn a trip to the national tournament. He posted an overall record of 23-10 on the year with a 4-3 mark against Big Ten competition. He defeated Purdue's Dan Jankowski, 6-5, to win the sixth-place match at the conference finale in Columbus, Ohio.

McKnight faces Fresno State West's Casey Olsen (27-8) after drawing a bye through the first round of wrestling.

Jeff Clemens earned a sixth place finish at 197 pounds at the 2004 Big Ten Championships. To open the tournament, Clemens faced the Big Ten's No. 1 wrestler, reigning national champion Damion Hahn. Hahn won that match, 11-3. Clemens came back to defeat Joel Edwards of Penn State and Purdue's Nathan Moore before narrowly falling to Indiana's Pat DeGain, 3-2. Clemens was defeated by Ohio State's J.D. Bergman, 12-3, in the fifth-place match.

Clemens faces Oklahoma State's Rusty Blackmon (17-13) in first-round action.

Redshirt freshman Andy Simmons faces North Carolina State's Alex Hernandez (17-11) after drawing a bye through the first round. Simmons posted a 29-9 mark on the season but struggled through the Big Ten Championships.

A No. 2 seed heading into the conference tournament, Simmons finished seventh at 141 pounds. After dropping a decision to Purdue's unseeded Doug Withstandley, who went on to finish second, Simmons defeated Michigan's Clark Forward before falling to Tyler Laudon of Wisconsin in 4:04.

To earn an automatic trip to the NCAA Championships, Simmons had to win the seventh-place bout against Penn State's DeWitt Driscoll. Simmons took the match into sudden victory overtime, winning 12-10, to earn his trip to the national tournament.

Competition begins tomorrow (March 18) at St. Louis' Savvis Center and runs through Saturday (March 20).