Nick Simmons Garners Outstanding Wrestler Honors At University Nationals

April 18, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Nick Simmons swept through the 55-kg weight class April 15-16 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, pinning four of his five opponents and earning the outstanding wrestler award for the 2005 Freestyle University National Championships.

Competing for the Michigan Wrestling Club, Simmons gave up just one point the entire tournament. His four falls in 5:10 also earned him an award for the most falls in the least amount of time.

Simmons is coming off a 32-4 season and a fourth-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships, his second-straight All-America performance.

The University National Championships qualify wrestlers for the University World Team Trials, to be held in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 22-29. Champions from this tournament will receive an automatic bid into a best-of-three championship series to determine this year's University World Team representative at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, August 1-7.

Other Spartans competing this weekend include Jeff Wimberley (60 kg), Ryan Froese (66 kg), Tony Greathouse (74 kg), Abe Cross (84 kg), Jeremy Bloom (84 kg), Jeff Clemens (96 kg) and Max Lossen (120 kg).