Wrestling Hosts Two Dual Meets This Weekend

Jan. 18, 2005

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A LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD- Coming off a huge victory against No. 15 Penn State Saturday, Jan. 15, the Spartans will carry momentum into a two-match homestand against teams from Ohio. First, on Friday Jan. 21, State will square off against Kent State, who was picked by the media to finish second in the Mid-American Conference. MSU will then take on their second Big Ten foe of the year, Ohio State, on Sunday Jan. 23, at 1 p.m. The Spartans have already surpassed their win total from one year ago and will look to double their Big Ten wins-total this weekend.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES- Kent State is currently 7-8 (1-1 MAC) on the season and is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Wendy's Duals last weekend, defeating Slippery Rock, and dropping decisions to Purdue and Appalachian State. KSU has two returning NCAA qualifiers: Junior captain Drew Opfer at 125 pounds, and former Mid-American Conference champion Tomas Rodriguez at 285 lbs. Three Kent State wrestlers are currently ranked by intermatwrestle.com: Jason Bake (No. 18 at 149 lbs.), Alex Camargo (No. 17 at 184 lbs.) and Rodriguez (No. 17 at 285 lbs.). Last year the Green and White defeated the Golden Flashes, 22-16, and is 8-7 (.533) all-time against them.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES- Ohio State is coming off its best finish since 1993 after tying for third at the 2004 NCAA Championships in St. Louis. But, head coach Russ Helickson's team has struggled in 2004-05 after losing four All-Americans to graduation and a total of seven letterwinners. OSU is currently 6-5 on the season and is coming off a weekend split on a trip East, where it defeated No. 25 Pittsburgh, 20-17, and fell to No. 11 Cornell, 28-9. They are led by their lone returning All-American, No. 4 J.D. Bergman at 197 pounds, who finished third at last year's NCAA Championships. Redshirt freshman T.J. Enright at 133 lbs., has also given the Scarlet and Gray a spark and is currently No. 14 with a 23-5 record. The Spartans are 41-28-2 all-time against Ohio State.

MSU TOPS NO. 15 PENN STATE, 19-12- MSU picked up a huge victory Saturday, Jan. 15, when they defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions at Jenison Field House. The Spartans were propelled by junior Max Lossen, who defeated C.J. Wonsettler, 4-3, for his first career dual-meet victory. MSU won six of the final eight matches, including a major decision by sophomore captain Nick Simmons at 125 lbs., to take the meet, 19-12. The win marked the first time the Green and White has opened the season with a victory against a Big Ten opponent since 1997, when MSU defeated Ohio State, 22-13.

SPARTANS FALL TO NO. 1 OKLAHOMA STATE, 28-9- After a long, tumultuous trip to Stillwater, Okla. the Green and White faced a tough Oklahoma State squad that has won the past two national championships and currently has five wrestlers ranked in the top three in their weight classes, four of the five holding the number one slot. Nick Simmons (125 lbs.), Andy Simmons (141 lbs.) and Joe Williams (184 lbs.) picked up the victories for the Spartans, who fell to 2-2 on the season in dual meet competition.

Nick Simmons WINS FIRST CAREER MIDLANDS TITLE- MSU, led by the dominant performance of sophomore Nick Simmons at 125 pounds, finished fifth out of 59 teams at the 42nd Midlands Championships. Simmons did not give up a single point, going 5-0 and beating three ranked wrestlers along the way. Simmons improves to 17-0 on the season and is ranked No. 3. Four other Spartans also earned medals at the tournament. Andy Simmons fell in overtime of the finals to No. 1 Nate Gallick of Iowa State and took second at 141 lbs; Darren McKnight (eighth at 149 lbs.), Joe Williams (seventh at 184 lbs.) and R.J. Boudro (sixth at 174 lbs.) also took home medals.

THE LATEST RANKINGS- This week's rankings will not come out until Tuesday, Jan. 18, but with their victory over No. 15 Penn State, there is a good chance the Spartans could jump back into Intermat's top 25 for the first time in a month. Last week, MSU received the third-most votes of teams not in the rankings. It is unlikely that that any individual rankings will change much for the Spartans, but R.J. Boudro's win could push him into Intermat's top 20 for the first time this season.

MOVING ON UP- With yet another pin at the Midlands, Nick Simmons has now registered 30 career pins, good for fourth on Michigan State's all-time list in that category. Nick also ties for ninth on the pins in a season record, which could be approached by his brother Andy who currently has nine falls on the season.

GREEN AND WHITE DEFEAT CLEVELAND STATE IN FIRST EVER MEETING- The Spartans traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, where they claimed their second dual meet victory of the season, 26-15, after a late rally from State's lower weight classes. After falling behind 12-0 in the early going, a major decision victory by Joe Williams (184 lbs.) sparked a rally, and Michigan State won six of the last seven matches. The Spartans received huge pins from Nick Simmons (125 lbs.) and Ryan Froese (133 lbs.), wrestling in his second career dual meet match. Darren McKnight (149 lbs.) also notched a major decision victory, while Andy Simmons (141 lbs.) improved to 15-0 on the season with his win, and Jeff Clemens defeated NCAA qualifier Ron Howard, 7-4.

CHIPPEWAS SOLVE SPARTANS, 25-10- With junior R.J. Boudro out with a knee injury, head coach Tom Minkel was forced to start five wrestlers with a total of three dual meet appearances combined. Nick Simmons, Andy Simmons, and Joe Williams picked up victories in the Spartans' first loss of the season, as MSU fell to Central Michigan, 25-10, in Jenison FIeld House on Dec. 8.

SPARTANS TOO MUCH FOR EAGLES- Michigan State recorded its first dual-meet victory of the season Nov. 30 in a 44-6 rout of Eastern Michigan. Nick Simmons improved to 5-0 on the season, pinning Tony LaJoie at 125 pounds. Darren McKnight also recorded his second pin of the season at 149 lbs. Bryan Harney (165 lbs.) notched his first technical fall of the year, while R.J. Boudro (174 lbs.) tallied his second techincal fall in his first dual meet with the Green and White. Jeff Clemens (197 lbs.) also contributed a major decision, 20-7, over Tim Breyer. The Spartans improve to 10-1 all-time against EMU, and have now won their third straight dual meet when opening on the road.

SPARTANS CLAIM FIVE TITLES AT NORTH CAROLINA OPEN- Nick Simmons (125 lbs.), Andy Simmons (141 lbs.), Darren McKnight (149 lbs.), Matt McCarty (157 lbs.), and Joe Williams (184 lbs.) all took home tournament championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday, Dec. 4. The Green and White also placed three others in the top four: Ryan Froese (second at 133 lbs.), Bryan Harney (third at 165 lbs.) and Justin Mora (fourth at 165 lbs.).