No. 18 Wrestling Travels To Minnesota And Wisconsin This Weekend

Jan. 25, 2005

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A LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD- The Spartans head on the road riding a three match winning streak into the third week of Big Ten competition. But, they have a tough task ahead as they wrestle four of their next five matches on the road. Six of their final seven opponents are ranked in the top 25. This week, MSU heads first to No. 7 Minnesota who is coming off an impressive third place finish at the National Duals and should move up in the rankings. State then travels to No. 14 Wisconsin, who lost its lone dual of the weekend to No. 9 Iowa, 19-14.

GREEN AND WHITE OFF TO ITS BEST START IN FIVE SEASONS- MSU's 5-2 start is its best since the 1999-2000 campaign when it went 5-1-1 in its first seven matches. That team went on to finish fourth in the Big Ten and 14th at the NCAA Championships. The 99-00 Spartans were led by Big Ten Champion and All-American Nick Muzashvili and sent eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

FIRST 2-0 START IN THE BIG TEN SINCE...- The last time MSU started a season 2-0 in the Big Ten was 1984-85 when they defeated Indiana and Northwestern on consecutive weekends in January. That year it finished 8-6 overall, good for fifth in the Big Ten and 30th in the nation.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS- Coming off an impressive third place finish in the National Duals this past weekend, Minnesota is currently 6-4, but has wrestled six of the seven teams ranked above them. The Spartans and Gophers share three common opponents this season. Both teams lost to No. 1 Oklahoma State and defeated Cleveland State. But, UM defeated Central Michigan this past weekend while MSU lost to CMU on Dec. 8, 25-10. Minnesota also claimed the team championship at both the Mat-Town Classic and the Southern Scuffle. Minnesota currently has six wrestlers ranked in the top 11 at their respective weight classes by intermatwrestle.com. The Golden Gophers are led by their lone returning All-American, sophomore Cole Konrad (No. 4 at 285 lbs.), and only senior that is ranked, Bobbe Lowe (No. 4 at 125 lbs.). Redshirt freshmen Mack Reiter (No. 5 at 133 lbs.), C.P. Schlatter (No. 11 at 149 lbs.) and Roger Kish (No. 7 at 184 lbs.) are all ranked, as well as junior Matt Nagel (No. 7 at 165 lbs.)

SCOUTING THE BADGERS- Wisconsin is currently 6-2-1 on the season, opening up the Big Ten season with two-straight losses to Iowa and Illinois. The lone common opponent it shares with State is Kent State, who it beat 29-12 on Dec. 11. The Badgers are 2-2-1 against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. Wisconsin has seven wrestlers ranked in the Intermat top 25, led by defending Big Ten champion Tom Clum (No. 4 at 133 lbs.). Tyler Laudon (No. 12 at 141 lbs.), Craig Henning (No. 13 at 149 lbs.), Tyler Turner (No. 13 at 157 lbs.), Kelly Flaherty (No. 16 at 174 lbs.), Brady Reinke (No. 14 at 184 lbs.) and Ryan Flaherty (No. 12 at 197 lbs.) are also ranked.

MSU STOMPS OHIO STATE, 27-13- Redshirt freshmen Bryan Harney and Ryan Froese recorded their first career Big Ten dual meet victories to help lead the No. 20 Michigan State wrestling team over Ohio State Sunday, Jan. 23, at Jenison Field House. The Green and White took six of the 10 matches, winning 27-13, and improved its Big Ten record to 2-0, doubling last year's win total in the conference. The Spartans also received a pin from No. 3 Nick Simmons, who improved to 20-0 on the season.

STATE CRUSHES KENT STATE, 36-7- Behind Max Lossen's second thrilling victory in as many matches, the Michigan State wrestling team crushed the Kent State Golden Flashes, 36-7, on Friday night, Jan. 21, at Jenison Field House. MSU took the first five decisions, and eight out of 10 matches overall to claim its fourth victory of the season. No. 3 Andy Simmons and No. 17 Joe Williams both recorded falls in their matches, while No. 19 Darren McKnight notched a technical fall at 149 lbs.

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.

THE LATEST RANKINGS- With their sweep this weekend over Kent State and Ohio State, the Spartans moved up the Intermatwrestle.com poll this week, coming in at No. 18, up from No. 20. Nick and Andy Simmons both remain No. 3 at 125 lbs. and 141 lbs. in both the Intermat poll and the Amateur Wrestling News Poll, respectively. Darren McKnight (No. 19 at 149 lbs.), R.J. Boudro (No. 19 at 174 lbs.) and Joe Williams (No. 17 at 184 lbs.) also remained in the top 20.

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.

MOVING ON UP- With yet another pin at the Midlands, Nick Simmons has now registered 31 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.