Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
Simmons Brothers Advance To Finals At 2006 Big Ten Championships
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 4, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Nick and Andy Simmons both advanced to the finals at the 2006 Big Ten Championships for the second straight year, as the 18th-ranked Michigan State wrestling team sits in eighth place after day one of competition.
Five other Spartans are still alive in the consolation bracket. The top seven finishers in each weight class advance to the NCAA Championships March 16-18 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
"Nick and Andy are really our story today," head coach Tom Minkel said. "They really stepped it up in dramatic fashion. Those were two of the best matches I think I have ever seen."
Nick Simmons, the No. 2 seed, punched his ticket to the 125-pound Big Ten finals for the second consecutive season in wild-and-crazy fashion, dropping third-seeded John Velez of Northwestern, 6-3. Simmons gave up an early takedown, and trailed 3-1 for the majority of the match, but countered a shot as time expired in the third to knot the bout at 3-3. After no action in the sudden-victory session, the two-time All-American locked up his 30th win of the season by putting Velez to his back for three near-fall points in the first tiebreaker. Simmons will face Illinois' Kyle Ott in a rematch of the 2005 finals.
In his first match of the afternoon in the quarterfinals, Simmons notched a 7-0 decision over Minnesota's Travis Lang. His team-leading 10th shutout victory of the season was secured in the opening minute of the match, when he took Lang down and notched three near-fall points for a 5-0 lead.
Andy Simmons followed his older brother's lead as he advanced to the finals at 141 pounds, dropping the No. 3 seed as well, Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis, 6-2. Similar to his brother, the younger Simmons gave up the first takedown, but rallied to score the next six points in the final four minutes with an escape, a reversal, two near-fall points and a riding-time point. Andy Simmons, now 30-4, will face Northwestern's Ryan Lang in the finals. He pinned Lang in a dual meet in early February after falling to him at the MSU Open last November.
Andy Simmons wrestled twice in the morning session, knocking off Ohio State's T.J. Enright in the opening round, 8-0. It marked his team-leading 10th major-decision and seventh shutout of the 2005-06 campaign. In the quarters, the Williamston, Mich., native dropped No. 7 Manuel Rivera of Minnesota, 7-4, to catapult himself to the semifinals.
After winning his first match of the tournament, Darren McKnight fell to the consolation bracket following a 17-3 loss to top-seeded Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. In the first round, the Hixson, Tenn., native jumped on Indiana's Matt Cooper early, and claimed a 6-2 decision, then dominated his first consolation bout, dropping Northwestern's Marty Gould, 15-3, for the fourth major decision of his season. McKnight moved into the seventh-place match following a 6-3 loss to No. 3 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan.
Controversy dominated R.J. Boudro's quarterfinal clash with sixth-seeded Donny Reynolds of Illinois, and the despite a protest by MSU coaches, the Spartan captain fell, 9-8. Boudro rebounded in his first consolation bout, scoring five takedowns to defeat Indiana's Marc Bennett, 12-8, then moved on to the consolation semifinals with a 6-3 win over Purdue's Nick Corpe. Boudro is the only other Spartan besides Nick and Andy Simmons to secured a spot at nationals.
Joe Williams recovered from a first-round loss as well, as he put Ohio State's Alex Picazo to his back midway through the third and claimed a 9-3 decision in the first round of consolation matches at 184 pounds. Williams fell to eighth-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan in session one, then Northwestern's Mike Tamillow, 7-3, in the evening session. He will go for seventh place Sunday morning.
Jeff Clemens scored his first victory of the tournament in one of the more exciting matches by a Green and White grappler Saturday, as he dropped Iowa's Dan Erekson, 4-3. The MSU 197-pounder trailed by one late in the match, but scored the clinching takedown in the final 30 seconds and held Erekson down for the final ticks off the clock. Clemens dropped his next two matches: 6-2 to Northwestern's Matt Delguyd and 3-2 to Michigan's Willie Breyer. He also will compete in the seventh-place match on Sunday.
Max Lossen avenged a dual-meet loss to Wisconsin's Lee Kraemer by upsetting the No. 5 seed, 3-2, in his second match. Northwestern's Dustin Fox dropped Lossen, 5-1, for the third time this season in the first round of championship competition. The Spartan senior dropped into the seventh-place match after a 3-2 loss to Illinois' Matt Weight.
Jeff Wimberley (133 pounds), Tony Greathouse (157 pounds) and Bryan Harney (165 pounds) all dropped their first two matches and were eliminated from competition.
Wrestling at the 2006 Big Ten Championships concludes Sunday, with the first session set for 12 p.m. EST. A round of consolation matches and seventh-place bouts will precede the medal round at 2 p.m. EST.
125 poundsQuarterfinals: No. 2 Nick Simmons dec. No.7 Travis Lang (Minn.), 7-0Semifinals: No. 2 Nick Simmons dec. No. 3 John Velez, 6-3 TB1
133 poundsFirst Round: No. 7 Gabe Flores (Ill.) dec. Jeff Wimberley, 6-4Cons. First Round: No. 8 Reece Humphrey (OSU) dec. Jeff Wimberley, 8-5
141 poundsFirst Round: No. 2 Andy Simmons maj. dec. T.J. Enright (OSU), MD 8-0Quarterfinals: No. 2 Andy Simmons dec. No. 7 Manuel Rivera (Minn.), 7-4Semifinals: No. 2 Andy Simmons dec. No. 3 Alex Tsirtsis, 6-2
149 poundsFirst Round: No. 8 Darren McKnight dec. Matt Cooper (Ind.), 6-2Quarterfinals: No. 1 Dustin Schlatter maj. dec. No. 8 Darren McKnight, MD, 17-3Cons. First Round: No. 8 Darren McKnight maj. dec. Marty Gould (NU), MD 15-3Cons. Quarterfinals: No. 3 Eric Tannenbaum (Mich.) dec. No. 8 Darren McKnight, 6-3
157 poundsFirst Round: No. 6 Steven Luke (Mich.) dec. Tony Greathouse, 5-1Cons. First Round: No. 5 Brandon Becker tech. fall Tony Greathouse, TF, 7:00, 17-2
165 poundsFirst Round: Eric Luedke (Iowa) maj. dec. Bryan Harney, MD 11-0Cons. First Round: Dan Bedoy (PU) dec. Bryan Harney, 5-2
174 poundsQuarterfinals: No. 6 Donny Reynolds (Ill.) dec. No. 3 R.J. Boudro, 9-8Cons. First Round: No. 3 R.J. Boudro dec. Marc Bennett (Ind.), 12-8Cons. Quarterfinals: No. 3 R.J. Boudro dec. Nick Corpe (Pur.), 6-3
184 poundsFirst Round: No. 8 Tyrel Todd (Mich.) dec. Joe Williams, 9-3Cons. First Round: Joe Williams dec. No. 7 Alex Picazo (OSU), 9-3Cons. Quarterfinals: No. 6 Matt Tamillow dec. Joe Williams, 7-3
197 poundsFirst Round: Jeff Clemens dec. No. 6 Dan Erekson (Iowa), 4-3Quarterfinals: No. 3 Matt Delguyd (NU) dec. Jeff Clemens, 6-2Cons. Quarterfinals: Willie Breyer (Mich.) dec. Jeff Clemens, 3-2
285 poundsFirst Round: No. 3 Dustin Fox (NU) dec. Max Lossen, 5-1Cons. First Round: Max Lossen dec. No. 5 Lee Kraemer (Wis.), 3-2Cons. Quarterfinals: Matt Weight (Ill.) dec. Max Lossen, 3-2
*Numbers denote seed, not national ranking.
Players Mentioned
