Michigan State University
Nittany Lion Open
Wrestlers Wrap Up Competition at Nittany Lion Open
12/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 6, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Several members of the Michigan State wrestling team competed with some of the nation's top wrestlers in the Nittany Lion Open, hosted by Penn State, on Sunday (Dec. 6) in State College, Pa.
Nittany Lion Open Results in PDF
"We had about half of our starters and a lot of young kids wrestle today at a really tough tournament," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "For the most part, we wrestled pretty well and got a lot of good experience."
Sophomore Joe Rizqallah led the Spartans' effort as he placed sixth in the heavyweight class. Senior Kyle Bounds took seventh in the 165-pound weight class.
"Kyle had an excellent tournament and so did Joe," said Minkel. "It was nice to see both of them come out and wrestle well today."
Eric Olanowski was nearly the Spartans' third top-eight finisher on the day but fell in the eighth-place match to Matthew Snyder, 8-7, in a tie-breaker.
The Spartans will now have a few weeks of rest before returning to action on Dec. 29-30 at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill.
"Our priority right now is to get healthy in these next few weeks so we can go into midlands at full strength," Minkel said.
