Michigan State University
Midlands Championships
Nick Simmons Wins Second Straight Midlands Championships Title
12/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 30, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Nick Simmons captured his second-straight Midlands title and three other Spartans claimed top three finishes as the Michigan State wrestling team claimed third out of 60 teams at the 43rd Midlands Championships at Northwestern University on Friday, Dec. 30.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team," head coach Tom Minkel said. "Finishing third is just outstanding and is a real statement about where we are as a team. We can build some momentum from the terrific performances we received the past two days."
Nick Simmons capped off his second-straight Midlands title in dominating fashion, recording a fall against Northern Illinois' Pat Castillo at 5:54 of the 125-pound finals. Simmons' 5-0 record over the two-day tournament included three falls and two shutouts, including a 6-0 victory over Stanford's Tanner Gardner in the semifinals. Simmons improves his season record to 18-0 and his team-leading shutout and falls totals to eight each.
With three more falls, Nick Simmons continues to move his way up the MSU all-time falls list. His 41 career falls ties him with Mike Potts for third on the list and puts him within three of No. 1 Jim Mason.
In a rematch of last year's Midlands final and the 2005 NCAA Championship semifinals, Andy Simmons dropped a thrilling, controversial match to Iowa State's Nate Gallick in the second set of tiebreakers. It marks the third-straight loss to Gallick by Simmons and the second time their match has required extra time.
Andy Simmons reached the finals by winning his first four matches, including a 4-3 win over Central Michigan's Eric Kruger in the semifinals Friday afternoon. Yesterday, Simmons notched his first fall of the season in the opening round of the tournament before recording 12-2 and 6-0 decisions.
Senior Darren McKnight captured the best Midlands finish of his career, taking third at 149 pounds as the tournament's six seed. McKnight went 2-1 on the day after defeating his first three opponents on Thursday. He fell to Central Michigan's Mark DiSalvo, 6-3, in the semifinals, but rebounded to defeat the eight seed, Anthony Baza of Cal-Bakersfield, 4-3 to reach the consolation finals. He claimed third when Purdue's Doug Withstandley injury defaulted the match. McKnight improves to 17-5 on the season.
R.J. Boudro became the fourth Spartan wrestler to claim a top three finish when he pinned Pittsburgh's Keith Gavin in the consolation finals at 174 pounds. The victory capped a 5-1 tournament record for the senior captain. Earlier in the day, Boudro fell to All-American Jake Herbert of Northwestern in the semifinals, and defeated the three seed, Columbia's Matt Palmer, 4-3, to reach the third-place match. Boudro improves his season record to 15-3, and is just four wins from matching last year's total.
Senior Jeff Clemens at 197 pounds and redshirt freshman John Murphy at 184 pounds also placed for the Spartans, claiming seventh and eighth, respectively.
After a lengthy early-January break, the Michigan State grapplers will return to action at Pittsburgh on Jan. 20. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1996.
Players Mentioned
