Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Michigan State Open
Gomez Claims 133-Pound Championship at MSU Open
11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 11, 2007
**For complete results, please visit www.trackwrestling.com.**
EAST LANSING, Mich. - With a bracket champion, Michigan State wrestling claimed seven medals within the two divisions at its annual MSU Open Sunday in Jenison Field House. Franklin Gomez captured the Open 133 title, Joe Williams placed second in the 197 Open draw and John Murphy finished fifth in the Open 174 bracket. In the Freshman/Sophomore division, Eric Olanowski, Blake Mesyn and Ian Hinton placed second in the 125, 174 and 184-pound brackets, respectively; Tyler Dickenson placed fourth at 197.
Gomez, a No. 10-ranked sophomore who remains undefeated this season (5-0), picked up four wins in the tournament en route to claiming the title. After picking up a 15-2 major decision in the first round, Gomez faced Kyle Hutter for the second time in three days. Gomez defeated Hutter in Friday night's dual with an 8-3 decision and bested the Old Dominion starter again tonight with a 4-2 victory. In the championship bout, Gomez knocked off Indiana's Andrae Hernandez 5-2. The match started with a Gomez takedown in the first and an escape in the second to go up 3-0. Gomez would tally another takedown while Hernandez managed just two escapes, resulting in a 5-2 Spartan win.
En route to his second-place finish, No. 16 Williams pinned his first two opponents in 2:15 and 3:09 before picking up a 7-6 overtime win to advance to the finals. In the championship match, Williams faced off against Northwestern's No. 3 Mike Tamillow, but was defeated 5-3.
Murphy battled for fifth place against Northwestern's Kevin Owen, after already defeating the Wildcat wrestler in the second round, 6-1. In the medal match, Murphy served Owen another defeat, besting his opponent 2-0 for fifth place.
In freshman/sophomore action, Mesyn routed his first two opponents with a 16-0 technical fall and a 12-2 major decision in his 174-pound duals. In the championship dual, Mesyn battled strong with Northwestern's Mike Benefiel but couldn't outlast the Wildcat, dropping his final bout 7-4.
Olanowski matched his teammates success with a second-place finish; the freshman pinned his first two opponents in 3:01 and 2:11, before tacking on two more wins, including a 9-1 major decision in the semifinals. In the final match, Olanowski faced Mike Robinson, unattached, but dropped the match 5-3.
Hinton advanced through his 184 freshman/sophomore bracket with two 3-1 victories and a 12-2 major decision in preliminary matches. The final was again decided with a 3-1 score but unfortunately in Kent State's Dustin Kilgore's favor.
With a bye in the first round, Dickenson kicked off action defeating Ohio's Chris Iammarino 6-5 and pinning Ohio's Tim Samson in 2:38. After dropping his semifinal match, Dickenson rebounded in consolation by besting Findlay's Matt Clum 8-5. In his medal match, Dickenson settled for fourth after dropping the dual 9-6 to Northwestern's John Schoen.
The Spartans return to the mat Saturday, Nov. 17 at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Raleigh, N.C.
