Michigan State University
NCAA Championships
Simmons Brothers Advance To Quarterfinals At 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 18, 2005
Sophomore brothers Nick and Andy Simmons won both of their matches Thursday, March 17 to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Junior Darren McKnight is still alive as well in the consolation bracket, going 1-1 on the first day of competition.
"All four of guys are wrestling incredibly hard and well, but the competition is very tough," said head coach Tom Minkel. "Nick and Andy Simmons wrestled very solid matches, while Darren McKnight and R.J. Boudro just ran into some tough opponents."
No. 2 Nick Simmons dominated his second round match, defeating Hofstra's Dave Tomasette by technical fall, 17-2. After getting off to a slow start, Simmons started rolling in the second period, holding Tomasette down for the entire period, and accumulating six near-fall points in the process. Simmons tacked on a takedown and seven more near-fall points in the third for his team-leading fourth technical fall of the season.
Nick Simmons advanced to the second round after shutting out Mark McKnight of Buffalo, 3-0, in session one. Simmons scored the lone takedown of the match midway through the first period, and totaled 3:21 of riding time. The shut out was Simmons' team-leading 10th of the season. With the two victories, his season record improves to 30-2.
Friday morning, Nick Simmons will clash with Boise State's Andrew Hochstrasser (No. 7). Hochstrasser defeated Nebraska's Matt Keller (No. 10) to advance to the quarterfinals.
No. 5 Andy Simmons took care of business as well on Thursday night, topping Pennsylvania's Doug McGraw, 6-1. After a scoreless first period, Simmons scored an escape and a takedown in the second period. He added another takedown and a riding-time point in the final period to move on to the quarterfinals.
Andy Simmons had no problem with his first-round opponent, Delaware State's Myron Drayton. He scored a takedown in each period, as well as four near-fall points and two escapes to claim a major decision, 11-2.
Andy Simmons recorded his 30th and 31st victories of the season Thursday to put him in a tie with McKnight for the team lead in that category. He will now take on Cornell's Cory Cooperman (No. 4) in session three, scheduled for Friday morning. Cooperman advanced after beating two unranked wrestlers on Thursday.
In his first match of the tournament, No. 12 McKnight persevered and defeated Edinboro's Ron Doppelheuer in sudden victory, 10-8. McKnight controlled the match for the majority of the first seven minutes, but got caught in a cradle as time expired in regulation to lock the match at 8-8. He scored his fourth takedown of the bout 33 seconds into the overtime period to claim the first-round victory.
McKnight dropped his third decision of the season Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum (No. 5) by major decision, 8-0, in his second round match. He will face Lock Haven's Josh Medina in the second round of the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
R.J. Boudro dropped a tough, 4-3, decision to Central Michigan's Mitch Hancock (No. 6) in the first round of tiebreakers in his opening match. Boudro was down with less than 15 seconds remaining in regulation when he received a point as result of Hancock's stalling. After a minute of scoreless overtime, Boudro selected the down position and failed to escape. Hancock gained his match-clinching point in the second tiebreaker.
Boudro was one of just four wrestlers in the 174-pound bracket to wrestle a pigtail match Thursday evening. He defeated Edinboro's Eric Ring, 7-4. Boudro tallied two takedowns, a reverse and an escape to earn a spot in the opening round of consolation competition.
Boudro was eliminated from the tournament by Hofstra's Paul Siemon, 5-1, in the consolation first round. He finishes his first season of wrestling for the Spartans with a 19-8 record.
Wrestling continues Friday, March 18 beginning at 10 a.m. CST with the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolation matches. The quarterfinals will be aired on ESPNU.
Session I (All First Round Matches)
125 lbs.- Nick Simmons (MSU) def. Mark McKnight (Buffalo) 3-0
141 lbs.- Andy Simmons (MSU) def. Myron Drayton (Delaware State) MD, 11-2
149 lbs.- Darren McKnight (MSU) def. Ron Doppelheuer (Edinboro) SV, 10-8
174 lbs.- Mitch Hancock (Central Michigan) def. R.J. Boudro (MSU) SV, 4-3
Session II (Second Round, Consolation Pigtails and Consolation First Round)
125 lbs.- Nick Simmons def. Dave Tomasette (Hofstra) TF, 17-2
141 lbs.- Andy Simmons def. Doug McGraw (Pennsylvania) 6-1
149 lbs.- Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) def. Darren McKnight MD, 8-0
174 lbs.- R.J. Boudro def. Eric Ring (Edinboro) 7-4
174 lbs.- Paul Siemen (Hofstra) def. R.J. Boudro 5-1
Session III
125 lbs.- Nick Simmons vs. Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State)
141 lbs.- Andy Simmons vs. Cory Cooperman (Cornell)
149 lbs.- Darren McKnight vs. Josh Medina (Lock Haven)
